Manitoba Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk calls the tentative agreement with nurses a fair deal. (James Turner/CBC)

Nurses in Manitoba have reached a tentative agreement with the province that would see no wage increases in the first two years of a 3½-year deal, the two sides announced Friday.

Instead of a salary hike, the 11,000 nurses will receive a one-time lump-sum payment equivalent to two per cent of their annual pay. They will receive a four per cent raise in the third year of the deal.

Nurses have been without a contract since the end of September. The previous collective agreement bumped up their wages by 10 per cent over two years.

"Our goal was to protect front-line health services while managing very difficult budgets," Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk stated in a news release. The government release characterized the first two years of the agreement as a "pause in wage increases."

The proposed contract also includes a provision for a two per cent pay raise once nurses reach 20 years of service.

'Short-term fiscal predictability'

“By working together with the Manitoba Nurses Union, we have reached a fair deal that protects front-line services and provides government necessary short-term fiscal predictability while maintaining our long-term sustainability and competitiveness," Wowchuk said.

Reaching the deal was a "long and difficult process," the union said in a release.

"Our members made it clear to us that they wanted us to address pension issues and to remain competitive," MNU president Sandi Mowat said.

The union said the agreement includes additional government payments to the nurses' pension plans.

Under the existing collective agreement, the annual salary for a new nurse in Manitoba starts at $62,508.