Alberta's nursing union has stressed that a contract proposal that was put forward by Alberta's health super board is calling out for a "historic" cutback in salaries, benefits and scheduling protections, among other areas, of magnitudes that have never been seen before.

"We're not being dramatic in terms of this being historic and unprecedented. This is", said Heather Smith, President of the United Nurses of Alberta. The union represents a total of 24,000 registered nurses, as well as registered psychiatric nurses, whose contracts are all set to expire on March 31.

"What we have here is wage rollbacks, job destruction", she said.

The said proposals were exchanged on Monday, and negotiations are scheduled to begin on March 17.

The union is demanding a two-year contract with a promise of a 4% wage increase each year, which Ms. Smith has called "the most modest wage proposal I can think we have ever tabled". The nurses, it has been reported, are not demanding any extra pay for working weekends or nights.