An arbitrator has granted Ontario’s hospital nurses a salary increase of 5.25% over a two-year period in a new contract labeled as unsatisfactory by their union. The contract terms, decided by the arbitrator for approximately 60,000 hospital nurses, include the pay raise but do not incorporate mandated minimum staffing levels, a demand put forth by the nurses during the arbitration process.
Erin Ariss, the provincial president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association, expressed disappointment in the arbitrator’s omission of staffing ratios, suggesting that this decision conveys a message that nurses are being deprived of the safety measures afforded to other frontline workers in hazardous occupations.
The Ontario Nurses’ Association announced its intention to meticulously assess the ruling and deliberate on the subsequent course of action. Hospitals contended that the union’s staffing ratio proposals were inflexible and unfeasible, failing to consider care provided by other healthcare professionals like registered practical nurses.
The arbitrator clarified in the judgment that existing mechanisms are available for nurses to address concerns regarding workloads and appropriate staffing levels.
