Nurses demand promised pandemic pay bump
Health-care workers protest outside MPP’S office in Beamsville
Despite being described as heroes in the fight against COVID-19, nurses who put their lives on the line every day say they have yet to see a dime of promised pandemic pay.
Nurses from across the province represented by Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Health Care and Unifor teamed up Wednesday for a day of action, demanding the province honour its promised $4-per-hour pay hike for front-line healthcare workers. They staged protests — including at Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff’s office in Beamsville.
“They’re exhausted and fed up,” said a nurse represented by ONA. “It’s getting ugly.”
St. Catharines MPP Jennie
Stevens echoed their demands Wednesday at Queen’s Park.
She said her office has been contacted by at least 112 frontline health-care employees “working in bricks and mortar hospitals, and they’re saying they haven’t gotten any pandemic pay.”
That’s after being hit with a “messy one per cent pay cap” when Bill 124 was approved last November, limiting wage increases to a maximum of one per cent per year for three years for some publicly paid workers, including hospital nurses, Stevens added.
Stevens said to her knowledge not a single nurse working at Niagara Health hospitals has received their wage bonus.
The temporary adjustment was supposed to be rolled out at the start of June, retroactive to April 24.
ONA held a provincewide online session with its members Wednesday as part of a leadership meeting.
ONA president Vicki Mckenna told meeting participants not a single nurse has received pandemic pay across Ontario as a result of Bill 124.
An arbitrator who called in to rule on the issue for ONA’S hospital workers said his hands were tied because of the bill to hold their wage increase to one per cent.
Nurses across Ontario have sent roughly 30,330 emails so far to the premier’s office demanding Bill 124 be repealed and that the temporary pandemic pay be issued.
In a recent interview, Health Minister Christine Elliott acknowledged the service of front-line hospital staff, but blamed the arbitrator’s decision.
“The matter was heard by the arbitrator. It was an independent process, protected everyone’s rights. And so that isn’t something for us to question,” she said. “That’s outside of our jurisdiction.”