Published on September 29, 2014

The new Health Authorities Act was met with hostility even before its introduction in the Nova Scotia Legislature Monday evening.

A representative from the National Union of Public and General Employees, of which the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union is a component and is one of four unions representing health-care workers in the province, is calling the bill the most offensive piece of legislation relating to health care restructuring and unions that they have seen.

Larry Brown, an elected officer of the national union, was in Halifax for a briefing from the government about the legislation.

The legislation is deliberately presenting a falsehood to the people of Nova Scotia. It talks about a process of mediation as if somehow that was a real process. But in the legislation, its a charade. There is no possible way that mediation as described in the bill can work, he said.

In a media release, the government states that the act simplifies the labour landscape in health care, and promises mobility for health-care workers as well as a reduction of the number of rounds of bargaining from 50 to four.

All existing health-care unions will be kept, the release says, but mandates that workers who do the same types of jobs would be represented by the same union.

The provincial health authority and the IWK would bargain with unions under the act, and a mediator would work with unions and employers to determine which union will represent each of the four bargaining units, and other issues such as respecting seniority, the release says.

The act is not expected to impact wages, pensions, and health care benefits.

Right now, the health-care system spends between 1,000 and 2,000 hours each year on labour negotiations. We need our system to spend that time focusing on patients," said Glavine. "We need a labour structure that supports our provincial approach. Mediation will ensure that unions, and their members, continue to have a voice in what that structure looks like."

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Health Authorities Act concerns union representing health care workers