December 19, 2003
Negotiations with Sims to run January 6, 7 and 8
January 6th to the 8th have been set for provincial negotiation days to be facilitated by Andy Sims.
“The Employers have agreed to use Mr. Sims in a sincere attempt to reach a negotiated collective agreement,” reports David Harrigan, UNA’s Director of Labour Relations.
UNA has made it clear to the Health Regions that giving the arbitration panel a chance to facilitate a possible settlement does not mean that nurses agree to go into actual arbitration.
“We hope the Employers finally realize that arbitration is not an option to fall back on and it’s time to get serious about bargaining,” says UNA President Heather Smith.
“A negotiated settlement that nurses vote on is essential,” she says. “It is the way nurses have input into safe working conditions. The members have made it clear only negotiations can reach an agreement. No arbitration!”
The full panel, chair Andy Sims, the Health Regions’ appointee Bill Armstrong and UNA’s appointee Lyle Kanee will all be assisting with the renewed negotiation effort.
UNA does not agree to arbitration, but is hopeful talks facilitated by panel chair Sims have a chance at reaching a negotiated agreement
On December 11 UNA made a joint announcement with PHAA of the appointment of a single arbitration panel, with Andy Sims as the chair. UNA made it clear that in agreeing to the single panel, nurses are not agreeing to go to arbitration. In fact UNA made it explicit that nurses will not accept arbitration hearings or a ruling that imposes a contract.
The Negotiating Committee agreed to the single panel because it opens another chance to reach a negotiated agreement. Board chair Andy Sims must attempt to facilitate the talks before beginning the arbitration process and hearings. Andy Sims is a well-respected lawyer who has successfully mediated many disputes. Agreeing to the panel and the facilitated talks also stopped the Regions and Human Resources and Employment Minister Clint Dunford from unilaterally appointing an arbitrator and possibly moving fast to a one-sided “hearing” and a speedy arbitration decision.
A provincial Reporting Meeting would not be called until these facilitated talks either reach a settlement or show no progress.
If there is a settlement, the Negotiating Committee would call a Reporting Meeting to decide whether to put the settlement to a ratification vote. If there is a breakdown in talks and arbitration appears imminent the Committee would call a provincial Reporting Meeting to decide what further steps or action to take to prevent arbitration from going forward, including a province-wide vote.
Provincial Negotiations—talks in December make no progress
Little progress was made at provincial negotiations on December 10. After putting forward a new proposal with even more rollbacks on November 24, the Health Regions had nothing new to add. The latest proposals from the Regions were worse than the mediator’s recommendations and again included changes that would reduce the nurse-in-charge provisions.
On December 11, the talks shifted again to Bill 27 negotiations. This time they focused on the Chinook Region agreement. Under Bill 27 each of the new Regional contracts needs to be negotiated. The UNA Negotiating Committee has pointed out to the Regions that having both provincial negotiations and Bill 27 region by region negotiations is not only confusing but could lead to conflicts if different agreements were to be reached in the two sets of talks.
Not a creature was stirring – not even a mouse
“I hold the record for the number of mice killed on our shift,” Janice Douglas, President of Local #60 in Milk River said at the recent UNA South District meeting. Actually, she added later, it was just two mice, but it was still the record. The problem of mice sneaking in, sometimes through ER doors that are open at night, comes up in many facilities and sometimes there are issues about who has to deal with them. If the maintenance staff does not get rid of the mice, nurses often find they end up taking them on. At another rural facility, a pair of mice got nicknamed Minnie and Mickey—until they were discovered in the food in the kitchen. Janice, by the way, uses a broom to dispatch mice she finds on her unit.
National Health Council formed without Alberta
The federal government has finally moved ahead and created the Health Council of Canada—with 25 board members from across the country—to monitor health care spending and reforms. But the Alberta government has refused to participate. Outgoing federal Health Minister Anne McLellan said that the council is not “a federal watchdog over provincial health care” and will be an independent entity from the government.
The Alberta government is quoted in media reports as saying the Health Council intrudes on provincial jurisdiction and is too bureaucratic. “Let’s be clear. We don’t have a Canadian health care system, we have 10 provinces and two territories, all of which operate their own health care systems,” said Health and Wellness Minister Gary Mar.
The Council was one of the key recommendations from the Romanow health care commission.
While the province has declined to name representatives to the Council, there are Albertans involved. Jeanne Besner, the President of the Alberta Association of Registered Nurses was named to the Council, as was Dr. Robert McMurtry former chief of surgery at the Foothills. The chair of the Council is Michael Decter who, nurses will recall, also chaired the Canadian Nursing Advisory Council (CNAC).
Klein muses about dropping federal health funding
In his year-end interviews with journalists Ralph Klein said he was putting forward the option of going without about $1.2 billion a year in federal health care funding. The federal funding is the carrot that keeps provinces tied to the accessibility and universality conditions in Medicare, and to the Canada Health Act. Threats of withholding federal dollars have been used in the past to keep provinces within the Canada Health Act, including millions of dollars of funding stopped by the federal government when Alberta experimented with health care user fees in the early 90s.
New Ontario government says it will make public medicare the law
Ontario’s new Liberal government says it will put an end to privatization in health care with a new law it says will protect universal, public medicare in the province. “Every member of our society has an equal right to quality health care based on need, not income,” says George Smitherman, the Minister of Health and Long-term Care. “That’s why we overturned their plans and moved quickly to ensure that new hospitals in Ottawa and Brampton will be publicly owned, publicly controlled, and publicly accountable.” The government actually only tweaked the hospital contracts, however, and although they will now be publicly owned, instead of privately-owned, the balance of the P3 proposal is going ahead including private financing and private provision of laundry and other services in the hospitals. The estimated
12% extra cost of using P3 contracts to build the hospitals will still be there.
SARS report highlights danger of moving nurses
This week’s interim report of Ontario’s inquiry into the SARS crisis has again reinforced the importance of good nursing conditions for patient safety, UNA said in a news release this week.
“Dr. David Walker’s report makes it plain that moving nurses from hospital to hospital is dangerous for patients, which is exactly what we have been saying about the Health Regions’ plans for mobility in Alberta” says UNA President Heather Smith. “Their plan to move nurses around to ‘manage’ inadequate nurse staffing is dangerous for patients. Nurses cannot accept it.”
“Part-time/casual staff work at multiple sites, … may contribute to the spread of disease,” reports the Expert Panel struck by the Ontario government to investigate how the SARS outbreak happened.
The report also calls for boosts to regular full-time health care staffing. “The panel supports ongoing efforts to increase enrollment in key health professions. As well, we believe that at least 70% of hospital healthcare worker positions should be full-time…existing rates of casual, part-time, and agency employment are undermining efforts to ensure a stable and cohesive work place,” the report says.
“Cohesive nursing teams are essential to safe nursing care,” says Heather Smith. “Alberta has one of the lowest levels of full-time staffing in the country. Nurses should not be forced to work shifts at different facilities to try to cobble together a reasonable living. Not only is it hazardous, it is a major disincentive in nursing, and contributes to the shortage.”
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