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Walkout will put pressure on the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre.
Halifax (11 Jan. 2010) - Hospitals in the Halifax region are preparing for a surge in demand for health care services if a strike goes ahead this week at 33 hospitals outside the capital.
A walkout would not involve health care workers in the province's capital health district. However, they are bound to feel the impact if one happens.
Employees outside the Halifax area are represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). Many of the workers in the capital district are represented by the Nova Scotia Government and Services Employees Union (NSGEU/NUPGE).
The eight district health authorities outside Halifax have been cancelling surgeries in anticipation of a walkout by more than 3,000 laboratory, X-ray, clerical and housekeeping staff.
The main issue in the threatened walkout is a request by rural area hospital workers for a salary increase to maintain parity with their counterparts in the Halifax area.
Health Minister Maureen MacDonald says the priority in the event of a strike will be maintaining emergency and cancer services.
She also says her department is advising the health departments in P.E.I. and New Brunswick that a "patient exchange" may be the only way that the region's largest hospital - the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax - can admit heart or cancer patients from outside the province.
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The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE