Registered nurses who say they are mentally and physically exhausted and “can’t go on” are rallying in Corner Brook over the lunch hour today to bring an end to mandated overtime.

The union says more has to be done to retain registered nurses and create safer and healthier working conditions. President Yvette Coffey says mandatory overtime has been an overriding issue in the region.

“We had thought that once we got through the summer period, when people were able to get some time off, that the mandating of overtime would decrease, however, it has not,” says Coffey. She says there was $300,000 dollars worth of overtime paid in May on one unit alone at Western Memorial Regional Hospital, and nurses just can’t do it anymore.

The rally is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on the Majestic Lawn on West Street in Corner Brook.