Williams tries to mend fences with nurses over contract impasse

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams summoned leaders of the provincial nurses union to his office Friday, but could not resolve a wide gap over wages and benefits.

Williams and the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union have been at loggerheads this spring over stalled contract negotiations.

The one-hour meeting ended without a solution, although union president Debbie Forward said she took advantage of an opportunity to put issues directly to Williams.

"This is the first time that the premier has heard the day-to-day, on-the-ground issues, and he heard them, like I say, last week when he met with some nurses, and he heard the same messages coming from me today," she said.

"So I think, you know, he [now] has a greater awareness of some of the challenges being faced in the system."

Forward said her negotiating team is not in a position to resolve outstanding issues with the premier.

However, she said, they can start working on that when both sides meet with a conciliator in September. The union requested conciliation in April, after talks broke off over what Williams called excessive wage demands.

The nurses union has been seeking a contract that would include a 24 per cent raise over two years, as well as new salary scales that would boost both the entry level and the highest-level scale.

The provincial government instead wants the nurses to accept the same terms — about 20 per cent over four years — that it negotiated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Before the CUPE deal, the nurses had been offered 15 per cent over the same period of time.

Last month, Williams announced a massive pay increase for pathologists and some oncologists, but said the package — which included a $73,000 increase for pathologists and a 35 per cent increase for medical and radiation oncologists — was unique and that its terms would not be applied anywhere else.

An official in the premier's office said Williams now wants to see if the two sides can find common ground on negotiations.