NS Health Support workers file for conciliation amid weak financial offer from the Houston government

HALIFAX, NS, March 25, 2025 /CNW/ - The Health Support Council of Unions has filed for conciliation as negotiations for 4,600 workers with the IWK and Nova Scotia Health hit a brick wall.

"This round of health care negotiations should be an easy win for Premier Houston amid the many other far more complex negotiations going on ? just treat health support workers fairly and put an offer on the table that respects the people who make hospitals work," said Unifor Atlantic Regional Director Jennifer Murray. "If you want the lights on in the ORs, patients fed and rooms cleaned, it's time to deliver for the final of Nova Scotia's four bargaining units in acute care."

The call for a government-appointed conciliator was filed jointly by the Health Support Council of Unions and the employers, with an acknowledgement that negotiations had reached an impasse.

"All health care workers deserve a fair deal that will help them keep pace with our affordability crisis," said NSGEU President Sandra Mullen. "Health Support workers are an invaluable part of the overall health care team and should be treated as such by this government."

The Health Support Council of Unions, led by Unifor with representatives from NSGEU and CUPE, began negotiations in September 2024, looking to bring this bargaining unit up to the standards and wage increases previously won by the Nurses, Health Care, and Administrative Professionals bargaining units.

"Health care support workers are vital to the smooth running of all hospitals in Nova Scotia and yet the Houston government is determined to drag out bargaining while offering them little to ease the ever-increasing burden of the cost-of-living crisis," said CUPE 8920 President Dianne Frittenburg. "We're only asking for the same treatment our fellow health care workers received, but this government has continued to show little respect for us and our work by refusing to table a similar offer."

Essential services negotiations are ongoing and, once completed, would put thousands of health care workers in a legal strike position, if required.

The Council of Support Unions, made up of representatives from Unifor, NSGEU and CUPE, represents 4,600 workers in acute health care in Nova Scotia who support patients as utility workers, mechanics, skilled trades workers, power engineers, dietary aides, porters, laundry workers and more. Unions representing workers in acute care in Nova Scotia bargain as a council in four bargaining units divided by job classifications in Nursing, Health Care, Administrative Professionals, and Health Support.

SOURCE Unifor