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KJIPUKTUK), HALIFAX - "We are happy with this decision. It creates four bargaining units and ensures that all nurses can be represented by one union," said Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine in a press release issued short

The idea of four bargaining units was never disputed, labour leaders say, so that's hardly a victory for the government.

And as far as the one union for nurses is concerned, Dorsey states that he doubts whether any one health-care union has the numbers to claim a majority.

By Ella Bedard | January 22, 2015

Monday, arbitrator James Dorsey released his decision on Bill 1, the Nova Scotia Bill which will change the labour landscape for Nova Scotia health-care workers.

Though Nova Scotia's Health Minister Leo Glavine rejected the bargaining association model as an unworkable solution, the unions say that Dorsey has now re-opened the possibility of multi-union representation.

The Chronicle-Herald Sat Jan 24 2015

"... the nursing bargaining unit is composed of all unionized employees who occupy positions that must be occupied by a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse." Dorsey explains his view of the "majoritarian principle," arguing that principles of democracy require a union to be supported by a majority of members to be certified. Of course, that is not the way our democracy works. It has been three decades since any party won more than 50 per cent of the vote in a Nova Scotian or Canadian election. And when one party has a plurality, but not a majority, of seats, it still gets to form the government. As a practical matter, only the clerical group (NSGEU) has a majority from one union. No matter. Dorsey tells us that "it cannot be the legislative intent in this restructuring for the first time in Canadian history to impose certification of three unions as exclusive bargaining agents for bargaining units of employees without majority employee support."

And "... no employer wants to bargain with a union ... that does not represent a majority of its employees." Any plain reading of the act tells us that was exactly the intent of the employer, because for three of the groups, there is no majority union. Both the IWK and the regional health authorities (RHAs) had plenty of opportunity to object. They did not. The NSNU has a majority of nurses (RNs and LPNs) at the IWK and in total. Dorsey estimates that the NSNU has 48.9 per cent of the nurses in the amalgamated authority. He appears to have searched everywhere for a pebble to stumble on and finds it there. It is crystal clear that the straightforward path to follow the act is by certifying the NSNU for those employees. Premier Stephen McNeil has eliminated this unnecessary impasse by combining the nursing units for the provincial health authority and IWK Health Centre into a single or common employer unit for bargaining purposes, without compromising the IWK's independence. Good.

This work reminds me of the words of activist/musician Bernice Johnson Reagon, of Sweet Honey in the Rock: “If you are in a coalition and you are comfortable, that coalition is not broad enough.”

February 6, 2015

Immediately following Act 10, Walker and the Republican-dominated state legislature made the largest cuts to public education of any state in the nation and gerrymandered state legislative districts to privilege conservative, white-populated areas of the state.

By Tara Ehrcke | February 12, 2015

Trade unionists across the country were delighted to see the Supreme Court of Canada finally recognize a constitutional right to strike. The landmark decision overturned legislation impeding the right to strike, and acknowledged that the right to strike is a form of freedom of association. The decision also recognized that legislative interference in the right to strike gives undue power to employers, who already have the upper hand in bargaining. Justice Abella wrote in her judgement: “In essentially attributing equivalence between the power of employees and employers, this reasoning, with respect, turns labour relations on its head, and ignores the fundamental power imbalance which the entire history of modern labour legislation has been scrupulously devoted to rectifying.”

The Globe and Mail Tue Mar 24 2015

Investors remain obsessed with the slowing global economy and its effects on commodity prices while U.S. health-care stocks - with little sensitivity to worldwide growth - are hitting new highs with blowout performance well ahead of the S&P 500. Digging deep into health-care subindexes, we also find that despite dramatic outperformance, most areas within the industry are trading at valuation levels close to historical average forward-price earnings ratios. There are 10 major equity subsectors in the U.S. health-care sector and eight of them outperformed the S&P 500's 15-per-cent appreciation over the past 12 months (upper chart). The best performers - managed health (health-care benefits planners), health-care facilities, biotechnology and health-care distribution - generated returns more than double the broader benchmark.

Only health-care supplies (a onestock index consisting of Dentsply International Inc.) and the S&P Life Sciences Tools & Services Index (which includes companies such as Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Agilent Technologies Inc.) underperformed. The market success of health care is based on high levels of sales and profit growth in a broader environment where improvement in these areas has been remarkably rare, even with the help of widespread share buybacks. In the most recent quarterly earnings season, the S&P 500 Health Care Index showed the second-best yearover-year improvement in terms of revenue growth (technology was first) and profit growth of 21.6 per cent that outdistanced every other major industry sector in the market.

Jan 29, 2016

Toronto, ON – Now that the “ill-conceived” registry for personal support workers (PSWs) has been scrapped, the 20,000 PSWs represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario in long-term care, hospitals and community care are asking for the issue of regulation for PSWs to be made a priority.

“Despite this, the government’s economic interest has been to perpetuate the exploitation of PSWs in the home care sector by denying them effective self-regulation, available to most other occupations. Our expectation is equal treatment with Ontario’s other professions and trades,” says Michael Hurley first vice-president of CUPE Ontario.

TPP Forum Dec. 8, 2015 | Delta Ottawa City Centre

National Post Wed Dec 9 2015

Even bottom-up stock pickers need to pay attention to the bigger picture. So when global equities sold off last week after the European Central Bank failed to deliver as much stimulus the markets were hoping for, Dennis Mitchell was happy to step in and add to positions in his favourite companies. "One of the things that started the rout was the disconnect between the ECB's outlook and the market's," the portfolio manager at Sprott Asset Management said.

Unilever PLC is one example of a name that sold off with the rest of the market, but that Mitchell boosted his position in. One sector that's been beaten up of late is U.S. health care, whether biotech stocks that came under pressure due to their lofty valuations, only to recover and then pull back again, or pharma companies that are facing scrutiny from politicians due to drug pricing. This has prompted Mitchell to add to his exposure in the Sprott Global Focused Balance Class, and three other recently-launched funds he manages.

Toronto Star Wed Dec 16 2015

Valeant Pharmaceuticals plans to deliver up to $600 million (U.S.) in annual savings to the U.S. health-care system starting next year after agreeing to cut the prices of several of its drugs as part of distribution agreements with the popular Walgreens retail chain. The Quebec-based company said it will drop wholesale prices for branded prescription-based skin-and eye-care products by 10 per cent.

The price cuts under the 20-year agreement with one of the largest American drug chains will be introduced in six to nine months, with the potential for other therapeutic treatments being added to the program. Walgreens will also distribute more than 30 of Valeant's branded products at comparable generic prices, starting in the second half of 2016. The average price decrease is expected to be more than 50 per cent, with reduced prices ranging between 5 and 95 per cent.

St. Albert Gazette Sat Oct 24 2015

While the five main political parties in Canada made hay with a great many different election issues, very little was said about that most Canadian of institutions, the public health-care system. Discussion about health care was very conspicuous in its absence and a look at the health-related platform of the Liberal Party of Canada, which won a majority in the Oct. 19 election, doesn't shed much light on its plans.

The major components of the platform include commitments to negotiate a new health accord between the federal government and the provinces, to fund increased access to home care, and to developing a pan-Canadian strategy on prescription medications including bulk purchasing, and improving mental-health services. Home care The most significant component of the platform in terms of funding commitments is expanding home care services across the country with an investment of $2.95 billion over the next four years.

by Bobbie Blair

• More than a decade after he was fired from his position as senior scientific advisor at Health Canada for telling the truth, Canadian ‘whistleblower’ Dr. Shiv Chopra is now warning us about a new threat to our health and our food safety: the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). In 2004, Dr. Chopra lost his job for refusing to approve a genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rBGH) developed to increase milk production in dairy cows. He faced an incredible amount of pressure to lie to the public, not only from the powerful biotech industry, but also from his superiors inside the government agency. Dr. Chopra’s story is still a red flag for us today: we cannot rely on the government to look out for our health. But while they took his job and destroyed his career, neither the industry nor Health Canada could rob Dr. Chopra of his good name. A Federal Court established it was not only his right, but also his duty to blow the whistle about rBGH health concerns, as a scientist holding a position of public trust. Dr. Chopra has no regrets. A couple of years ago, he told an audience, “I would blow the whistle again!” This year, he keeps his promise.

Apr. 06, 2016

Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco

California and New York – enacted legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15 within six years.

The Globe and Mail Mon Sep 26 2016

Justin Trudeau faces tough talks with provincial premiers to hammer out a national climate-change plan. But he also has a critical tool to get a deal: cash. At first blush, the meeting with premiers seems to be shaping up as a clash. The federal government wants provinces to put a price on carbon, either through a carbon tax or a capand-trade system. And if they don't, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has warned, Ottawa will slap a federal carbon tax on them. Four provinces have a carbon price now, but some premiers are wary, and Saskatchewan's Brad Wall sounds implacably opposed.

Then again, the premiers want something, too: money. Most provinces have high debt, and fear aging populations will mean rising costs in social programs and health care. They're clamouring for Ottawa to provide bigger-than-planned increases in health transfers. In other words, the premiers can probably be bought off. Put that way, of course, it sounds cynical. But it's been a formula for federal-provincial dealmaking for decades. The federal Liberals are already promising $2.9-billion over five years for climate-change measures, including $2-billion in the next two years to start a Low Carbon Economy Fund for projects chosen with the provinces. But money for other things could also be used to grease the wheels. The provinces want bigger streams of health-care money, but so far the federal Liberals aren't promising much. On Sunday, Health Minister Jane Philpott said she's working on the assumption there won't be much change, aside from a $3-billion federal injection for home care.