Tentative nurses' union deal would make wages more competitive, says president

The president of Newfoundland and Labrador's largest nurses' union says a tentative deal reached between her union and the provincial government on Saturday would make wages more competitive with the rest of Atlantic Canada and improve recruitment and retention efforts.

Yvette Coffey, president of the Registered Nurses' Union of Newfoundland and Labrador, said there were three weeks of "intense" negotiations leading up to the agreement, which she said was a step toward wage parity with the other Atlantic provinces. She said the deal ensures registered nurses and nurse practitioners know they are valued.

"Other unions have accepted the template. The template would not put us with Atlantic parity," Coffey said Tuesday.

"We went into this round of bargaining saying that this contract had to show registered nurses and nurse practitioners that they are valued and respected.… We believe, as a team, that this contract does that."

However, Coffey said wage parity likely won't last long, as the nurses' union in Prince Edward Island also recently negotiated an agreement, and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick nurses' unions are soon headed to the bargaining table. 

The tentative agreement comes as Newfoundland and Labrador faces more than 750 vacancies in the health-care system. Millions are being spent on travel nurses to fill those holes, and those already in the system face mandatory overtime due to the shortages.

Coffey said she hopes the new deal will encourage more people to take on full-time positions, which will decrease the amount of casual workers and the number of workers leaving the profession because of working conditions.

"By doing that, and hiring the internationally educated nurses, hiring our own graduates here in this province, we're hoping to start decreasing those vacancies," she said. 

"Is that going to happen overnight? No. But we truly hope that we will start to see a decrease in the vacancy rate."

Coffey said she hopes meetings with union members to discuss the tentative agreement will start by the end of the week. The deal could be ratified about 10 days after, she said.

Health Minister Tom Osborne said he couldn't get into specifics of the deal but did say it would make wages more competitive and also help the province recruit and retain health-care staff.

"These negotiations will help us to staff up in terms of registered nurses, and we will have less reliance on agency nurses," Osborne said. "The key now is in recruitment, because I believe that this contract will help retain the nurses that we have in the province, and the more nurses we have working the less mandated overtime is required."

Osborne said both sides will continue to work together to address other workplace issues addressed in the nursing think tank held in 2022.

Coffey says that's a key step for a health-care system still in crisis.