Karen Mackenzie
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 10, 2007

IQALUIT - Tensions building among Nunavut nurses came to a head last week, with a demonstration held in front of the new Qikiqtani General Hospital in Iqaluit.

Nurses, health care professionals and Nunavut Employees Union (NEU) members gathered Dec. 3 on the ring road to raise awareness of issues within the nursing field, as well as the fact that GN employees have been without a contract since 2006.

Sharon Owlijoot, a fourth-year nursing student at Nunavut Arctic College, makes her feelings clear at a recent demonstration held to bring awareness to issues in the nursing field. - Karen Mackenzie/NNSL photo

The rally was timed to coincide with the latest round of collective bargaining, and nurses' Local 003 president Cheryl Young said the group would be forced to strike if the outcome didn't offer them a better deal.

"Our next move will be based on theirs," she said. "At this point it's that or quit."

The local has been calling for better salary, assistance for travel and housing, and improved workplace safety for some time.

Waving signs and chanting slogans such as "you pay, we'll stay," the group was also joined by students and teachers from the Nunavut Arctic College's nursing program, who say they too face serious problems in terms of staffing and pay.

"Nunavut wants to have more homegrown nurses, well, help us to teach them. The salary is low, and not really competitive ... We're always scrambling for staff in most of the positions," said Sally Naphan, who is teaching for the third year at the college.

"The government is saying they're offering these two new nursing programs in the communities, but they're already having trouble finding staff for his one," Naphan added, referring to the recent announcement that the GN will offer a nursing program in both Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet.

The current situation does not do much to encourage nursing students to graduate either, according to fellow teacher Angela Luciani.

"If they know how bad the system is already, why stay?" she asked.

Sharon Owlijoot, a fourth-year student in the program, agreed.

"I worry about what it will be like when I'm in the workforce," she said.

Owlijoot attended the demonstration to show her support for Nunavummiut nurses, and to promote awareness of the issues she will soon face on the job, she said.

The nurses, like all government employees, have been without a contract since September 2006. The latest round of collective bargaining talks was scheduled to end Dec. 7.

Stress from the lengthy process "has created all kinds of reactions on the part of the membership," said Jean-François Des Lauriers, regional executive vice-president for PSAC-North.

Despite the delays in coming to an agreement, a strike on the part of the nurses would be illegal, he said.

"Even though we've communicated to our members that we're also frustrated, the result is things like the Local 003 leadership coming out in the media, blasting everyone in sight. But we've tried everything we could," he said.

"Our members have made it very clear they want to see results by the end of this week. Tangible results."