Hospital workers awarded six per cent raise over two years
The CUPE workers are set receive a three per cent raise retroactive to last September and another three per cent boost this September, and the SEIU workers the same amount, retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year and the other on Jan. 1, 2025.
Ontario hospital workers will receive a six per cent wage increase over two years, as awarded by a provincial arbitrator in two recent decisions.Â
The interest arbitration decisions by William Kaplan, released early Friday morning, cover workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
In total, the two unions represent some 65,000 workers, including clerical and maintenance staff.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
The CUPE workers are set receive a three per cent raise retroactive to last September and another three per cent boost this September, and the SEIU workers the same amount, retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year and the other on Jan. 1, 2025.
On top of improvements to health and dental benefits, the decisions also mandate that hospitals provide quarterly reports on the use of costly agency staff with an eye to keeping as much work as possible in-house.Â
The six per cent wage increase is on top of a 6.25 per cent retroactive pay boost to make up for the Ford government’s wage-capping Bill 124, which was declared unconstitutional.
“Hospital workers can temporarily breathe a sigh of relief knowing their wages are going up six per cent over the next two years with this new contract,” said Sharleen Stewart, president of SEIU Healthcare, in a written statement.
“Patients deserve hospital workers who are focused on them, not the economic anxieties they face because of years of attacks from the provincial government. After our unions delivered Premier Ford a defeat on Bill 124, this award is a win for hospital workers who have been holding the health-care system together with sacrifice and grit.”
Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, said the arbitrator’s decision “will lift the spirits of front-line hospital workers who are struggling with impossible workloads in a staff-retention crisis.”
He noted “significant improvements to dental and other benefits, real wage increases and substantial adjustments to premiums will all contribute to making these front-line hospital staff feel valued and help them to better cope with the cost-of-living crisis that all working people are facing.”
Hospital workers represented by Unifor continue with mediation sessions with hospitals, but it is expected their terms will mirror those of the CUPE and SEIU workers.Â
Kristin
Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics
for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy.
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