The president of CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador says NL Health Services issuing an RFP to standardize the use of agency nurses “reeks of privatization.”

The health authority issued the RFP last week, saying that it will ensure consistency province-wide when health care professionals are needed.

Sherry Hillier accuses government of using the “guise” of consistency to put “public health care services up for auction to the highest bidder.”

She says right now agency nurses, who in some cases make triple the public salary, are working side-by-side with their members.

She calls the move another “band aid ” on the problem by government, noting that it results in “nurses vs nurses.”

She says seeing someone doing the same work for triple the pay will leave a bad taste in a person’s mouth. She believes the resources government has put in hasn’t gone far enough, and their goal is privatization.