HALIFAX – The head of a union representing thousands of nurses in Nova Scotia says disunity among labour groups is hurting the ongoing fight against controversial government legislation.
Joan Jessome of the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union says an apparent rift with three other unions over the province’s health-care reform is confusing to the public.
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Jessome says she wants nurses to be able to vote for which union they want to join as the province moves to reduce the number of bargaining units down to four from 50.
The Nova Scotia Nurses Union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and Unifor are together in pushing a proposal for bargaining associations, something Jessome says is futile since the province’s Liberal government has rejected the idea.
The unions have been holding noisy protests outside the legislature over the government’s plan to merge health-care bargaining units by April 1.
Under the Health Authorities Act, health workers who perform similar jobs would be represented by the same union which would be determined by a mediator.
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