HAMILTON, ON, April 17,
2024 /CNW/ - Health care professionals employed by
Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) held concurrent information rallies
today at all three hospital sites to draw attention to pay
inequity. The members of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 273 also hand-delivered
a petition to hospital management at Hamilton General
to demand action on the staff recruitment and
retention crisis that stems from their unfair pay – and
which threatens the quality of patient care.
Staff at Hamilton General Hospital, Juravinski Hospital,
and McMaster Children Hospital are being paid less than
industry standards
and other healthcare professionals in the
region, and across province. The petition was signed
by a majority of the
local membership - a diverse group of health care
professionals at Hamilton Health Sciences.
"Our members work in specialized programs and tertiary care,
providing exceptional patient care - they should be valued for
their expertise," says Lori
Reimer, President of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 273. "We take
care of the sickest of the sick, the youngest of the young,
and the oldest of the old. Yet our members are making
substantially less money per hour than the majority of workers at
other hospitals across the province."
The local has been in bargaining for more
than a year and is currently
awaiting conciliation dates to approach the unresolved issues
of fair wages and improved benefits. They are demanding wage parity
with other hospital professionals who are covered by OPSEU/SEFPO's
Central Hospitals Collective Agreement. Those covered by the
central agreement recently achieved substantial wage increases
through interest arbitration and pay equity, which established new
province-wide wage benchmarks for all hospital professionals.
OPSEU/SEFPO Local 273 represents over 1100 members who work
as therapists, technologists, and technicians in Biomedical
Engineering, Medical Laboratories, Diagnostic Imaging, Nuclear
Medicine and a Cardiovascular Diagnostic Unit; perfusionists;
respiratory therapists; behaviour therapists; rehabilitation
therapists; advanced rehabilitation therapists; and other allied
health professions.
Reimer says members are angry, fed up
with employer's performative gratitude that isn't
translating to better working conditions. "Yesterday, we were
heralded as 'heroes' of the pandemic. Those sentiments have not
translated into material thanks for frontline workers who have been
to hell and back," she says. "Something's got to give."
"Thanking workers for all they have done during the pandemic is
an empty gesture without a fair deal to back it up," said JP
Hornick, OPSEU/SEFPO President. "Amid a crumbling healthcare system
and the Ford government's attack on public healthcare, we are
standing up to ensure health care professionals achieve the wages
and working conditions they deserve – and we won't back
down."
SOURCE Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO)