HALIFAX – The union president representing nurses at Nova Scotia’s largest health authority says they are ready to defy back-to-work legislation.
Joan Jessome, president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, says the nurses will go on strike if Stephen McNeil’s Liberal government brings in such a law.
Jessome says mediated talks between the union, which represents about 2,400 registered nurses, and the Capital District Health Authority have reached an impasse.
She says she hopes a negotiated solution can be reached by April 3, when the nurses are in a legal strike position, but adds that she is losing confidence that the government will compromise on the union’s request to hire more nurses.
The union has said it wants nurse-to-patient ratios, something it says would improve patient safety.
But Capital Health says there is no evidence that shows mandated registered nurse-to-patient ratios guarantee improved patient safety.
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