P.E.I. Nurses Union upset contract negotiations on hold during election campaign

The P.E.I. Nurses Union says its members are very disappointed and frustrated about their contract negotiations being put on hold during the election campaign. 

Nurses haven't had a contract for two years.  Union president Barbara Brookins said they were at a "critical point" in negotiations with Health P.E.I. when the election was called. 

They had a meeting scheduled for next week, and were hoping to have an agreement before the summer.

Brookins said they've been told they now won't get back to the table until mid-June. 

"Our nurses have been struggling for two, three, four years. Like it just keeps going on and on and we don't think it can get any worse and it does get worse. So last summer we struggled," she said. 

"Nurses have been asked over and over again to pick up, to do more, to hold the system together, and we can't continue to rely on nurses. We just can't. The system is crumbling and we need to address it now. We can't wait even a month." 

Brookins said the union has talked to Health P.E.I., but she said they were told the agency's hands are tied. 

"The thing is we talk about Health P.E.I., it's supposed to be a crown corporation. It's supposed to act arms-length from government. And that's not the case. Like this is a good example of how it's not the case," she said. 

Brookins said nurses are worried about the speed of contract negotiations. 

"We have holes everywhere in the system right now, we have work sites where we have no permanent RNs working in those work sites. And you know, we're trying to stabilize the health system. But we can't do it alone, and it should not be done on the backs of registered nurses or nurse practitioners."

On the campaign trail, PC party leader Dennis King said his previous government had been talking with the nurses union for over a year. 

He said the nurses presented a package of requests and that the treasury board had initiated a response that the PCs would pick up right after the election, if they are elected. 

"I respect the collective bargaining process and my goal would be to get a good contract in place for our nurses who do amazing work. They need to be paid more and we're willing to do that," King said. 

"I think that whenever an election takes place, there is a certain pause in terms of government activities .... I don't think this is the first time in the history of P.E.I. that we've had an election where we've had to pause some of our negotiations or other conversations, but we'd be prepared to pick that up right away."