Nurses who work at Health Sciences Centre are so disgruntled with the health care system, they have rejected a tentative contract.
The 3,400 nurses, who are employed by Shared Health, are the only group to reject the four-year deal; their colleagues at Manitoba’s five other health authorities approved it.
The Manitoba Nurses Union announced the results of the two-day contract vote late Friday.
“This tentative agreement was accepted by five out of six regions, with only Shared Health voting by a slight majority to reject the offer,” said president Darlene Jackson.
“Clearly there are big issues in our public system that need addressing. This government has said they’ve started to audit agencies pillaging nurses. We say it’s about time. Bring on the culture change, the patient ratios and the respect MNU’s members are demanding.”
The deal has annual general wage increases of 2.5 per cent retroactive to April 1, 2.75 in 2025 and three per cent in the third and fourth years.
Highlights include pay hikes for working weekends, in remote areas and emergency rooms, and rewards nurses for long service.
There’s an across-the-board “market adjustment” increase of one per cent retroactive to April 1 for all classifications, and pay increases for long service with the creation of 15-year and 25-year salary steps, in addition to increasing the 20-year step.
MNU represents more than 12,000 nurses of all designations from across Manitoba.
The union says it will head back to the bargaining table for the nurses who are employed by Shared Health. A strike vote is expected.
Nurses in the Winnipeg, Interlake-Eastern, Prairie Mountain, Southern and Northern regional health authorities ratified the contract.
The Health Sciences Centre emergency department has been the scene of violent incidents. The union has filed grievances to push for more robust security measures to better protect staff, patients and the public. A month ago, institutional safety officers began working at HSC.
The Free Press reported the death of a patient following an event in which police rushed to Health Sciences Centre on Sunday. A man, who was initially taken to the Crisis Response Centre on Bannatyne Avenue, died after self-harming, while he was on a hospital ward for treatment.
“It was very catastrophic for everybody who was there,” a source said.
It’s being probed as a critical incident.
The emergency department has been plagued by long times amid staffing shortages.
— Free Press staff