Unions representing nurses at two local hospitals say their work isn't recognized by employers

Two unions representing nurses at local hospitals are weighing in on ongoing wage disputes resulting in what they say are overdue raises and roster cuts.

Unifor Local 1106, who represents 1,400 staff members at Grand River Hospital, says negotiations began in February of this year – and although the hospital agreed to meet, the employer will not discuss wages.

In 2019, Bill 124 went into effect – capping wage increases for public service employees at one per cent a year, for three years.

The bill was ruled unconstitutional last year and union officials say they are ready to bargain for larger pay raises.

Unifor Local 1106 Vice President Colleen Stevens saying: “Unifor will file or has filed for arbitration. The hospital is aware, it’s not like this is a secret and you know, we’ll have to have a decision made by an arbitrator if we can’t get back to the table and make it settled for the members earlier then that.”

In a statement from Grand River Hospital, officials say in part: “We are willing to put in the time and effort necessary to do this right and we appreciate that this reality has a real impact on our frontline staff.”

Though, the union says wage discussions have been off the table.

“They’re expected to come to work every day and perform to the best of their ability while working beside someone who is making significant more money then them… that’s a hard pill to swallow,” said Stevens.

Meanwhile, the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) – the union representing nurses at St Mary's Hospital in Kitchener – says their staff have received the wage bump but they say the hospital has eliminated 11 full time registered nurses (RN) positions.

ONA Provincial President Erin Ariss adding: “I am incredibly worried and concerned about this decision by the hospital to eliminate RN positions in an array of units.”

ONA officials saying that it’s hard to ignore the fact that these cuts are coming into effect after renegotiations.

“It just seems more than coincidental that nurses received a wage increase this summer and then now just a few short months later, this hospital is eliminating positions,” Ariss said.

Officials with St Mary’s Hospital are denying the correlation, saying in a statement in part:

“There were no nursing job losses at the hospital as a result of recent changes to our model of care.”

“We continue to face many challenges as a health care system related to nursing and other clinical team shortages, growing and aging populations with complex care needs, and budget constraints.”

Both unions say their members feel like the work they do is not being recognized by their employers.

This will likely lead to a lot of back and forth between all parties in the coming weeks.