Nurses and health-care workers across the province weren’t letting today's wintry weather keep them from showing their frustration at what they say should be a fair deal.
Contract talks between the Ontario Nurses’ Association’s (ONA) — which represents 60,000 hospital nurses and health-care professionals — and the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) started at the end of January.
ONA members say they're determined to reach a new deal that meets their demands, which includes “better staffing, better wages and better care.”
On Thursday, around a dozen ONA members and their supporters took part in “all-out picket actions” outside some Ontario hospitals, including Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) in Barrie, as well as the constituency offices of Progressive Conservative MPPs.
Char Lameront, the local co-ordinator for ONA's Local 134 and the organizer of the Barrie protest, said getting out and showing their frustration needs to happen, no matter the weather.
“This is needed even more today, to highlight the importance of needing staff," Lameront explained. "On days like today, there would be workers who rightfully may not be able to make it into work. That even furthers the need for more staff, because days like this can leave us with even less workers when they’re desperately needed.”
Laremont, who is also a registered nurse (RN), said the protest wasn’t about the money, but rather about workers' safety.
“It isn’t so much about wages as it is about safe staffing," she said. "We just are not attracting new people. They can’t teach them fast enough, to be honest, and that means our patient care suffers.
“We are dedicated to our patients and our communities," Lameront added. "Not allowing us to provide good, safe care is impacting everyone.”
When asked about current wages for ONA members, Laremont said that information is on the association’s website, but she added she would rather not discuss wages.
The ONA website states that as of April 1, 2022, workers received a one per cent increase across the board for all classifications, including health-care professionals.
While different jobs have varying wages, the RN salary grid for full-time workers is $34.24 to $49.02. There are also different salary ranges for part-timers.
Lameront said there are approximately 1,200 people in her Local 134.
Anthony Dale, who is the president and chief executive officer with the OHA, acknowledged the pickets and said both sides “are currently engaged in the collective bargaining process.”
“The OHA is working very hard to reach a freely negotiated agreement with ONA, one that recognizes the enormous value of registered nurses and is aligned with a broader health human resource strategy to ensure access to services and high-quality care for all Ontarians,” Dale said in an email to BarrieToday. “We believe the right place for negotiation is at the table and will focus our efforts there.”
Nancy Savage, RVH's executive vice-president and regional vice-president of Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario), said ONA members are supported in their right to peacefully protest while at the same time respecting the collective bargaining process.
“The local bargaining unit president informed us that in no way is this protest directed at RVH, nor will ONA members interfere with patients, visitors, or Team RVH, entering and exiting the building or affect the delivery of care,” Savage said in a statement emailed to BarrieToday when asked to comment on the local situation.
“We join with our ONA colleagues and agree the crisis in health human resources, which includes nurses, is not only an RVH problem – it is a provincial and national problem," she added. "Nursing staff, indeed all health-care workers, are burned out, exhausted and have gone above and beyond, especially during the last three years.
"We are constantly recruiting nurses and, in fact, last year hired 300 nurses in addition to the approximate 240 vacancies we currently have," Savage said.
