The Honourable Premier Danny Williams and the Honourable Loyola Sullivan, Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board, are pleased to announce today that a tentative agreement has been reached between government and the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses Union (NLNU.)

Negotiations with the NLNU have been ongoing since April and the settlement is one both parties have agreed on. It will be ratified at a later date.

"Each and every nurse in our province has a special role to play in the lives of those who require health care services. This represents the value our government places on our nurses and we are delighted with the finalization of the agreement especially heading into the NLNU Biennial Convention this week," said the Premier. "We�ve achieved a common goal and that is to put health-care delivery first.

Minister Sullivan added that nurses are vital to the delivery of health care in the province.

"We value our nurses and we�re thrilled that we were able to put our heads together and achieve an amicable agreement," said Minister Sullivan. "We believe this agreement sets a solid foundation to build on for future negotiations."

The nurses� previous collective agreement expired in June 2005. The parties exchanged proposals in February and sat down to negotiations in April, May, June and July.

The three-year tentative agreement includes the acceptance of the government�s wage template and a sick leave package. The agreement also includes the implementation of a healthy workplace pilot project and an increase to evening, night and weekend shift differentials.

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