A weeklong arbitration hearing into how thousands of Nova Scotia health-care workers will be organized at the provinces hospitals and clinics wrapped up Saturday.

Arbitrator James Dorsey has until Jan. 1 to issue a decision on the fate of the labour structure of unionized health-care workers in Nova Scotia unless Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine extends the deadline.

Under the Liberal governments controversial health-care bill, 49 acute-care bargaining units would be reduced to four, with each union representing only one of those units.

The four health-care unions Unifor, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Nova Scotia Nurses Union and the Nova Scotia Government & General Employees Union have argued that the move strips workers of their rights to determine representation.

The five-day hearing between the unions and the province comes after months of debate over cuts to health-care bargaining units and district health authorities in Nova Scotia.

Everybody walked out of there yesterday feeling a little bit of battle fatigue, NSGEU president Joan Jessome said in an interview Sunday. Its been a rough year.

Although the unions found common ground during the hearing on health-care worker seniority and collective agreements, they disagreed on the structure and representation of bargaining units.

Citing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the NSGEU argued that health-care workers should have the right to vote on which union to be part of.

I think the only way forward is to give health-care workers the right to choose through a vote, Jessome said. I think that is the only position that will give some level of peace into the future.

But Unifor Atlantic director Lana Payne said holding a vote is a very divisive exercise that pits unions against unions.

Go here to see the original:

Arbitrators decision on fate of health-care unions to be known by Jan. 1