This is good news. Sometimes bargaining works but it often doesn't make much news. Strikes are more newsworthy. The government needed to up wages to compete with other provinces even though Manitoba is not as rich as Alberta or even Sask. now perhaps.
Nurses, Manitoba government reach tentative labour agreement
Last Updated: Monday, March 10, 2008 | 8:30 AM CT CommentsRecommendCBC News
Manitoba's nurses have reached a tentative contract agreement with the provincial government after a day and night of negotiations on the weekend.
The province's 11,000 nurses had expected to hold a strike vote Monday; nurses had already stopped accepting extra shifts in late February.
The two parties came to a two-year agreement around midnight Saturday, after 12 hours of negotiations.
The nurses wanted higher wages, and that's exactly what they got, said Manitoba Nurses' Union president Maureen Hancharyk.
An arbitrator will set wages in October so Manitoba nurses will become the fourth-highest-paid nurses in Canada, she said.
"It's very good news," she said. "We have a good offer that will keep Manitobans competitive across the country. The settlement is a two-year agreement that calls for a 10 per cent increase."
Although the tentative agreement addressed some issues that will help keep nurses on the job in Manitoba, Hancharyk said a general nursing shortage still needs attention. The province is short about the equivalent of 840 nurses, the union said last month.
Hospital staff across the province have begun rescheduling elective surgeries that had been cancelled in preparation for a possible strike.
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