Michelle DaCriz
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 29/02) - Health care workers at Stanton Regional Hospital are urging all members of the Union of Northern Workers to vote no to the new contract currently being offered by the territorial government.

Suzette Montreuil, president of Local 11 of the Union of Northern Workers, told the public and press that her local, composed of Stanton Regional Hospital health care workers, is unhappy with the tentative agreement because it does not speak to recruitment and retention.

Suzette Montreuil, president of UNW Local 11, said the tentative agreement is a complete failure when it comes to recruitment and retention of health care employees in the NWT.

"The NWT is simply not competitive any more," Montreuil said at a press conference Monday afternoon. "It's the cold reality that southern health care workers routinely turn down offers to work in the North."

The tentative agreement calls for a three per cent salary increase each year over the next three years for their entire membership. The union represents 3,200 NWT public service workers, 355 of those belong to Stanton's Local 11.

Montreuil said health care workers in the south are receiving increases up to 24 per cent. She added an operating room nurse in Whitehorse is currently earning $6 more an hour than the same nurse in the NWT.

Staffing shortages are increasing wait times for patients, and leading to burnout by health care workers who are working overtime, she said.

According to the union, wait times for simple procedures like mammography, and physiotherapy can be up to six months. While she could not say how many vacancies there are per department, Montreuil said the shortages exist across the whole hospital.

"If we hope to maintain our quality health care system we need a better contract now," said Montreuil.

Gayla Wick, first vice-president for the local and a certified nursing assistant at the hospital said even when new staff is hired, they stay for their one-year contract and move south due to the high cost of living in the North.

"This agreement will affect everyone in the NWT that gets ill," said Iris Cogiak, a Stanton nurse for 15 years and secretary of the union.

For the agreement to pass, the union needs a majority of their membership to vote yes, 50 per cent plus one vote.

While union officials could not verify the total number of unionized health care workers in the NWT, Georgina Rolt-Kaiser, president of the UNW said they do not compose any where near half of the UNW's total membership.

On the whole, she said, the membership is "quite pleased with the agreement."

She said she is aware that Local 11 was unhappy with the tentative plan, but has assured Local 11 officials that their bargaining proposal was considered during negotiation with the GNWT, along with proposals from other groups.

"The collective bargaining process did not take in their concerns," said Rolt-Kaiser.

In her two and a half year term, Rolt-Kaiser admitted that the GNWT has been presented with the idea of having a separate bargaining unit for health care professionals three times, like that for teachers and NWT Power Corp. workers.

"We were told only that this is not possible at this time," said Rolt-Kaiser.

"This is not the first time we have echoed to the government the problems with the health care system," she said, adding, "The health care profession in the NWT is in crisis and will continue to be."

The UNW met with the GNWT for a total of 10 days in February and April. Members have been without an agreement since March 31.

UNW members will be asked to ratify the proposed collective agreement in Yellowknife on June 12.

If passed, this will be the second agreement in the last 18 months between the GNWT and the UNW. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Services, Laura Seddon, said officials would not comment on the tentative agreement.