Manitoba's nurses say they're through singing in the rain
David Square
CMAJ 1999;160:1280
© 1999 David Square
Manitoba's nurses say they're mad and they're not going to take it anymore. They have demanded a 26% pay increase over 2 years, as well as increased overtime rates, a boost in transportation allowance and improved employee benefits.
"We've accepted rollbacks, layoffs and cutbacks to hospitals for most of this decade and now we want something back," says Manitoba Nurses' Union (MNU) president Maureen Hancharyk. She said sacrifices made by Manitoba's 11 000 nurses have contributed substantially to a $380-million rainy-day contingency fund created by the government of Premier Gary Filmon.
"I've got a message for Mr. Filmon. It's pouring and it's time to open the rainy-day fund because the MNU's contract with the government expires Mar. 31, 1999," says Hancharyk. Most Manitoba nurses earn $21.65 per hour, placing them eighth in Canada. Nurses in British Columbia and Ontario earn $25.98 and $28.39 per hour, respectively, Hancharyk said.
In an interview, Filmon said nurses rejected a government offer of a 6% wage increase over 3 years, along with binding arbitration to resolve other differences. With a provincial election about to be called, Filmon says he would like to see the present disagreement settled as soon as possible. "But it is unrealistic to pay the nurses from the rainy-day fund because it can only be accessed once. We'll pay the nurses at a level our provincial economy, ranked about fifth in Canada, can reasonably support on a long-term basis," he said, adding that annual increases of 2% for 3 years is reasonable.
But a spokesman for the MNU said the government is kidding itself if it thinks nurses will settle for anything less than their current demands. These include a 15% salary increase effective Apr. 1, l999, and a further 11% increase Apr. 1, 2000; maximum pay levels would increase from $50 173 to $53 256 after a 15% increase. The total annual cost to the government to Apr. 1, 2000, would be $150 million, according to the MNU.
John Laplume, executive director of the Manitoba Medical Association, was reluctant to comment on the dispute. "However," he said, "a strike by the MNU would make it extremely difficult for doctors in Manitoba to work at an optimum level."
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