The Honourable Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Honourable Jerome Kennedy, President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance, today expressed their disappointment that the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses� Union (NLNU) has turned down the Provincial Government�s offer again to immediately resume negotiations.

The NLNU has stated that it will not resume negotiations with government at this time and will wait until the completion of its strike vote.

"It is clear that the NLNU�s strategy has been a strike vote from the beginning, which is very unfortunate," said Premier Williams. "Our government offered to come back to the table twice in the last two weeks, yet the NLNU obviously has a strategy that they intend to pursue. It puts into question their sincerity in reaching a collective agreement. I am at a loss as to how the union leadership can defend this position, and I urge them to reconsider both for the sake of their membership and the patients of the province."

"Given the concerns expressed to me about the importance of addressing the issues of recruitment and retention of nurses, and other areas of importance that affect nurses, I am deeply disappointed that the NLNU has decided not to resume negotiations at this time," said Minister Kennedy. "As a government, we extended an olive branch to begin discussions and to put everything on the table for discussion because we understand the importance of reaching an agreement in the best interests of nurses and the people of this province who rely on our health care system."

Minister Kennedy said that government remains committed to reaching an agreement with the NLNU and is willing to resume negotiations immediately.

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