The president of the Manitoba Nurses Union is glad to see an agreement move forward after nurses have been working four and a half years without a contract, but says more work needs to be done.

President Darlene Jackson says after week-long voting, the majority of its members are ratifying a tentative agreement between then and the province, a first since March 31 of 2017.

“It truly was a long four and a half years without a collective agreement and as I have mentioned before, there is still work to be done to address the significant weaknesses in our health care system, but the improvements in this contract are a necessary and positive first step in addressing nurses’ serious concerns," Jackson says in a statement.

The statement does not explicitly say what improvements need to be made but does say Manitoba is in a critical staffing crisis and has been since before the pandemic. She says there will be a $4 million per year investment into recruitment and retention. 

She says this new agreement focuses on improvements to shift premiums, overtime compensation, meal allowance, isolation allowance, academic allowance entitlement, and the health spending account. Jackson adds that there will be protections against inordinately long consecutive hours of work and duration of standby.

“We would like to thank every single MNU member who took the time to attend one of our 14 webinars, time to read the bargaining documents and, of course, exercised their right by casting a vote."

Premier Kelvin Goertzen says that the seven-year agreement is welcome.

"Throughout this unprecedented pandemic, our dedicated nurses have heroically delivered the care that all Manitobans depend upon. Once again, we salute them, for their abilities, their compassion and their unwavering sense of commitment when their special skills have been needed most," his statement says.

The premier says the tentative agreement is a testament to the "hard work and commitment of the leadership and negotiating teams."