Illegal Halifax nurse’s strike seems to underline need for essential service laws

Nova Scotia nurses have launched an illegal strike to protest an impending essential service designation, stepping out of a Halifax hospital and cancelling as many as 89 surgeries in the process.

The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union announced that nurses walked off the job Tuesday morning, save for staff in emergency units.

They were at odds, somewhat ironically, with a bill proposed by the province's Liberal government which would require hospital staff declared an essential service to remain on the job during future job action.

When one thinks of essential public services in Canada, hospital services are among the first added to the list. While there is much more at stake than an aversion to the designation, the nurse's wildcat strike seems to underscore the exact concern the province is moving to address.

According to CBC News, the illegal nurse’s strike forced Halifax hospitals to cancel as many as 89 surgical procedures including four heart surgeries.

Dr. David Anderson, chief of medicine at Halifax's Capital District Health Authority, described some of the cancelled procedures as urgent.

"There's just been a general disruption in our ability to deliver care in a number of areas, such as the emergency department," he told the network.

[ Related: Heart surgeries cancelled over Halifax nurses strike ]

The heart of the issue is a new government proposal that would require some positions be declared essential ahead of future strike action.

A government explainer released on Monday says the Essential Health and Community Services Act would require "unions and employers to have an essential service agreement in place before job action is taken. If they cannot reach an agreement, an independent third party decides."

Labour and Advanced Education Minister Kelly Regan said in the statement that, "Like all Canadians, Nova Scotians deserve to know their health and safety won't be in jeopardy during a labour disruption."

The Nova Scotia government says it is the only province that doesn't have essential service legislation. Ontario's Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act, for example, prohibits strikes and lock-outs for hospital sector employees.

The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, which represents the nurses, claimed the legislation would be the worst in the country, and would force 85-90 per cent of nurses to remain on the job in the event of a strike.

The union says that, during this illegal job action, it has maintained full staffing levels in the ER, ICU and several other key units. Yet, delays and cancellations were still the apparent effect.

Labour disruptions are never cut and dry. The nurses union, for example says it has been fighting for higher staffing levels to improve patient services. But nothing that's happing now is about improving patient services. It just seems to be underlining the concern that, in the case of future strikes, patients are poised to suffer.