Nurse strike averted, but binding arbitration still on the table

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This article was published 26/06/2021 (1790 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba nurses have agreed to step back from the brink of strike, but binding arbitration is still on the bargaining table.

The Manitoba Nurses Union thanked nurses in a bargaining update on its website Saturday and told its members, “…if bargaining is unsuccessful, we have recourse at arbitration to obtain a fair and reasonable contract.”

It said additional dates have been scheduled to continue bargaining.

The Manitoba Nurses Union and health care employers reached an agreement to continue negotiations, with the added condition the parties can initiate binding arbitration if bargaining fails.

“The professional bargaining teams have come up with a solution that is truly the best approach for everyone and that sets the stage for ongoing focus on working through the issues that remain on the bargaining table,” said Lanette Siragusa, chief nursing officer for Shared Health, in a news release.

If the two sides go to arbitration, a mediator would intervene to iron out the details of a new bargaining agreement, which would be legally binding.

“This is an immense relief for nurses and Manitobans. It means that nurses can continue to provide the highest standards of care and not worry about being unable to receive a fair and reasonable contract. In fact, this is the consideration nurses asked for and have more than earned through the pandemic,” said Manitoba Nurses Union spokeswoman Brandi Johnson.

Johnson said scheduled talks will continue in the upcoming week, “and an arbitrator will be determined in the next seven days, in the event an agreement cannot be reached.”

Manitoba nurses have been without a contract for more than four years.

On June 10, nurses voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike, with 98 per cent of 11,954 votes backing the action. The union has about 12,000 members.

As essential workers, nurses would’ve stayed on the job to continue essential services, but they threatened to stop completing non-essential tasks such as answering phones or transcribing doctors’ orders.

After the vote, union president Darlene Jackson said the union may wait until the end of June to see if the employer would voluntarily agree to arbitration. Entering the final week of the month, that’s exactly what happened.

This came after a difficult year for nursing staff. COVID-19 ripped through the province, leading many nurses to speak out about physical, emotional and mental stress and fatigue.

“We all want our nursing colleagues to have the comfort and security of a new, fair and long-term collective agreement,” Siragusa said in the news release.

Shared Health said the union agreed to a “customized arbitration process, with specialized rules that are not part of conventional arbitration,” but declined to comment on the specifics of the rules.

 

cody.sellar@freepress.mb.ca