Union wants better wages for nurses at one of busiest Maritime hospitals
Emergency room nurses at one of the busiest hospitals in the Maritimes are asking their employer to recognize their training and pay them accordingly.
"Our nurses are working 12 to 16 hour days. We have nurses that have 25 years' experience. Very difficult to get time off," said Hugh Gillis, the first president of the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union (NSGEU).
The NSGEU is now going public with its plea to improve working conditions for nurses at the Halifax Infirmary's emergency department.
The union says it's also about pay and retention. Gillis points to salary comparisons for nurses working with Nova Scotia Health and travel nurses who work for private agencies that then get hired by the province.
“When we have nurses for Nova Scotia Health being paid half of what private nurses are making in the province, we simply can’t compete," he said.
Gillis says this leads to nurses leaving for other jurisdictions and burnout. The NSGEU wants the province to level the playing field.
In a statement to CTV News, officials with the Department of Health and Wellness say they are trying.
“We know nurses and other health-care workers are tired and need support. While we continue to work to train and recruit more nurses, we know retention measures will also be needed. We continue to work on this, both through nursing negotiations and as part of the budget process,” read the statement.
Nurse practitioner Tammy O'Rourke says the NSGEU is "right on target."
She says she works with many young nurses entering the profession.
“They do want a work/life balance, they want security and you know, they want respect. They want to be treated for the education that they’ve obtained, a four year undergraduate degree,” O’Rourke says.
An education that they say right now in Nova Scotia is not paying off.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.