To: Bargaining Unit Presidents, Hospital
Sector
From: Cathryn Hoy, RN, Chair, Hospital Central
Negotiating Team
Date: March 31, 2016
Re: Hospital
Central Negotiating Team (HCNT) Update
C: Board of Directors, Local
Coordinators, HCNT, Staff
ONA and the
Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) concluded their interest arbitration hearing
before Arbitrator Albertyn and nominees McIntyre and O’Byrne on Tuesday, March
22, 2016. If nothing else, OHA made it very clear they have no respect
whatsoever for registered nurses (RNs) and seem intent on seeing our demise. We
made it very clear to them that we will never let this happen.
Job security
was the most contentious of the issues addressed at the hearing. We argued that
the recent raft of RN layoffs, which has seen RPNs parachuted into our jobs, was
sufficient "demonstrated need" for contract language that would
protect our jobs and stop the bleeding of the RN workforce and the drop in
quality patient care. We referred to language in nursing contracts in Alberta
and Saskatchewan that maintain current RN staffing levels. We must have the
same type of language in Ontario.
At the same
time as we are seeing layoffs, agency nurse usage is growing and it too must
come to a stop. Our proposals supported these priority objectives.
OHA seems
not to understand or care about the value of RNs in our health-care system,
particularly in the hospital sector. They want a collective agreement that
gives them complete flexibility to remove RNs from the system and speed up the
infusion of RPNs into the system – whether they are qualified or not does not
seem to be a consideration. At the same time, OHA shows no concern about agency
usage and are content to have it continue unabated. All of this has led to
unprecedented layoffs of Bargaining Unit nurses. To add insult to injury, OHA
further proposes conditions that would eliminate the requirement to provide
retirement packages to those who are laid off. Could anything be any more
disrespectful to the key people who have been the cornerstone of our health-care
system?
The
disrespect goes beyond just job security. We argued for proposals to enhance
our protections pertaining to violence in the workplace. While pretending to be
concerned about the issue, OHA simply opposed our proposals and offered
absolutely nothing to address the problems our members are facing.
They also
want language to allow them to post for temporary positions. But the language
is so wide open, no permanent job would likely ever be posted again.
For the very
first time in 16 rounds of central bargaining, the parties were unable to agree
on the term of the new collective agreement as the employers decided to
exercise their option for a one-year contract. Absent agreement on a term, the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act
(HLDAA) does not permit a term longer
than one year from the effective date of the arbitration board award. Assuming
that the award will be released on or about May of this year, we can expect the
new contract to expire in May 2017.
The OHA
position is unexplained, except for their assertion that the Union should get
less in a one-year deal than we would if there were a longer term. Throughout
the bargaining process, OHA was looking to achieve a three-year agreement. We
proposed a two-year agreement, which would give the parties a longer time to
live with the agreement and give hospitals some certainty for the 2017
budgeting process. It would also maintain an expiry date that coincided with
the end of the fiscal year. Why hospitals would move to throw all of this away
makes no sense whatsoever.
At the
hearing itself, ONA argued for a proper general wage increase to reflect gains
made by RNs employed across Canada, to keep pace with police and fire contracts
in Ontario, to keep pace with escalating inflation and to share in the
productivity gains enjoyed by our province. We were also looking to standardize
the wage grids for Nurse Practitioners (NPs), which are currently very
widespread.
We also made
clear our expectation that, based on past contracts, both freely negotiated and
arbitrated, we expect to achieve monetary gains in premiums, benefits,
vacations and leaves. OHA, on the other
hand, offered virtually nothing – a small wage increase offset by their demand
to eliminate the BScN allowance in many agreements. In fact, they offered
nothing that would be an improvement for RNs.
So this is
where we are at. We now await arbitration board’s decision. We expect to
receive the final and binding award from the board in May. Obviously we are
hoping for a favourable result, but there are no guarantees. We will report
back to you as soon as we receive the award.
In the
interim, get loud and ensure your employer is aware of your disgust for their lack
of negotiations at the table for our 50,000 ONA members in the hospital sector.
If you have
any questions for the HCNT, please send them to ONA President Linda
Haslam-Stroud at lindahs@ona.org. Linda will see they are brought to my
attention.
