A new pay deal has been announced for Manitoba nurses who are redeployed to priority areas in the fight against COVID-19.
The memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed Tuesday allows healthcare employers to make changes to nurse work locations, schedules, and hours — to accommodate "evolving needs" in Manitoba’s hospitals and care homes.
The MOA further establishes a COVID-19 northern allowance, including travel reimbursement, with compensation for staff redeployed to the north, as well as an allowance for current northern nurses who work in one community but pick up additional shifts elsewhere in the region.
The benefits also extend to nurses working in units or facilities where an outbreak of COVID-19 is declared.
President of the Manitoba Nurses Union (MNU), Darlene Jackson, says nurses “have stepped up to the challenge, working countless long hours to provide quality care for patients and residents,” and adds the Union believes the new pay agreement “will support nursing recruitment and retention efforts in areas of significant need, and provide a clear process for redeployment that offers some security, certainty and recognition for affected nurses.”
Staff are to be assigned according to skillset and area of greatest need, and are to be provided with training and orientation to their new work environment and team.
