Canadian Blood Services assures strike won't affect long-weekend supply

There is enough blood to meet demand on P.E.I. over the long weekend, despite the strike by workers in Charlottetown, say Canadian Blood Services officials.

The strike began five weeks ago and so far, no new talks are planned.

"We are able to deal with it in two ways in making sure that there is no interruption to hospitals in P.E.I. or to patient care. Number one is moving blood across the country from site to site, as we have a national inventory," said Peter MacDonald, director of donor relations in Atlantic Canada.

"The other part is looking at opportunities where clinics are strong and collecting well, to maybe add some capacity in those clinics to make sure that we have enough inventory on our shelves. And we have been able to do that leading into the long weekend."

The 11 part-time workers on strike in Charlottetown say the main issue in the labour dispute is their request for a guaranteed minimum number of hours every week.