TRURO, NS - CUPE Nova Scotia President Danny Cavanagh is urging the Dexter government to be very cautious about a proposed ‘shared services’ program for the province’s District Health Authorities.
The Department of Health and Wellness announced the proposal today in what they are describing as a means of “identifying efficiencies” in administrative and support services within the DHAs.
Says Cavanagh, “We are quite concerned that this initiative could have a dramatic impact on the workforce in acute care and the vital services they provide.
Any time we see a government using terms such as ‘alternate service delivery’, it raises the threat of privatization and contracting out of services and jobs.”
“On behalf of the 4,600 working women and men that we represent in the DHA’s, we are also not pleased that none of the health care unions representing these workers were given an opportunity for meaningful input on this proposal,” says Cavanagh.
“CUPE’s position with this government, as with any government, is quite clear: our public health care system is not for sale to the lowest bidder,” he says.
CUPE Atlantic Regional Director Jacquie Bramwell says, “We would suggest that Nova Scotians should be quite concerned about the private sector being looked at as a means of generating cost-savings for the DHAs.”
“People are smart enough to figure out that those savings can only come from one of two places - staffing cuts or service reductions,” says Bramwell. Patient care is dependent on every employee in a hospital regardless of what classification they hold. She says CUPE has been assured this is only a report being commissioned by the government and that the union will be given an opportunity to consult once it is completed.
For information:
Danny Cavanagh
CUPE N.S. President
(902) 957-0822 (Cell)
Jacquie Bramwell
Atlantic Regional Director
(902) 240-7928 (Cell)
Derrick Barrett
CUPE Communications Rep.
(902) 455-4180 (office)