Medicine Hat nurse hopes tentative union agreement has ‘trickle down effect’

“We want public health care,” she said.

“They’re pillaring our system. And it’s very uncertain.”

The union, which represents more than 30,000 nurses in Alberta, says the agreement will significantly improve wages.

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READ: Medicine Hat nurses, among other unions, rally for safe staffing and patient care

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The contract includes an immediate wage increase of 15 per cent for registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses.

Formal mediation began in January after workers voted in October 2024 to reject recommendations that had been reached through informal mediation.

The union says the tentative agreement also covers issues like staffing shortages, rural health care and job security amid the province’s restructuring of public health care.

The union also received a letter signed by Health Minister Adriana LaGrange.

The letter states that any job transfers of an RN or RPN due to the government’s restructuring of public health care will preserve contractual benefits and union representation.

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, visited Medicine Hat on Tuesday as part of a tour to rally the many public sector unions across the province currently at the bargaining table.

McGowan pointed to the new agreement for nurses as a example of what can be accomplished when workers are coming together to put pressure on the province.

“It’s pretty clear that the reason that they got that tentative agreement is because they demonstrated very clearly to the government that they were willing to stand up for it, including going on strike,” he said.

“And that’s the lesson here, that when working people pull together in unions and across unions, they demonstrate strength, and that’s the way you get better deals.”

Eggins said that education and health care usually get the biggest pay cuts.

She said it’s unfortunate because that impacts all Albertans in one way or another.

“I think for most of us, we don’t understand the changes and why they’re going the way that they’re going,” she said.

“This kind of has a settling impact on us with this breach tentative agreement.”

The union’s negotiating committee is recommending members ratify the agreement and a vote be held on April 2.

Eggins said she hopes the agreement will start a “trickle-down effect” for other unions.

She said she hopes the Health Sciences Association of Alberta and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees can reach similar contracts.

by Jayk Sterkenburg

Medicine Hat nurse hopes tentative union agreement has ‘trickle down effect’

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