HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government has introduced essential services legislation as Halifax-area nurses prepare to go on strike Thursday.
The bill would require unions and employers in the health care sector to have an essential services agreement in place before job action can occur, and if such an agreement can’t be reached, an independent third party decides.
In addition to nurses, the legislation would apply to paramedics, 911 operators, hospital employees and people who work in homes for seniors, youth and people with disabilities.
The move came hours after the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, which represents about 2,400 nurses in the Halifax area, filed strike notice to the province’s labour minister.
The nurses are in a legal strike position as of Thursday.
The union and the Capital District Health Authority have been unable to come to an agreement despite the help of a mediator.
The key sticking point in the dispute is a demand from the union to increase nurse-to-patient ratios, something it says would improve patient safety.
The health authority has said there is no evidence that mandated ratios guarantee better safety.
A spokesman for Capital Health says the health board has cancelled some surgeries and transferred some patients to hospitals outside the city as a precautionary measure.
The legislation marks the second time in a month that the Liberals have introduced essential services legislation to resolve a labour dispute.
On March 1, the government passed a law to end a one-day strike by about 420 home-care workers in the Halifax area.
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