An arbitrator has awarded nurses in Ontario who work in hospitals pay increases that their union estimates will average 11% over a two-year period.
The Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) represents 68,000 registered nurses and other healthcare workers.
The union notes that the referee’s decision recognizes that wages have lagged behind over the past decade and that this is a major factor in the difficulty of hiring and retaining nurses.
This is a first step to righting the wrongs of the past and bringing hospital nurse pay to the level it should be.
Discussions between the Nursing Association and the Hospital Association did not result in an agreement. Therefore, an arbitrator had to determine the terms of the new employment contract.
Arbiter William Kaplan notes that Ontario hospitals have more than 9,000 unfilled nursing positions and that compensation is one of the most important aspects of recruiting.
This is the first employment contract for these nurses since the government passed legislation limiting wage increases for public sector workers to 1% per year for three years.
An Ontario court ruled late last year that the Law 124
was unconstitutional but the government is appealing.
The nurses were able to get additional salary increases for the contracts in force from 2020 to 2022 with the arbitrator, as these contracts were to be resumed in the event of a reopening Law 124
has been rescinded or declared invalid.
With information from The Canadian Press
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