Latest news with #nursesunion
CTV News
3 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Nurses vote to ‘grey list' Health Sciences Centre over safety concerns
The Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg is pictured on January 7, 2025. (Jamie Dowsett/CTV News Winnipeg) The Manitoba Nurses Union (MNU) has voted in favour of 'grey listing' Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre over 'increasingly unsafe working conditions,' according to a news release. Voting began Wednesday and resulted in 94 per cent of members voting in favour of grey listing the downtown facility. The union has grey listed five facilities in the past 45 years, with the last one being the Dauphin Regional Health Centre in 2007. MNU president Darlene Jackson previously told CTV News that if the vote passes, the union will be alerting members who may want to work at HSC to 'relook at that decision' based on a lack of safety measures. 'What (grey listing) really does is it advises members that are already there, nurses who may be thinking of applying for a job at Health Sciences Centre, as well as letting the public know that this is not a facility that the employer provides a safe environment in,' said Jackson. 'As Manitoba's flagship hospital, HSC has a duty to lead by example in protecting its staff and creating a culture that values the well-being of healthcare professionals,' said the MNU news release. 'However, despite numerous calls for action, the necessary improvements have not been made, prompting this latest step in holding the employer accountable.' Jackson previously said escalating incidents over the years at HSC have raised concerns, including a string of sexual assaults outside the facility last month. She said conversations about grey listing the workplace began in 2020. 'Work is ongoing and evolving': Shared Health In a statement, Shared Health interim president and CEO Dr. Chris Christodoulou said the provincial health authority takes this vote seriously and understands that nurses are looking for change. Christodoulou said Shared Health has met with representatives from unions, government, police and the University of Manitoba to discuss the ongoing security issues at the facility. 'We know this work is ongoing and evolving,' said Christodoulou. 'There is more to do, and we are fully committed to listening, learning, and continuing to take meaningful steps to support a safer environment for everyone, including addressing the recommendations by the MNU.' The statement lists security measures that have been taken over the past several years, including increased parkade security, more institutional safety officers, new cameras and artificial intelligence weapon scanners. MNU represents more than 13,000 nurses across the province, with approximately 3,000 nurses at HSC. -With files from The Canadian Press
CTV News
5 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
MNU looking to ‘grey list' Health Sciences Centre
Winnipeg Watch Members of the Manitoba Nurses Union are voting on whether to designate the Health Sciences Centre as a grey list workplace due to safety concerns.
CTV News
5 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
MNU looking ‘grey list' Health Sciences Centre
Winnipeg Watch Members of the Manitoba Nurses Union are voting on whether to designate the Health Sciences Centre as a grey list workplace due to safety concerns.
The Guardian
24-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Queensland state budget 2025: five key takeaways
Here are five key takeaways from the Queensland budget. Few will have watched the state's budget as closely as the Queensland's public sector unions. The nurses union is locked in negotiations with the government over its offer of just 8% higher wages over three years. The nurses say the offer is a breach of an election promise for the country's highest wages. Enterprise bargaining is soon to begin for police, firefighters and school teachers. The budget forecasts a substantial decline in growth in 'employee expenses' – which include both wages and headcount. Beyond next year they will be 'contained to a more sustainable average annual rate of 3.5%'. The treasurer, David Janetzki, said the number reflected an increase in headcount and 'a factoring in of wage increases'. 'And that's the number. That's the number,' he said. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The Liberal National party government has been urged to review the state's coal royalty rates, which sought to give the state a bigger share of super profits when prices were at record highs. Those royalty hikes gave the state a $10bn windfall in the first year. But the scheme was designed so that the higher rates only kick in when prices were extraordinarily high. Now those prices have dropped. And the reality is that coalminers – who say they prop up the state economy – are no longer really propping up the state's economy. 'The former government absolutely creamed the coal royalties,' Janetzki said. 'In 22/23 and 23/24 [the Labor government] took more in those two years than what will take in four out of coal royalties.' There's always a post that comes back to bite you. Two years ago, Janetzki and David Crisafulli railed against the state's growing debt. 'We've got debt numbers that have gone from $72bn when the Palaszczuk government was elected, more than doubling in less than a decade to $147bn,' Janetzki said in a post on Crisafulli's TikTok feed. 'What this means is there's going to be worse services for Queenslanders in the long run.' The budget predicts Queensland's state debt will top $205bn before the end of the decade. Janetzki says that borrowing figure will be lower than projected under Labor. That line won't cut it with fiscal conservatives, who will note there appears to be no prospect of reining in that debt any time soon. The budget also predicts deficits for the foreseeable future, though Janetzki says there is a 'path to surplus'. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The centrepiece announcement of budget day was a new shared equity scheme for first home buyers. The program involves the state taking an equity stake in homes worth up to $1m, and allowing buyers to get into the market with a deposit of as little as 2%. The criteria is far more generous than the similar federal scheme – it would be open to individuals earning less than $150,000 a year, or couples earning less than $225,000 a year combined. At his budget press conference, Janetzki faced some difficult questions about the viability – and unintended consequences – of such a scheme, amid concerns that it could lead buyers into mortgage stress. 'This program has the highest income thresholds of any related scheme in the country,' Janetzki said. 'We have a generation despairing as their home ownership dream fades from view. Simply accumulating a deposit has put home ownership beyond the great majority who cannot turn to their parents for a contribution.' Slashing investment in green power was one of the LNP's first moves after taking government, and the budget shows little change in coming years. The gigantic Pioneer-Burdekin scheme – once billed as the world's biggest hydroelectric project – is officially dead. Meanwhile, Labor's other big battery project, Borumba, has been delayed and reportedly shrunk. The budget includes $3bn over four years for the $18bn project. The LNP has finally revealed its long-awaited alternative to Labor's hydro power plan, backing two smaller pumped hydro projects. It will invest $79m into acquiring the Mount Rawdon and Big T pumped hydro projects. The state will also fund a gas project near Chinchilla, investigate funding another at Swanbank, and consider funding the Lockyer Energy Project, a hydro scheme. And it will spend $1.6bn keeping the state's coal fleet operating over five years. More than $100m will be invested at the Meandu and Kogan Creek mines in 2025/26.
