Alberta nurses strike vote possible as contract talks with government falter

Alberta's nurses could soon find themselves on the picket line as recent talks with the province floundered over disagreements around pay and staffing.

David Harrigan, the United Nurses of Alberta director of labour relations, says informal mediation meetings last month were productive but the gap between the two sides seems too wide to bridge.

"Unfortunately, I think the gulf is just too big," Harrigan said in an interview earlier this week.

The union, which represents more than 30,000 nurses, is seeking 30 per cent pay raises spread over two years while the Alberta government's standing offer is 7.5 per cent over four years.

Harrigan said the two sides also find themselves far apart on operational issues, specifically staffing shortages and how to manage the resulting workplace conditions.

"I think both [sides] recognize there are some real, serious, serious problems," he said.

"It's just that we have completely different views on how to solve those problems."

Harrigan said the province wants to remove an existing contract clause that requires Alberta Health Services to try and fill job vacancies from within the bargaining unit before hiring outside candidates.

"They want to say that article does not apply for one year and [Alberta Health Services] gets to hire whoever they want," Harrigan said.

"We think the way to do things is improve the job conditions and then you'll be able to recruit people."

Bumping pay for nurses is a significant part of improving job conditions, Harrigan said, especially since wages have not kept pace with inflation.

"They're having a huge recruitment problem," he said. "Why on earth would they think that offering people less rights and [salary] increases that are less than the cost of living would be the way to address that?"

Since 2013, Alberta's nurses have received a combined wage increase of 11.5 per cent and five years of wage freezes.

More than half of that pay increase was obtained before 2018.