For Immediate Release
October 8, 2003
Nurses vote against unfair process
of compulsory arbitration
Over 600 Registered nurses, delegates from all across the province, voted to confirm their opposition to compulsory arbitration at the United Nurses of Alberta annual meeting in Edmonton on Monday.
“Arbitration is not a fair process. It’s a stacked deck,” says UNA President Heather Smith. “The mediator said his recommendations are the same as what could be expected out of arbitration. Those recommendations were rejected by a 98.8% vote of nurses.”
The Health Regions’ contract plan would let them move nurses from hospital to hospital and force even more work out of their nursing staff. It’s a plan that would compromise safe care and endanger patients.
Heather Smith said nurses are disappointed that Human Resources Minister Clint Dunford has agreed to compulsory arbitration for the nurses’ contract talks. “We had asked the Minister not to grant the Health Regions’ request for arbitration. We asked him to order the Health Regions back to the table for real negotiations instead,” she said at the meeting.
On Monday, UNA released a public opinion poll that showed 88% of Albertans oppose and strongly oppose the plan to force nurses to move from hospital to hospital. 66% of those polled also opposed forcing the contract plan on to nurses.
“The poll showed that the more people know about what the Health Regions want to do to the nurses’ contract, the more strongly they oppose it being forced on to the nurses in this province,” Heather Smith said.
United Nurses of Alberta members have repeatedly voted to maintain a standing policy to reject arbitration since the provincial government made strikes by nurses illegal in 1983.
Delegates at the meeting also decided to make a further effort to encourage the Regions to negotiate seriously. They directed their provincial negotiating committee to reassess the situation by October 31. If the committee finds talks are not proceeding, nurses said they should call a provincial Reporting meeting of nurses to decide what steps to take.
Heather Smith pointed out that there have yet to be truly meaningful negotiations. Nurses put forward a new proposal on September 18 that “addresses the Regions real needs. But it’s been a real frustration for us. Their response was to refuse to continue negotiating, but in fact they are legally obligated to negotiate.”
“A negotiated agreement is the only acceptable resolution,” Heather Smith said. “We want a negotiated contract that nurses can agree with.”
The nurses’ meeting continues at the Agricom today and tomorrow, Oct. 8th and 9th. The meeting is open to the public and news media at 1 pm on Wednesday for the talk by guest speaker, Wendy Armstrong on long-term care in Alberta.
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