Hospital CEOs ordered to invest in nurses and patient care

TORONTO, Nov. 9 /CNW/ - Hospital CEOs have been ordered to invest in nurses and frontline staff by an independent arbitrator who found Queen's Park's call for a compensation freeze unreasonable, in a ruling that renders the policy null and void in the health sector.

The decision published today means about 17,000 nurses and staff at more than 60 hospital sites will see their compensation rise in-line with inflation, while CEOs were also given a deadline of 60 days to start taking steps to address nursing shortages.

"The ruling is balanced and puts the interests of patients first," said Sharleen Stewart, head of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents more than 50,000 healthcare workers in Ontario.

Hospital CEOs have been withholding inflation increases dating back more than a year from frontline staff, while paying themselves up to $830,000 and spending millions on consultants through sole-source contracts that a recent audit revealed as wasteful and potentially fraudulent.

"Frontline staff are getting by on less than 5% of what some of these CEOs are paying themselves. Yet these executives think nothing of pushing a paramedic or nurse to breaking point while indulging in lavish spending on perks for consultants and bonuses for themselves. This is simply unfair. The hypocrisy is staggering," said Ms. Stewart.

Ontario Arbitrator Kevin Burkett ruled the CEOs' position unreasonable and found the government's goal of a wage freeze for nurses and teachers was not binding. The government had "spoken politically" but "not legally" or "legislatively", he said. Legislation is not a viable option for Ontario following a Supreme Court decision that ruled a similar move by British Columbia violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Marty Parker, head of the Ontario Hospital Workers Council, said: "The wage freeze is dead. The only way the government is going to reach its budget targets now is by delaying $2-billion in handouts to corporations. We just can't afford to pay for anymore corporate tax cuts."

The arbitrator also ordered CEOs to take steps towards making better use of Registered Practical Nurses, and ensuring patient safety is part of the professional responsibility of all nursing staff. "This is a call to action to make sure patients get the right nurse at the right time," said Carol McDowell, a Registered Practical Nurse in St. Catharines and head of SEIU's Nursing Division.

The arbitrator's ruling means SEIU will be the lead union in the next round of negotiations with CEOs in the hospital sector, with talks starting early in 2011 with a focus on capping runaway CEO pay and making public healthcare stronger and more sustainable.

The wage freeze has now been overturned in the hospital sector and nursing home sector, leaving only one major part of the health system to address: home care. Cuts are seen as untenable in the home care sector because of acute shortages and high turnover rates among staff who are already living below the poverty line, and because the sector is still struggling to live up to its promise as a solution to the pressures of an aging population. 

For further information:

Pat Chastang
SEIU Canada
(416) 709- 0501
[email protected]