HALIFAX- After 12 days of bargaining, workers at Halifax Water, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 227, have voted overwhelming in favour of strike action.
CUPE National Representative Karen MacKenzie says there were 13 concessions on the table at the start of bargaining, most of which will negatively affect work-life balance.
The Nova Scotia Council of Nursing Unions (NSNU, NSGEU, CUPE and Unifor) and the employer group have completed collective bargaining and are referring all remaining matters in dispute to Arbitrator William Kaplan. Mr. Kaplan was named as mediator-arbitrator for all Acute Care collective agreements, in an agreement that was ratified by a large majority of workers in May 2018. The 20-member Nursing Council began collective bargaining in early September and meetings with the employers continued until early this week. As a result, the issues that must be resolved by Mr. Kaplan have been narrowed considerably. Written submissions will be made to Mr. Kaplan by the end of this week and we expect him to issue his order, setting the terms of the new Nursing collective agreement, shortly after he reviews the submissions. Once the Nursing Council receives the order, the unions will share a link to the agreement on their … Read more…
Halifax – Please join us for a public panel discussion on November 13, 2018. Hear more about the call for public accountability legislation in Nova Scotia, and improved disclosure rules for the procurement of public services and infrastructure. LOCATION: Halifax Farmers Market, 2nd Floor TIME: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 13, 2018 PANELISTS: Keith Reynolds, Policy Analyst with the Columbia Institute Chris Parsons, Coordinator of the Nova Scotia Health Coalition Christine Saulnier, Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – Nova Scotia Moderated by Erica Butler, freelance journalist and transportation columnist with the Halifax Examiner. A more transparent and cost-effective approach to public procurement will ensure we can afford all the hospitals, highways, education, long term care and other public services we rely on. Nova Scotians should demand new disclosure requirements and reporting standards for P3 contracts. There should be no secrets when public money is spent on … Read more…