Hospital workers in districts outside Halifax say they won't threaten to walk off the job until early next year due to the province's efforts to combat the swine flu.

Some locals of the Canadian Union of Public Employees are in a legal strike position as of Nov. 17.

Karen MacKenzie, chair of the union's bargaining committee, says health workers want to reassure the public that while they may takestrike votes beginning Thursday, it won't lead to an immediate walkout of the 3,300 workers.
MacKenzie, an X-ray technician at Colchester Regional Hospital in Truro, says her union wouldn't do anything to harm public health.
The bargaining unit represents five locals at 33 hospitals in rural Nova Scotia and is seeking wage parity with workers who do similar jobs in Halifax-area hospitals.
The union's bargaining team says it wouldn't impose a strike until Jan. 11 and will assess whether the H1N1 pandemic is under control before any walkout goes ahead.