VIA Rail agreement reached in record time
On the surface, the new collective agreement between the Ontario Hospital Assn. (OHA) and the Ontario Nurses’ Assn. (ONA) fulfills the requirements of the province’s wage restraint policy: there are no increases for the first two years.
However, substantial lump sums will cost the hospitals up to $2,612 in two installments for the most senior of Ontario’s 45,000 acute-care nurses.
In addition, shift, weekend and team leader premiums will all increase, beginning in the first year.
The new collective agreement was awarded by arbitrator Jane Devlin.
Despite the face the parties are putting on the contract (“The award is consistent with the Government of Ontario’s stated policy directive with respect to compensation restraint.” – Tom Closson, OHA; “”We also believe that the government’s two-year restraint mandate has been met.” – Linda Haslam-Stroud, ONA), the fact remains that a significant amount of new money will change hands as a result of the award.
And as long as concerns over recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals (nurses high among them) has to be balanced against restraint, these tradeoffs will continue to be made.
British Columbia and Quebec, the two provinces that have been the most successful in restraining broader public sector wage increases in the most recent round of negotiations, have both provided higher increases for nurses.
Rex Beatty, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, commented that the recent tentative agreement with VIA Rail was reached in just six days, “which is unprecedented and demonstrates the willingness of parties to make necessary compromises to avoid a labour dispute.” It was accepted by 89 per cent of the membership.
