Strike may strand students, cause delays in health care

Local schools will stay open as long as possible in the event of a strike by more than 7,000 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees as early as Jan. 18.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees represents support staff and drivers at 33 hospitals and every school in the province outside the Halifax Regional School Board and the three French schools in Halifax.

Contract talks between the province and CUPE broke down over the government's offer of a one per cent wage increase. The union is asking for 2.9 per cent to maintain wage parity with Halifax workers. "We have between now and Jan. 18 to get back to the table and resume talks," union president Danny Cavanaugh said. "That's the breathing room that we have."

The union says wage parity with workers in the Halifax region is the bottom line, and it is not willing to back down on the issue.

Deputy Premier Frank Corbett has said the wage demand is unrealistic because the government is facing a $500 million deficit.

Emergency Health Services, with responsibility for ambulances and pre-hospital medical care in the province, will not be affected by the strike.

Nor does a strike apply to the Windsor hospital and clinics because it is within the Capital Health District, which has no CUPE members, said John Gillis, a spokesman for the Capital Health Authority. But “there may be additional visitors to our emergency departments and there may be an increased load on other services such as blood collection.” “Certainly we are talking to our other provincial counterparts. In terms of triage, we would look at whether we can increase capacity,” said Mr. Gillis.

Politicians like Progressive Conservative health critic Chris d’Entremont don’t think Capital Health District will be able to help very much. During the first week of the new year, he said, there were five code census alerts at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax. On Monday Jan. 4, 10 ambulances were forced to line up as staff tried to deal with the emergency room backlog.

A strike would have a dramatic effect in the Annapolis Valley. Of the 1,690 employees in Annapolis Valley Health District, 836 belong to CUPE. A strike “would have a significant impact,” says Janet Knox, President & CEO of Annapolis Valley Health District.

But she stressed that emergency services will continue and the districts are working out procedures with the union to make sure support services will be provided to allow this. “This will be a very stressful time for everybody. We want to be respectful… but our goal is to keep people safe.”

CUPE employees run the gamut from pharmacists and X-ray technicians to warehouse workers. Almost all employees except registered nurses, physicians and management are CUPE members.

Right now hospitals are scheduling surgeries that require less post-operative care in order to reduce the number of occupied as much as possible, said Ms. Knox.

Those remaining in hospital will be cared for by registered nurses and doctors, she said.

A strike would affect medical clinics as well as hospitals, closing down non-emergency services ranging from mental health to non-emergency blood collections.

Patient care will be decided on a day to day basis. Updates will be posted on the District’s website at www.avdha.nshealth.ca and on a new information line, 1-866-430-4284. People with health concerns can also call the public information line at 811 for additional information.

Schools will operate as long as possible in the event of a strike, says Margo Tait, Superintendent of Schools for the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board, which covers 45 schools in West Hants plus Kings and Annapolis Counties.

Schools will be affected in different ways by a strike. Aside from bus drivers, CUPE members may include janitors, cafeteria staff and secretarial workers. “We haven’t had a strike in many, many years,” said Ms Tait, so board members don’t know exactly what the effect willl be. Nearly all the 15,000 students served by the board are bused to school, she said. “We’ll just have to wait and see how many students come in.”

Schools will decide how to cope on a day-to-day basis. Parents are encouraged to visit the websites for their children’s schools. These are listed at http://www.avrsb.ca.

Parents got their first official warnings of a disruption when their children brought letters home Friday Jan. 8. “This will be a difficult time for everyone,” said Ms. Tait. “We have a very good relationship with CUPE employees and we respect the bargaining process. Our goal is to educate students during the strike and resume good relations with CUPE employees when it’s over.