For the third time, the Higgs government has reached tentative agreements with two bargaining units representing thousands of nurses, nurse practitioners and nurse supervisors.
The province announced the deals with the New Brunswick Nurses Union on Friday morning.
Members rejected two earlier tentative agreements reached in July and September.
Last week, union members voted by a wide margin to give their leadership a strike mandate.
The two sides said in a news release that they would withhold details of the latest agreement until it is ratified. No timeline was given for when the ratification vote will take place.
Earlier this week Finance Minister Ernie Steeves said he hoped to have a deal by Christmas but couldn’t guarantee it.
“We want our nurses to be satisfied,” he said. “We want them to be back to work, and we want them to be happy to be there.”
The province said the agreements cover 8,000 registered nurses, nurse practitioners, licensed practical nurses, nurse managers and nurse supervisors working in hospitals, public and community health programs, Ambulance NB and extra-mural programs.
More to come
