Collective Agreements

Collective bargaining is the process in which union members negotiate contracts with their employers to determine their terms of employment. This includes wages, benefits, hours, leave, safety policies, work-life balance and more.

As a member-driven organization focused on meeting the work-life needs of nurses in New Brunswick, NBNU negotiates collective agreements that protect members’ rights — both individually and collectively. These Collective Agreements are an important part of how we advocate for our members.

All NBNU Collective Agreements are negotiated based on their sector of nursing. Throughout our history, each agreement has represented a step forward in improving the lives of nurses and the care they provide to patients, clients and residents.

Current Agreements

Please click on the corresponding sector to view your Collective Agreement.

Nurses Part III Collective Agreement

Nursing Homes Collective Agreement

Nurse Managers & Supervisors Collective Agreement

LPN Transfer Collective Agreement

How we negotiate

One of the key roles of our union is to regulate the employment relations between members and their employers. This includes the negotiations and enforcement of its three provincial bargaining unit collective agreements.

Learn the collective bargaining process by walking through these steps.

  • Election of bargaining teams from within NBNU membership
  • Consult members to establish bargaining priorities through surveys
  • Hold bargaining conferences
  • Review past grievances to identify problematic language
  • Develop monetary and non-monetary priorities
  • Draft proposals

Note: At this stage, information will be reported to members of bargaining unit(s) through their Local President and/or correspondence from the NBNU President/Executive Director.

The first meeting with the Employer’s negotiating team begins the exchange of proposals—starting with non-monetary items, followed by monetary ones. The teams also establishes procedures and protocols (i.e. no bargaining in the media, confidentiality, etc.), and reviews of housekeeping items (i.e. typos).

NBNU and the employer team work hard to understand each other’s proposals. This stage involves back-and-forth discussions and continues until a tentative agreement or an impasse is reached.

A tentative agreement is reached when the Negotiation Team believes that it has the best possible offer that the Employer is able to make and it substantially meets the mandate given to the team by its members.

If the team cannot reach a tentative agreement, an impasse is reached.

The parties may request the services of a Conciliation Officers whose job it is to meet with both parties to attempt to break the impasse. This is a required step before any strike vote may be taken.

To ratify a tentative agreement, the majority of the NBNU members who vote, must vote ‘yes’ in favour of the agreement.

If a strike vote is required, the majority of NBNU bargaining unit members must participate, and the majority of those voters must vote in favour of a strike.

Negotiations Team

Our Negotiations Team is led by Paula Doucet, President and Matt Hiltz, Chief Negotiator, who work with the negotiations committee in active bargaining.

Matt Hiltz holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Bishop’s University and a Law degree from UNB. He is a member of the Law Society of New Brunswick, the Canadian Bar Association and the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers. Since graduating, Matt has worked as a facilitator, lawyer, labour relations officer and currently as the Executive Director and Chief Negotiating Officer at NBNU since 2015.

Paula has been NBNU’s President since 2016 and has been an registered nurse for 27 years. Prior to being elected President, she held the position of 1st Vice-President for 13 years and worked at the Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst for nearly 20 years. Paula has participated on many negotiating teams and has an extensive knowledge of the collective agreements and their application.

Together, Paula and Matt have successfully led negotiations with the employers for the last two contract negotiations, and are ready to represent members again at the negotiating tables.

Get involved

Collective bargaining relies on member participation. We are stronger—and smarter—together. Visit the Member Portal to learn how to get more involved in grassroots unionism.

Member Portal