Health Administrative Professionals: Unions File Application to Resolve Essential Services for NSH; Second Day of Action Tomorrow

Last Thursday, October 5^th, Essential Services negotiators for CUPE, NSGEU and Unifor met with the employer for the third time since the previous Labour Board mediation hearing in order to negotiate an Essential Service Agreement. It had become apparent that it will be impossible to achieve a negotiated Essential Services Agreement through the standard process as we are nowhere near an agreement on what should be deemed ‘essential.’

As a result, on October 6^th, the Council of Unions applied to the Labour Board under Section 9 of the Essential Health and Community Service Act, which means we have requested that the Labour Board settle the provisions of the Essential Services Agreement. Under the legislation, the Labour Board will have thirty (30) days following this application to create the Essential Services Agreement. Please note, this application applies to Nova Scotia Health. The negotiations for Essential services at the IWK are ongoing for now.

According to the legislation, the Council of Unions cannot take any job action without the Essential Services Agreement, so it is imperative that we have it in place as soon as possible. Now, more than ever, we will need your support. If you can, come to our Day of Action on October 11^th between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to show the employers that their delay tactics won’t stop us from demanding more.

We will be gathered at the following eleven locations:

• Halifax, University Avenue (in front of the Dickson entrance)
• Dartmouth, Dartmouth General Hospital
• Cape Breton, Cape Breton Regional Hospital
• Truro, Colchester East Hants Health Centre
• Windsor, Hants Community Hospital
• Kentville, Valley Regional Hospital
• Bridgewater, South Shore Regional Hospital
• Yarmouth, Yarmouth Regional Hospital
• Antigonish, St. Martha’s Regional Hospital
• New Glasgow, Aberdeen Hospital
• Amherst, Cumberland Colchester Hospital

Wear red! We will have some stickers, buttons, flyers, and ready-made picket signs available at each site. It is important to note that, like the last day of action, this is not a walkout (that would be considered job/strike action). Rather, we planned this rally over an extended lunch hour so you can come join us on your break and voice your anger over how you’ve been treated during this round of bargaining.

Let’s show them that Administrative Professionals are not worth less!