I just want to say to all Nova Scotians that democracy has taken a step backwards today! I have been an RN for 31 years and I have been in a strong union that has been willing to fight along with us for the issues we find important. We have lead the way in contract negotiations for nurses across this province. When NSGEU nurses fight for better working conditions, wages and benefits, ALL NURSES in this province have benefited! Now we are being told we must go into the union of the Governments choice! ( doesnt this just fly in the face of workers choosing who will be their voice??) I have gone through hardship before... In the early 90s during the Savage Govt,we were told to tighten our belts to get the provincial debt under control. We were given 3% wage rollbacks, unpaid days off ( savage days!) and no raises for 10 years! I suffered financially and emotionally during those years. We were forced to sell our house since both my husband and I had our wages rolled back. This was right at the time in our lives when we had 2 small babies and a mortgage that became difficult to pay with shrinking paycheques. The stress during those years took its toll, eventually leading to a marriage breakdown and divorce. I have gone thru the Hamm Govt also trying to legislate Bill 68 which would have completely taken away any rights to bargain collectively. We fought that hard battle and won for all of NS to enjoy! When the Dexter Govt told us we could only have 1% raises for 2 years, we endured that as well. Our contract has been expired for 2 YEARS, ( Oct, 2012) We tried our best to get a contract settled in the Spring of this year, not fighting for wages, but safe Nurse to patient ratios. We were legislated back to work after 1 day of a legal strike and 1 illegal day. Bill 37 was passed, forcing us to do essential service agreements before we could proceed. ( not really necessary anyway because we always sat down with employers before a strike to work out details) This has been worked on since April and STILL isnt completely done! We have another contract due to expire in Oct 2014 and we still dont have the previous 2012 one done! Now we are going to be forced into a union we wont get to decide on AND a mediator will decide which parts of our old contract we will keep. Well no doubt be put into the NSNU which has historically been a weaker union. We are being told to expect more wage restraint and a 5 year contract so they can shut us up for a longer period of time. In the meantime, the big Health district merger continues with no financial savings as promised and big financial compensation to displaced CEOs and VPs. But our Premier assures Nova Scotians that front line healthcare workers will not be affected!! BULLSHIT! We are taking the brunt of all this stress and uncertainty! Ive been thru 2 previous Healthcare mergers and they NEVER saved money. They created frustration and Chaos amongst the workers but COST more money in the long run! Everyone thinks us public sector workers have it so good. Lets pull everyone down in this province until we are all paid minimum wage and have no pensions,just like many private sector jobs. Lets not strive to make this province better for ALL workers... Lets bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator! That will REALLY help Nova Scotia wont it???? I dont know about you all, but I work damn hard at my job and I have a ton of responsibility. I am completely exhausted at the end of my work day from running full out and being there emotionally for those patients dealing with cancer. I am a wonderful Registered Nurse with a lot of knowledge , training and skill. I make a difference EVERYDAY I go to work. I am tired of fighting the government! I would far rather put my energy into other more important things. I am looking forward to leaving this profession sooner rather than later.... Too bad for NS because you will see a mass exodus of 50+ yr olds retiring early and you will lose all our experience and life saving knowledge in the workplace......
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 01:44:26 +0000
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