Nurses face a “damning, disastrous cycle”

Nurses face a “damning, disastrous cycle”
by Gord Dunphy


Dear Editor;
I am the son of a nurse, the husband of a nurse and the brother-in-law of an injured nurse. Actually my son, Mark who will graduate as an Architectural Engineering Technologist in May of 2009, has a girlfriend who will complete a Bachelor of Nursing Program from Memorial University in May 2009 and after this they’re off to Calgary, the loss of another young nurse from our province. From this, you can see that I am in the position to be very familiar with the encounters that nurses had to deal with over the years and the situation they continue to struggle with as they try to gain wage parity and respect
I was there to see the difficult task of my parents raising eight children and upon completion of this never ending task, my mother went back to school and completed an R.N. program at the age of 51 years. I was there when my wife graduated from St. Clare’s School of Nursing and was lucky enough to get her first job at the Cottage Hospital in Grand Bank as a Registered Nurse, for a mere $12,000/year. She is still working today but in order to have some quality of life, she has taken a casual position but works full-time hours. She does this in order to have some sort of quality and control over her life, after working for 30 years in our health care system. I was also there to see my sister in law, go through 4 surgeries, as a result of injuries she received while performing her nursing duties right here in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

It's a damning, disastrous cycle

What I have witnessed over the years is a “damning, disastrous cycle”. In 1999 the nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador brought their concerns to government, sort of a revolution in its own right, where a predominantly women’s profession were coming of age. They were looking for wage parity with their Atlantic counterparts. This group of professionals were looking for respect, but what happened? The Liberal Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, then led by Premier Brian Tobin, didn’t feel this profession were worthy of pay equality nor did they get any respect from the Liberal Government. As a result of this arrogant leader and his government, the nurses voted for a strike and took to the streets. Next came the lowest form of democracy, when Premier Tobin and his government legislated the nurses back to work, giving the nurses nothing more than a slap in the face. Shortly afterwards this same individual left the province and took up permanent residency in Ontario.

Are we about to see a repeat?

Strangely enough, some ten years later, I see a province that has a new vision. I see a Premier that campaigned with a focus on “Real Leadership”. I see a Premier in Danny Williams who is the envy of all other provinces, leading our province to the point where we are now considered a “have” province in Canada. There is no doubt that this new Progressive Conservative government has brought new life to our beautiful province, something that I boost loudly about and something that I’m sure every Newfoundlander is very proud of. However, I see something occurring that I am not very proud of. I see a government that is about to nail it again to the nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador. As you realize, the nurses are trying to negotiate a new contract and if early indications are a reflection of what we are about to see, it appears the nurses will be again be on the short end of the stick. In the early rounds of negotiations, government told the nurses they are going with pattern bargaining, a form of bargaining that provides a template that allows all in the public sector to reap the same benefits, be it good or be it bad. Because government had come to an earlier agreement with CUPE, nurses were told that the CUPE agreement would be the foundation of the nurses agreement. Obviously, the nurses union felt this was discrimination and as a result they rightfully walked away from the table. Since then, the nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador have been told the offer of 20% raise increase over 4 years is off and further more, should they vote for a strike, they will be legislated back to work and will not receive the rights to binding arbitration because government will change this law and will give them what they see fit.

I’m shocked

I must say I’m shocked at how the nurses of our province are being treated. Sometimes I sit back and say to myself, “ Is this really being done to this group because it is a predominately women’s profession, or is it because we so used to being ranked the lowest on the totem pole that we must feel it’s acceptable?” The starting salary for a nurse in New Brunswick is $15,000 more that nurses in NL and, in Nova Scotia; a nurse is paid 18% more than in NL.

Stay the course

In conclusion I would like to tell the nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador to stand strong together. You are the people who truly know what kind of crisis our health care system is in today. You are the people who are working with a shortfall of 1000 nurses. You are the people who are working mandatory overtime, being denied annual leave and struggling to keep it all going. You are the ones who will be there at the bedside of our loved ones in their time of need .Now is the time for government to be there to realise how valuable you are and what you are worth to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador!!

Respectfully yours,
Gord Dunphy