Health-care workers in Nova Scotia have voted to ratify a new contract.
A tentative agreement was reached between the Council of Health Care Unions and the province on Aug. 30, avoiding a potential strike.
The two-year agreement involves more than 9,000 health-care workers across 185 different occupations, working at health-care facilities operated by Nova Scotia Health and IWK Health.
They include physiotherapists, lab staff, psychologists, continuing care assistants, social workers and pharmacists.
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Workers voted in favor of the deal by 79 per cent, according to a news release from the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union (NSGEU).
“This deal was tough to achieve, but is fair,” said NSGEU president Sandra Mullen in the release. “It recognizes the critical role these health care professionals play in delivering the care Nova Scotians so desperately need.”
The contract includes economic increases, two targeted wage adjustments and steps added to pay scales.
“This agreement shows healthcare workers that we want to keep them in Nova Scotia, sets wages and benefits that will help in recruitment and retention, and allows us to continue the transformation into a modern, high-performing healthcare system,” said Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson, in a news release from the province.
The province says the contract runs from Nov. 1, 2023, to Oct. 31, 2025.
