Nursing instructors at Brock among lowest paid, says union
A team of registered nurses working to pass on their knowledge to the next generation is ready to go on strike if Brock University fails to provide fair compensation for the nurses’ efforts.
Phil Wachel, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4207 aid about 50 clinical nursing instructors (CNIs) working in Brock’s nursing program voted unanimously in favour of a strike mandate after negotiations with the university reached an impasse on Feb 14.
He said a 100 per cent strike vote is almost unheard of.
“You get 95 per cent once in while, but you don’t get 100 per cent,” Wachel said. “There’s usually a dissenter among the group, but this is just so glaring that the CNIs at Brock need to come up close to the market rate, especially with the colleges getting into the RN business.”
Despite making some progress with the assistance of a government-appointed conciliator who participated in meetings on April 4 and 5, Wachel said the parties have yet to reach an agreement regarding compensation for the nurses who are negotiating their first collective bargaining agreement since joining CUPE a year ago.
“We were able sign off on all of the non-monetary articles. But now it’s down to the money piece.”
Another meeting with the conciliator is tentatively planned for the end of May.
In an emailed statement, Brock University said it is “confident that we can reach a fair collective agreement that reflects the importance of the contributions of members of the bargaining unit, while being financially responsible and sustainable.”
“As during previous collective bargaining, Brock remains committed to negotiating at the bargaining table rather than in public or via the media.”
Wachel said the nurses have not had a pay increase for about 12 years, and their income has since fallen well below wages offered by most of the 14 institutions that offer nursing programs across the province.
While some institutions pay far more, he said, the “going rate” for CNIs is about $58 an hour — about 50 per cent more than Brock pays — while the income for CNIs at University of Western Ontario and Toronto Metropolitan University is double the compensation Brock offers, plus comprehensive benefits that Brock’s CNIs don’t receive.
He said some universities with non-unionized CNI teams offer better wages than Brock, such as McMaster University in Hamilton.
“We’ve been putting pressure on Brock to come to a fair deal,” Wachel said.
He said most nursing instructors work part time at Brock, supervising as many as eight students in the hospital setting while they learn by caring for patients while dealing with ethical dilemmas and upsetting experiences in clinical settings.
The CNIs also grade student assignment sheets and evaluate their performance.
Wachel said Brock’s nursing program “is a respected department” among registered nurses, but he’s concerned that may change if recruitment efforts are hampered by inadequate compensation.
The competition for registered nurses who need at least three years experience to work as CNIs is also likely to get much worse, when several colleges begin offering bachelor of nursing programs to address the shortage of nurses across Ontario. Niagara College is one of them, with its program starting in September.
“There will literally be double the number of nursing schools, so it’s in Brock’s interest to provide a fair wage to CNIs,” Wachel said.
Compensation is also likely contributing to difficulties retaining registered nurses. Of the 50 CNIs working at Brock, he said 17 of them were recently hired.
Despite the disparity, Wachel said the union is not asking the university to make up the difference entirely at this time.
“With a first collective agreement, we are seeking a little bit less than the $58, and we are not seeking benefits,” he said.
“You don’t expect the world in a first contract, but we’re just so far behind the middle,” he said. “We’re willing to overlook some of those things and we’ll be getting them the next time around.”
Wachel said the union is hoping to avoid a strike, “but we’ll know a lot more at the end of May,” following the meeting with the conciliator.
“We ended our last meeting with conciliation with a wage offer. We’re hoping we’ve exerted enough pressure and that Brock would realize they need to support their own staff,” he said.