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Oral
Questions
May 19, 2009
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| In the House | Question
Period
MS
JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow at
7:30 a.m. government will be locking the nurses out and
effectively throwing our health care system in this
Province into chaos.
Mr. Speaker, with only
hours left to reach a settlement, I ask the Premier
today: Why would your
government want to hold the health care system hostage
on non-monetary issues when these issues could be
settled under binding arbitration?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Well
isn’t this the pot calling the kettle black. As a
Liberal government who ten years ago legislated nurses
back to work, took away binding arbitration and at that
time offered 7 per cent. Our offer that was on the
table, which was part of the package, was over four
times that. If nurses end up legislated back because
they choose not to go back to work, our template offer
will be three times the 7 per cent that a Liberal
government legislated nurses back.
From a lockout
perspective, there is no lockout. Nurses have given us
notice of strike. When you go on strike, you go on
strike. There is nobody locking nurses out. We are
invoking an essential services contract that was agreed
to by the nurses, that the nurses signed, and we are
invoking it because the President of the Nurses Union,
Ms Forward, has indicated that she wants to put greater
pressure on the health care system. So the very reason
that we are invoking the essential services contract is
to protect health care in this Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
But we are talking about
the situation in the Province today, Premier, not what
happened in the past. We are talking about people today
in this Province that are lining up in the O.R. rooms.
I ask the Premier, again,
Mr. Speaker, we are not dealing
with monetary issues, we are dealing with policy issues,
we are dealing with wording issues and I ask the
government opposite: Why will they not go to binding
arbitration and avoid a strike in this Province and
allow the health care system to continue?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, we just left Grand Falls and the central region
where over 700, 800 people lost their jobs. I spent the
weekend watching television, looking at General Motors
workers trying to hold on to what they have: trying to
hold on to their jobs; trying to prevent their salaries
from being cut away completely; trying to hold on to
their pension benefits; trying to hold on to their
health care benefits.
We have offered starting
nurses $60,000 a year coming right out of school. Our
experienced nurses are going to $75,000 a year, $74,000
and change. They will be the second highest in the
country; they will be the highest east of Ontario. Our
recruiting nurses will be either the first or the
second. So Quebec and all the Maritime provinces,
Atlantic Canada, will be number one or number two.
This government has
stepped up in spades. Not only did we answer the
recruitment problem, we answered the retention problem.
We dealt with educational leave. We added steps on the
front end. We added steps on the back end. We also
nearly tripled standby and shift differential and that
was all part of the package that included the two
principles and they want to go to binding arbitration.
We can do no more and we are at a loss to understand why
nurses are not taking this deal.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
But the issues that are
driving this right now is not monetary issues, Mr.
Speaker, it has to do with policy issues.
[Applause from the
Gallery.]
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
Order, please!
I remind our guests in
the galleries that they are always welcome to come and
observe the proceedings here on the floor of the House
of Assembly but they are not to take part, to show their
approval or disapproval of anything that happens here on
the floor. So I ask guests for their co-operation or I
will have to ask them to be identified and have to be
removed from the galleries. For your co-operation,
please.
The hon. the Leader of
the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Government had already
agreed to concessions around monetary issues. These are
issues outside of that and we have asked this question
time and time again of government but we have not gotten
a clear answer.
I ask again today: Please
explain to the people of this Province, to the people
who use our health care system, exactly why government
wants the market adjustment clause in this contract?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, in addition to everything else that we have
done for health care in the Province, whether it is from
an information technology perspective, whether it is the
hundreds of millions of dollars that we are spending on
infrastructure, whether it is the over $100 million that
we spend on pharmaceuticals, all the other money that we
put into equipment. What we have done for health care
professionals is not only have we given the highest
raises across the country, which is the template, which
is over 21.5 per cent compounded, which is unheard of in
the rest of the country in these difficult economic
times, we have actually gone up two notches on the front
end to make sure that young nurses actually want to work
in the nursing profession here, and that is over 31 per
cent. We have also then taken and recognized the
experience of our senior nurses and have increased a
step there, so that they are nearly at $75,000.
Then we went down the
list and we said, what else is important to nurses,
because I have met with the nurses. I have met with
individual nurses. I hear from nurses all the time.
There was educational leave, and we set up a special
committee and we gave enhanced experience credits.
Then we looked at shift
diff which was a really big issue the last time around.
We said, okay, we have to do something with that; and
the same way with stand by fees. We nearly tripled that.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. Premier to
conclude his answer.
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
We have done everything
we can to make it a very generous package.
Coupled with that was the
deal with regard to the two principles. There was never
agreement where you can cherry pick this and cherry pick
this and cherry pick this and have it your own way. That
is not the way it works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
When government realized
the critical situation that faced nurses in this
Province and the recruitment and retention issues, they
did the right thing. They stepped outside pattern
bargaining and they negotiated a deal.
I ask the government
again today: Why do you
arbitrarily want the right to negotiate with nurses
singly on where they should be placed in the system and
how much they should get paid for certain jobs? Why not
allow those clauses in that agreement to be settled
independently so we can put this behind us?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, I sat with the ministers in a boardroom on the
eighth floor, and I guess we must have met with sixteen
or twenty nurses from all over the Province. That was a
year ago. I asked those nurses individually: What are
your issues? Some of them said: We are working double
shifts, we are tired and we are exhausted. Some of them
said: We can’t even plan our daughter’s wedding
because we don’t know if we are going to be able to
get off work to go to our daughter’s wedding. If there
are funerals, we can’t get off work.
That was a recruitment
problem. When you get into specific areas of the
Province where you have recruitment problems - and that
was the major issue that came from the nurses’ union
from day one when we started this process, about
seventeen months ago. We felt we had to have the
flexibility, as we do right across government in all of
the other unions and all the other professions, that
when there is a need, when there is a demand, we have to
be able to offer an attractive salary to ease the very
problems that nurses say exist; the fact that there
would be extra people there, there would be extra staff
to work, so that if a nurse did have to get off for her
daughter’s wedding she could. That is the reason we
stepped up there.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
It is obvious that there
is no really clear justification or answer as to why
government will not deal with those two particular
clauses in another fashion. To say that everyone else
accepted it is not a good enough response.
Mr. Speaker, nurses were
prepared to provide services in our health care system
minus the overtime shifts, but government has decided, I
say, Premier, in our opinion, to lock these nurses out.
I ask you today: Why
would you choose to lock these nurses out when they were
prepared to work regular shifts and provide the service
to the people of the Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, I think it is important to correct something up
front. There is no lockout. You cannot have a lockout
when individuals have already served notice of a strike,
so there is absolutely no lockout in this particular
case here.
Each of the health
authorities have entered into an essential service
agreement with the union. It has been agreed to and
negotiated – signed off, in fact, by both parties.
There is a section in those agreements that spells out
– and the union has signed off on this – indicating
what will happen in the event of a strike. So, they
serve notice of a strike; section 7 of those agreements
tell you exactly what will happen when there is a
strike.
One of the things that is
spelled out in that agreement is the essential
employees: employees who will be actually assigned to
certain work situations, assigned to various units, in
the event that there is a strike.
Clearly, (a) we have the
nurses union saying that there is a strike, and if there
is a strike then obviously those provisions in that
agreement must prevail.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister,
will you admit today that we have a health care system
in this Province that is being run on overtime, and when
that overtime was going to be pulled back the system was
at risk of collapsing? Does that not sound like a system
that needs work, needs repair, and does not need to have
closure invoked upon it?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, in Newfoundland and Labrador unions have a
legal right to strike. We respect that. We respect that
very much. That is why one of the things that we
obviously want to do as a system is to respect that
right to a legal strike, while at the same time
providing a level of comfort and security to the people
of Newfoundland and Labrador that they will have at
least emergency services, and people who need critical
care in the event of a strike, that that is going to be
provided. These essential service agreements spell out
what will be essential during a legal strike situation.
Any time we have an offer
to do something different than that, it puts the health
system in a very untenable situation. Unless we are
assured, unless we can be certain, as a Province and as
a government, as a people in this Province, that
essential services will be provided during a strike,
then we have a responsibility as a government to invoke
whatever agreements we have in place, such as essential
service agreements. We have a responsibility to invoke
those agreements, particularly when they have been
signed off by the union.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the
government has already stated that recruitment and
retention of nurses was a key part of their ongoing
negotiations, but they also stated that any settlement
that would be imposed upon nurses will not include the
extra monetary benefits that were previously negotiated.
I ask the Premier today: Besides
having some personal vendetta with nurses in this
Province, why would you want to remove the monetary
benefits that were designed by your government as part
of that negotiation to address recruitment and retention
in the first place?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, my mother is in hospital now. She has just had
surgery. That was, I think, last Wednesday. Since then,
at St. Clare’s Hospital, she has received absolutely
outstanding treatment from the nurses who took care of
her. They are courteous, they are capable, they are
professional, they are efficient, and they are tending
to her every need as they do with every other patient
who is up there.
Let me tell you
something: There is nothing personal about this under
any circumstances whatsoever. I have the greatest
respect for nurses, and I will continue to have the
greatest respect for nurses, but we are in a situation
here where the nurses’ union have chosen to go a
legislative route.
If nurses decide today,
or if nurses decide any time over the next three or four
weeks during the strike, that they want to accept the
contract, the contract will be there as it was offered
in the beginning, all of the items included; however, if
the nurses’ union chooses to put us in a situation
where we have no alternative than to legislate then
their goal, as I said all along, is to go to court,
which is the national agenda; their goal is to hopefully
win a court case and end up in arbitration. If that is
their goal - and this is where it could end up if they
win the case - we have no other choice than to legislate
the template under those circumstances.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, I say to the Premier, it is always a choice,
and it is your choice to make as a government. If you
really want to show respect to the nurses, as you say
today, I would ask the
government to give a commitment that any agreement,
whether it be through legislation or otherwise, would
reflect the monetary negotiated package that was
originally sought with nurses to deal with recruitment
and retention.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, the choice is with the nurses. We told the
leaders of the nurses’ union over a month ago that we
were giving a final offer. It was a very generous offer.
We stepped up on absolutely every area we could. We went
beyond the template, significantly beyond the template,
because we recognized that there were certain needs for
nurses in recruitment, retention, and all of the other
needs, so we went as far as we could.
We actually started this
process seventeen months ago because we felt that the
most critical issue in the Province was nurses, and
recruitment and retention. That is why we tried to
negotiate seventeen months ago. That dragged on. Both
parties did their very best. I remember even last May -
late May, June - we met with Ms Forward and basically
said we would like to get this matter resolved now. At
that time she had indicated that she could not pull a
negotiating team together for the summer. Then we sent
into September. We have tried everything since, but it
appears that no matter what we try there is a national
agenda here to have this matter tested in the courts,
and Newfoundland and Labrador will be the example. If
that is the goal then there is nothing we can do about
it only make a very generous offer and ask nurses to
accept it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Again,
Mr. Speaker, there is always something government can
do, and binding arbitration is the answer.
Mr. Speaker, this
heavy-handed approach of removing benefits like this
from the negotiating package will have a further impact.
Most of the eighty students this year who will be
graduating indicated that they will not stay in the
Province under the NAPE-CUPE contract template.
I ask the Premier today: If
you are serious about recruitment and retention issues,
and addressing those issues, why not commit to the
additional provisions to try and get most of those
eighty nurses, if not all, to stay and work in
Newfoundland and Labrador?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh,
oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I am told that one of the
comments made outside on the steps earlier today was
that this strike is unnecessary. Well, I certainly agree
with that, Mr. Speaker. Twenty-one and a half percent is
a very generous offer in itself, and addresses
recruitment and retention, but when you look at an offer
of 31 per cent that would make our nurses, the senior
nurses, the highest paid in Eastern Canada, I do not
know what more we can do, when you look at the fact that
we have broken pattern bargaining, as we were requested
to do.
Mr. Speaker, we have
tried to demonstrate to the nurses that we appreciate
the work they do and we care about the situation.
Unfortunately, as the Premier has pointed out, a package
offer was made and it is not a matter of, well, we will
take what we like and we will go to binding arbitration
on what we do not like. It is a package, Mr. Speaker,
and that package has been rejected.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, I have to remind the minister that the offer,
he says, stands. Well the offer stands, Minister, only
if it is your way, if it is your government’s way.
Outside of that, the offer is off the table. So, Mr.
Speaker, this is about punishment, not progress, when it
comes to dealing with the nursing issues and the issues
in the health care sector.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the
minister again: How does he
propose to launch some kind of a package that will
entice those eighty nurses who are graduating this year
to stay and work in Newfoundland and Labrador if you are
going to drop the entire monetary piece that was
associated with this?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury
Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Another one of the
comments, apparently, that was made outside today was:
See you in court.
Well, Mr. Speaker, this
is not about court for us. What this has been about from
day one is addressing the recruitment and retention
issues, and 21.5 per cent is still a very generous
offer. Another comment was made that we are the only
Province without an agreement. Well, we are also the
only Province that put on the table a 31 per cent offer,
27 per cent for senior nurses, and, by any extent, 21.5
per cent should be able to address recruitment and
retention.
The fact that the union
chooses not to accept our offer and takes the position,
we will see you in court, as the Premier has pointed
out, is very unfortunate. One has to wonder, Mr.
Speaker, is it really reflective of the majority of
nurses out there or is it simply the agenda that the
union appears to have?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
But this is a government
who always likes to get one up on the nurses. So,
minister, why not get one up on the nurses today, stop
the opportunity for them to go to court and go to
binding arbitration and have this issue settled once and
for all?
MR. SPEAKER: If
this is a question, I ask the hon. the Leader of the
Opposition to pose it now.
MS JONES: Yes,
Mr. Speaker.
I said to the minister,
the government likes to get one up on the nurses: So
why not get one up on the nurses in the court challenge
you keep referring to and send these issues to binding
arbitration immediately? That eludes the
opportunity for them to be able to do that.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury
Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Mr.
Speaker, it appears to be some kind of misconception or
a perception that we want to go to court or that we are
somehow afraid to go to court. Mr. Speaker, the case
that is continuously referred to by the president of the
union is one that imposes a duty to bargain in good
faith. Well, I would suggest to you, Mr. Speaker, that a
31 per cent offer is certainly a very good offer. That
the right outline in that case, Mr. Speaker, is to
process, not outcome. Essentially, at the end of the day
there is give-and-take in negotiations. We have given,
Mr. Speaker. We broke the template. We have increased
the wage offer to 31 per cent and we have increased
shift differential and standby rates. So, Mr. Speaker,
if you want a deal, then there has to be some
give-and-take.
I refer the hon. member
to her comments in 1999 where she said: You will get all
the concessions you want but that is a very idealistic
world. There has to be give-and-take. Her comments about
the president of the union, Mr. Speaker, are certainly
opposite of what she is saying today.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, the minister needs to be more concerned with
what he is saying today. He is the one who the entire
health care system is resting on your shoulders today
and your government’s shoulders to fix these problems.
Mr. Speaker, we already
know that the four health authorities have finalized
some contingency plans. We know that last week the
minister had a thick binder on his desk over there
called the strike plan for the health care sector.
So
maybe the minister can tell me today if you have read
that plan and maybe you can update the people of the
Province as to what level of care they can expect during
this lockout and whether any other services besides
emergency cases will be dealt with?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
As I indicated in the
House last week, each of our four authorities have
indeed developed a contingency plan using the essential
service agreement as a guide to determine the number of
staff that they will have available in each of the units
throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, in each of our
facilities, whether it is an institution-based or
community-based programming.
I said last week as well,
that emergency services and critical care areas,
particularly, we are going to be really focused on. In
fact, the staffing levels in most of those areas remain
consistent with what they might be today.
People will still get
their chemotherapy treatment that they need, people who
are on dialysis will continue to get dialysis services,
and will be able to – the system is designed, and that
is why these agreements are in place. These agreements
are in place to ensure the people who need essential
services get them. People who need emergency services
get them. People who are now in a hospital setting
needing critical care will get them, and those people
with chronic disease that need ongoing intervention will
continue to get that service.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
In light of the fact that
there were failed communications attempts during the
Cameron Inquiry by government and Eastern Health to
communicate with the public, hopefully there is a better
plan in place around this particular crisis in our
system.
I ask the minister, Mr.
Speaker, because there are a number of patients waiting
to hear whether their booked surgeries and their
treatments will take place. So I ask the minister: How
far in advance of schedule procedures will patients be
notified of any cancellations?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Each of our four
authorities started to take action to respond to the
notice. There is a seven day notice was provided by the
nurses’ union. When the authorities received those
notices they started a process then to start to make the
adjustments in the planned schedules starting this week,
tomorrow.
I understand that public
notices have been advertised in newspapers, and there
are some radio ads, where people are being advised of
clinic changes, provided with toll-free numbers to
contact, inquiries to be directed to a particular phone
number, calls are being made to patients to cancel
procedures and postpone procedures.
So that process of
advising the patients and the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador, both through public service announcements and
through direct contact by the authorities, is a process
that started when the seven day notice was provided.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the minister, as
well: Will the operating rooms
be functioning at emergency only capacity or will there
be any additional capacity available to address
non-emerging procedures and treatments that people have
been waiting for?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: We
will rely very heavily on the clinicians who are
providing support and services to patients, to determine
when a patient needs to have a surgical procedure
performed that might be important to have it done sooner
than later, something that cannot be postponed, cannot
be delayed. That is why we rely on those individuals to
make that clinical judgement.
Elective procedures will
be cancelled, but we will rely on clinicians to make the
determination whether or not it is safe for the patient
to have their surgery delayed for an extended period of
time. When those clinical people make that judgement
call, it is our responsibility as a system to provide
that response, and in fact, the essential service
agreements make a provision for that to happen.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
One of the clinics that
will be impacted by this lockout is the diabetes clinic
in the Innu community of Sheshatshiu. Diabetes, as we
know, is a major factor for Aboriginal people, and this
clinic gets a great deal of use in the community.
I ask the minister: What
services will be available to those patients during this
lockout?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Just
to correct the member opposite, because she is fuelling
a notion out there that this is a lockout. It is not a
lockout, Mr. Speaker. We are acknowledging, as the
Nurses’ Union have said, this is a legal strike, and
it is a legal strike. So it is not a lockout.
With respect to the
clinic in Sheshatshiu, nursing services in that clinic
will be impacted as a result of this strike. Physician
services will continue, the clinics will continue, Mr.
Speaker, and physicians who work in that clinic will
continue to provide services. All of the other
individuals who work at that clinic will continue to be
there and support the services of that clinic.
Sheshatshiu is a short
distance from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and services are
available in Happy Valley-Goose Bay as per the essential
services agreement, I say, Mr. Speaker. So those
individuals who have chronic illnesses that need to be
managed will be provided a level of support during this
period of a strike.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, it is the
right of all unionized workers involved in the
collective bargaining process to expect an arbitration
process if negotiations reach an impasse. The Nurses’
Union and government have reached that impasse.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the
Premier: Why is he determined to deny the nurses the
legislated right of binding arbitration?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Mr. Speaker, when there is a notice of strike, like we
have been served with last week, our primary
responsibility is to ensure that the safety and
well-being of patients are provided. That is one of the
reasons that our health authority, working with the
Nurses’ Union, negotiated essential service
agreements.
So we have mapped out in
those agreements what level of service will be provided
by a board, by an institution, by a community and by a
service. Within that agreement as well, there is mapped
out the number of nursing people that will be provided.
The agreements will reflect the number of nursing people
that will be provided by the union.
In some cases, the
Regional Health Authority, in providing individuals who
are trained as nurses, who are now working in management
positions, who have done some refreshers, are now going
to be able to work with those unionized employees to
continue to provide safe care to the patients who need
it, as outlined by these essential service agreements.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the
nurses’ union asked for binding arbitration before
they gave notice of strike. That happened after the
government said no to binding arbitration.
I ask the Premier: Why is
this government afraid of going to binding arbitration?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: The
first and foremost consideration, as I said a moment ago
in response to a question from the Leader of the
Opposition, we respect the union’s right to a strike.
We respect the collective bargaining process. The union
have made a decision that they want to go on strike and
they have served notice, as a provision that the
legislation provides for.
Our responsibility, then,
together with the health authorities, is to ensure that
we have an arrangement in place; we have an agreement in
place, a formalized agreement signed off by both
parties, that here are a list of programs and services
that are deemed to be essential during the event of a
strike. Our responsibility in respecting the union’s
right to strike and respecting our responsibility to
ensure that patients in Newfoundland and Labrador
continue to get a level of service that protects their
health and security in the event of a job action.
These essential service
agreements lay out for us, and lay out for the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador, the level of service that can
be expected during a work stoppage like we are about to
have.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, once again the minister and the government
refuse to answer the question of why they are saying no
to a binding arbitration. I point out to them that this
is not being lost on the people in this Province.
Mr. Speaker, the nurses wanted to go on an overtime
strike which means a nurse would work only his or her
regular forty hours a week. Mr. Speaker, this
Province’s four health authorities have made it clear
that they are unable to function without nurses working
massive overtime.
Mr. Speaker, now that we
have confirmation of this horrible state, I ask the
Premier: What plans does government have to fix this
glaring problem?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: I
just want to refer the member opposite to the question
provided by my colleague a moment ago with respect to
recruitment and retention. One of the things that we
acknowledge: we need to deal with recruitment and
retention in this Province. That is why we have made
such a generous offer. Unprecedented, I say, Mr.
Speaker. Nowhere else in this entire country, not only
within the health sector but with any other unionized
environment in this nation in recent past have we seen
an offer of 31 per cent, have we seen an offer of
tripling certain benefits like standby and shift
differentials. Unheard of, I say, Mr. Speaker.
Clearly, our government
recognizes our responsibility and recognizes the need to
deal with recruitment and retention. That is why we
stepped up to the plate and made such an attractive
offer. I think our offer - the offering in and of itself
- speaks volumes to our intention to try to deal with
recruitment and retention, and we would ask the union to
accept that offer as being what is very generous and
more generous than anywhere else in the entire country.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I understand we have time
for one more question, so I ask the Minister of Health:
There are over 200 nurses scheduled to complete their
clinical placements in the Province’s hospitals - a
lot of them were supposed to start today - and this
lockout will delay these plans and affect many who are
supposed to graduate this summer. I ask the minister: What
will be the impact of this lockout on the nurses who
could have continued their training and their work
terms, by the way, under the overtime strike provision?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, I am resisting taking the time up in Question
Period to keep correcting the member opposite but I
think it is important, because it is an important
message for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to
understand that this is not a lockout. This is a legal
strike that the nurses’ union have served notice on
government that they will start a legal strike tomorrow.
It is not a lockout.
Mr. Speaker, with respect
to the clinical placements of new graduates,
unfortunately, with disruptions like we are going to be
experiencing as of tomorrow there are going to be some
benefits that some of these students may have had that
now will be postponed for awhile. Mr. Speaker, it is our
intent to ensure that those clinical placements are
still provided. The orientation and training that those
individuals get are going to be critical to their
ability to continue their careers and be contributors to
our system, so I say, Mr. Speaker, those arrangements
will be made when the strike is over.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The time allotted for
questions and answers has expired. |
