St. John’s, NL – The Registered Nurses’ Union Newfoundland & Labrador (RNU) has reached a tentative agreement with the provincial government and the four Regional Health Authorities.
Debbie Forward, RNU President, commends the hard work of their negotiating team in establishing an agreement that addresses the priorities of the membership. The negotiating team is recommending acceptance.
The tentative agreement includes a number of improvements for registered nurses, patients and the health care system including:
- A Core Staffing Review in select areas to be conducted to assess the workload of RNs;
- The creation of 35 additional permanent float positions;
- An extension of Maternity/Adoption/Parental Leave and select benefits from 52 weeks to 78 weeks;
- Strengthened Professional Practice Language;
- No layoffs to achieve provincial budgetary expenditure reductions during the life of the agreement; and,
- A forum through the Office of the Status of Women to discuss workplace violence prevention in healthcare.
Specific details of the tentative agreement will be shared with members in the next few days.
“We consulted with registered nurses to identify their bargaining priorities,” said Forward. “These are the priorities our negotiating team brought to the table and fought hard for in a tough economic environment. The result is the best agreement possible and I believe that when members have a chance to review the agreement details they will be prepared to accept.”
RNU will now take the tentative agreement to its membership for a ratification vote in the coming weeks.
Forward will be available for further comment on the tentative agreement at the following:
Date: Tuesday March 26, 2019
Time: 1:00 pm
Location: RNU Office, 229 Majors Path, St. John’s, NL
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For more information please contact:
Kristian Styles
Cell: 709-691-0889
kstyles@rnunl.ca