Deal includes wage increases, improvements to benefits, bereavement leave
Members of the Hospital Professionals Division of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) have ratified the tentative agreement reached by their bargaining team on May 29, 2016, according to OPSEU.
In voting over the past month, members working at 53 Ontario hospitals voted 92 per cent in favour of the deal. The agreement was ratified by 97 per cent of the participating local bargaining units.
The new contract includes wage increases or lump sums for the first year that will match those awarded to the Ontario Nurses’ Association, along with 1.4 per cent wage increases in the second and third years of the agreement, said the union.
“This agreement provides members wage increases and gains in many areas that have seen no improvement in the last 10 years of arbitrated awards,” said Sandi Blancher, chair of the OPSEU bargaining team. “Our members deserve the long-awaited improvements to vacation entitlement, shift and weekend premiums.”
The three-year collective agreement also includes improvements to benefits, bereavement leave and the grievance procedure.
The agreement covers 12,000 hospital professionals in more than 250 occupations including lab technologists, radiation technologists, respiratory therapists, lab assistants, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers and pharmacy technicians.
