Thursday, February 04, 2010


CANADIAN LABOUR-WINNIPEG:
A WOBBLY OFFER:
As many Winnipegers know nurses at St. Boniface Hospital have voted in favour of strike action though no definitive date has been set. The Winnipeg Wobbly Blog has an article on this, and, just like in the Manitoba Hydro strike, they are opening up their blog to comments from the workers affected. Here's the story and the offer.
WWWWWWWWWWWW
St. Boniface nurses vote to strike and the 'Wobbly Offer':
This is something we will be following in the up coming weeks.

Nurses at Winnipeg's St. Boniface General Hospital have voted 78 per cent in favour of strike action but have not set a strike deadline.

A little more than a third of the 1,400 nurses who work at the hospital voted Monday.

The president of the Local 5 of the Manitoba Nurses Union, Debbie Mintz, said Monday night there is no plan to strike just yet.

"Our intention is to return to the table to negotiate in February and for the rest of the dates that are scheduled, with an empowerment by the nurses at St. Boniface to get a final contract that does not include the rollbacks," Mintz said.

Mintz said the hospital wants concessions on overtime and the awarding of positions on the basis of seniority.

She said the contract has for 35 years awarded positions on the basis of seniority provided nurses meet qualifications.

"We certainly know that 78 per cent of the nurses that turned up here tonight are adamant that the final contract should not have rollbacks in [it]," she said.

The nurses have been without a contract since the end of last September.
Read more:
::::THE WOBBLY OFFER:::
We would also like to send out a call to all members of the Manitoba Nurses Union: We want to here from you! This blog is a blog for, by, and about workers, so we want to hear your experiences at work, your feelings on the strike vote, gripes with the unions and the bosses, anything coming up. This is your soap box! Drop us an email at: winnipegiww@hotmail.com .

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This could turn ugly as much as I appreciate the spirit behind it. I hope they have some moderation to keep the anti-union loonies in their place. Worse, you might get anti-union nurses too. In this case, democratic debate is best left face-to-face or in some other, members and allies only format.