Wage increases of just 1% and 1%?
In 2019 the Ford government passed Bill 124, which limits increases in wages and total compensation to no more than 1% a year for a 3-year period. This took effect for your contracts when they expired in 2021.
Our unions have fought Bill 124, organizing countless protests, together with other unions, but the legislation remains in place, and it has severely limited what the central board of arbitration was able to do in the areas of wages, benefits, and other forms of compensation.
As a result, the wages are 1% and 1% in each year of a 2-year contract.
Shift premiums are very modest.
The only significant benefit improvement is $800 a year for mental health.
All of this is very hard to take given the heroic contribution that you have made to keeping health services operating through the pandemic for the people of Ontario.
We will return to bargaining in the spring of 2023. The first year of our next contracts will be covered by Bill 124, again limiting us to 1% increases in wages and total compensation.
Our goal is to achieve real wage increases in the second year of that contract. This will require us to give the government a strong push. We will need your active support in the next round of bargaining to achieve the kind of wage increases and other improvements that you so deserve.
In solidarity,
Michael Hurley
President, OCHU-CUPE
Sharleen Stewart
President, SEIU Healthcare
