Union protesters blocked traffic outside the Nova Scotia legislature Tuesday morning as the government pushes through legislation that changes the bargaining structure in the health-care system.

At one point a car carrying Premier Stephen McNeil was caught up in the protest.

A man who was part of the demonstration was handcuffed by police and put in the back of a police van.

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The bill introduced by the province's Liberal government would merge bargaining units. The government wants to cut the number of units to four from 50 by April 1.

Public-sector unions say the bill violates labour rights, but McNeil argues the legislation would protect patients and workers while ensuring health care is sustainable.

The government has put the bill on a fast-track. By using its majority in the house, the government can get the legislation approved and into committee by Wednesday.

In Question Period, Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie asked why the government combined the labour provisions of the bill with those that would cut the number of health authorities to two from 10. The Tories would prefer two bills to avoid disruption in the health-care system, he said.

About 500 union members protested outside the legislature on Monday when the bill was introduced, but the demonstration on Tuesday was much smaller.

On Monday, protester Lisa Gentile said the bill is an attack on unions.

"As I see it they are trying to break the unions and they are going to start with health care and work their way through," said Gentile, a daycare worker from Glace Bay.

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Health Minister Leo Glavine said the Health Authorities Act would require workers who do the same types of jobs to be represented by the same union.

A mediator would determine which unions represent the various groups of workers in the health-care system with input from the unions and the workers' employers.

"The mediator will work towards a settlement of those groups so that we have a dramatically reduced number of bargaining sessions year in and year out," said Glavine.

But Danny Cavanagh of the Canadian Union of Public Employees said the legislation is heavily weighted in favour of the employers because they would benefit from the mediation and arbitration phases.

The unions have said they want to form a bargaining association to avoid splintering their members in contract negotiations. Under the proposal, the association would negotiate collective agreements for different unions, without workers changing which unions they belong to.

Joan Jessome, president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, said the intent of the legislation is to break up bargaining units. "We represent all four groups right now and they want us to go to the table and horse-trade our members?" she added.

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Glavine said wages, benefits and pensions would not be affected by any of the changes in the legislation and some workers might not change unions if an agreement can be reached in mediation.

Barring that, the process would go to arbitration where an arbitrator would decide union representation. The government wants uniformity in the representation of nurses, technologists, administrative and support workers.

The government said once the law is passed by the legislature, the mediation process would have 45 days to reach agreements. If the process ends up in arbitration, there would be an additional 45 days added to the process.

Under the law, there would be a freeze on negotiations, as well as a prohibition on strikes and lockouts, until April 1, the date that has also been set to merge the province's 10 health authorities into two operations.

Glavine said the section of the bill that would reduce the number of health authorities will lead to estimated savings of $5-million or more a year in senior executive salaries and board expenses.

The merger was a major part of the Liberals' election platform, which promised $13-million in savings from the change, but Glavine said the government has decided to take a more cautious approach on changes to the way it administers the health-care system.

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"The $13-million will eventually come," he said. "Really what we are doing with this act is setting down a foundation for probably five to seven years of change in the system."