Registered Nurse Collective Agreement Nl

The Province`s Registered Nurses Union reached a preliminary agreement through contractual negotiations with the provincial government and its four regional health agencies. Union president Debbie Forward said she was pleased with the preliminary agreement. Health Minister John Haggie said he looks forward to continuing to work with the Nurses Union to improve the health care system in Newfoundland and Labrador. „We believe this agreement is the best option for our members and we recommend accepting it,“ Forward said. The interim agreement extends the union`s current collective agreement for a further two years and remains unchanged, with the exception of the wage increase and changes to pension benefits. In announcing an agreement, the province said it has achieved significant results in collective bargaining over the past 12 months and has achieved 25 ratified collective agreements in addition to this interim agreement. „The renewal of this agreement supports unions, employers and workers.“ „The result is the best deal possible, and I think if members have the opportunity to check the details of the deal, they will be willing to accept it.“ In an email to CBC News, the union said that starting March 31, current employees, who qualify for group insurance in retirement, will continue to share the cost of 50-50 premiums. When it`s retirement time, new nurses hired after March 31 pay 60 per cent of the premiums, while the employer pays the other 40. The preliminary agreement, the adoption of which has yet to be voted on by the 5,200-member union, contains a number of improvements for registered nurses, patients and the health system, including a substantive assessment of staff in certain areas, which will be carried out to assess the workload of registered nurses; the creation of 35 additional permanent float positions; the extension of maternity/adoption/parental leave and the choice of benefits from 52 weeks to 78 weeks; not layoffs to help the province reduce spending over the life of the agreement.

The provincial government and the Registered Nurses` Union of Newfoundland and Labrador have reached an interim agreement on contract renewal. „The renewal of our contract will bring stability to our members, patients and the healthcare system in these very uncertain times.“ The contract applies to some 5,300 members of the RNU, or just over half of the people transferred by the members. „These are the priorities that brought our bargaining team to the table and fought hard in a challenging economic environment,“ Debbie Forward, president of the Union of Nurses Newfoundland and Labrador (RNU), said in a press release. . . .