front lines april 2009

The MeMbers’ publicaTion oF The onTario nurses’ associaTion

AIN thIs Issue…

E4From ONA President

Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN

E5From ONA CEO

Lesley Bell, RN, MBA

E16From ONA First Vice-President

Vicki McKenna, RN

APRIL 2009 Vol.9•No.2

Proving our Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign is hitting the mark, ONA has re-cently released statistics showing that the public overwhelmingly disagrees with cutting registered nursing jobs and nursing hours to E continues on page 3

E continues on page 3

Public Opposes Nursing Cuts: ONA Poll

AFeaTures

March PCM Highlights ........................... 9History of Nursing Homes Bargaining .. 10

ADeparTMenTs

Member News .......................................... 6ONA News .............................................12Queen’s Park Update .............................17Human Rights and Equity ....................18Education ...............................................19CFNU News ............................................19Awards and Decisions ...........................20

has taken our new Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign up a notch by releas-ing television, bus shelter and billboard ads, and staging a very successful rally at

Queen’s Park in Toronto.The campaign, aimed at lobbying the government and employers and educating the public

on the serious impact registered nurse layoffs and/or reductions in nursing positions and hours will have on patient care, has garnered extensive media and public attention since its launch on February 9, 2009. Scarcely a day goes by that ONA’s campaign is not mentioned in the media, and our dedicated campaign website had already received more than 10,000 visitors at press time, thousands of whom left messages for their MPPs demanding the cuts be stopped. The second phase of the campaign – a television commercial and billboard/bus shelters ads – was unveiled on February 23, 2009.

But the highlight of our campaign so far is our successful rally at

balance health care facility budgets.The survey, conducted by Vector Polling

this past January, reveals that 83 per cent of Ontarians polled oppose reducing registered

ona

ONA Members say stop the Nursing Cuts!

sPeCIAL PuLL-Out: ONA’s Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care Campaign

61322-3 ona_frontlines abr09 v8.indd 1 4/7/09 4:34:52 PM

APRIl20092

Linda Haslam-Stroud, RNPresident, VM #2254

Communications & Public

Relations

Vicki McKenna, RNFirst VP, VM #2314

Political Action & Professional

Issues

Diane Parker, RNVP Region 1, VM #7710

Occupational Health & Safety

Anne Clark, RNVP Region 2, VM #7758

Labour Relations

Andy Summers, RNVP Region 3, VM #7754

Human Rights & Equity

Dianne Leclair, RNVP Region 4, VM #7752

Finance

Karen Bertrand, RNVP Region 5, VM #7702

Education

Lesley Bell, RNChief Executive Officer,

VM #2255

How to contact your 2009 ONA Board of Directors

Call ONA toll-free at 1-800-387-5580 (press 0)

or (416) 964-1979 in Toronto and follow the

operator’s prompts to access board members’

voice-mail. Voice-mail numbers (VM) for Board

members in the Toronto office are listed below.

Tel: (416) 964-8833

Toll free: 1-800-387-5580

ONA Provincial Office85 Grenville St., Ste. 400

Toronto ON M5S 3A2

ONA is the union representing 54,000 registered nurses and allied health

professionals and more than 10,000 nursing students providing care in

hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics

and industry.

Fax: (416) 964-8864

e-mail: [email protected]

www.ona.org

Design: Artifact graphic design

Printed by union labour: Thistle Printing Limited

Copyright © 2009 Ontario Nurses’ Association

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording,

or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing

from the publisher.

ISSN: 0834-9088

The MeMbers’ publicaTion oF The onTario nurses’ associaTion

Editor: Ruth Featherstone

Features Editor: Melanie Levenson

Send submissions to: Public Relations Intake at [email protected]

Contributors: Sheree Bond, Athena Brown, Brooke Burns, Nancy Johnson, Mary Lou

King, Bev Mathers, David Nicholson, Lawrence Walter.

E Hamilton2 King St., W., 2nd Floor Rear

Dundas, ON L9H 6Z1

Tel: (905) 628-0850

Fax: (905) 628-2557

E Kingston4 Cataraqui St., Ste. 306

Kingston ON K7K 1Z7

Tel: (613) 545-1110

Fax: (613) 531-9043

E London750 Baseline Rd. E., Ste. 204

London ON N6C 2R5

Tel: (519) 438-2153

Fax: (519) 433-2050

E Orillia210 Memorial Ave.,

Unit 126A

Orillia ON L3V 7V1

Tel: (705) 327-0404

Fax: (705) 327-0511

E Ottawa1400 Clyde Ave., Ste. 211

Nepean ON K2G 3J2

Tel: (613) 226-3733

Fax: (613) 723-0947

E Sudbury764 Notre Dame Ave., Unit 3

Sudbury ON P3A 2T4

Tel: (705) 560-2610

Fax: (705) 560-1411

E Thunder Bay#214, Woodgate Centre,

1139 Alloy Dr.

Thunder Bay ON P7B 6M8

Tel: (807) 344-9115

Fax: (807) 344-8850

E TimminsCanadian Mental Health

Association Building

330 Second Ave, Ste. 203

Timmins ON P4N 8A4

Tel: (705) 264-2294

Fax: (705) 268-4355

E Windsor3155 Howard Ave., Ste. 220

Windsor ON N8X 3Y9

Tel: (519) 966-6350

Fax: (519) 972-0814

ONA Regional Offices

APRIL 2009 Vol.9•No.2

ON OUR COVER: Flanked by ONA members carrying “Stop the Nursing Cuts” signs, ONA President Linda Haslam-

Stroud details the layoffs and registered nursing reductions happening throughout the province at our first Cutting

Nurses, Cutting Care campaign rally at Queen’s Park on March 5, 2009.

February Board HighlightsThe following are key highlights from the most recent Board of Directors meeting, held February 4-5, 2009 at the ONA provincial office.

A The censures of Bluewater Health, Local 19, and Niagara Health System, Local 26, will continue.

A The $15,000 Johnson Inc. leadership monies for 2009 will be split evenly among the five regions ($3,000 each) to fund attendance at a 2009 Provincial Coordinators Meeting (PCM). Each region determines which Local will receive the monies, which must be used to fund a Bargaining Unit President or member under the age of 35 who has never attended a PCM. The Local may also use the monies to sponsor attendance at a PCM for a Canadian Nursing Students’ Association student leader. Johnson Inc. is the carrier of the ONA benefits plan.

A ONA will donate an additional $10,000 to the Ontario Health Coalition to support its “Hospital Cuts Threaten our Health” campaign.

A Three new members were welcomed to the Human Rights and Equity Team:– Nicola Dumont, Local 42.– Usha Arora, Local 25.– Pamela Mancuso, Local 46.

Complete highlights of the Board of Directors meeting are avail-able on the members’ section of the ONA website at www.ona.org. The next Board meeting will be held at the provincial office on April 15-17, 2009 and highlights will appear in the next issue of Front Lines.

nursing jobs or hours of nursing care in hospitals; nine out of 10 expect the delay in hiring 9,000 nurses from four years to five will result in longer ER wait times and waits for non-emergency surgery; 75 per cent believe that patients recovering from surgery will expe-rience more complications because of the hiring delay; and 77 per cent believe that the delay in hiring of nurses due to the uncertain economic situation is “very bad” or “bad.”

“It’s obvious that our Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign is echoing what the general public is thinking,” said ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud. “It is well known that as we move into an economic downturn, health care needs for Ontarians increase. Therefore, this is absolutely the worst time to cut registered nursing care. The government would be wise to listen to the taxpayers. We all want our tax dollars spent wisely during these tough times, but cut-ting nurses and cutting care is not wise for anyone – not for nurses and certainly not for our patients.”

Econt. from cover


Up fRONt


3 APRIL 2009

ONA is the union representing 54,000 registered nurses and allied health

professionals and more than 10,000 nursing students providing care in

hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics

and industry.

Fax: (416) 964-8864

e-mail: [email protected]

Design: Artifact graphic design

Printed by union labour: Thistle Printing Limited

Copyright © 2009 Ontario Nurses’ Association

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording,

or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing

from the publisher.

ISSN: 0834-9088

Editor: Ruth Featherstone

Features Editor: Melanie Levenson

Send submissions to: Public Relations Intake at [email protected]

Contributors: Sheree Bond, Athena Brown, Brooke Burns, Nancy Johnson, Mary Lou

King, Bev Mathers, David Nicholson, Lawrence Walter.

E Thunder Bay#214, Woodgate Centre,

1139 Alloy Dr.

Thunder Bay ON P7B 6M8

Tel: (807) 344-9115

Fax: (807) 344-8850

E TimminsCanadian Mental Health

Association Building

330 Second Ave, Ste. 203

Timmins ON P4N 8A4

Tel: (705) 264-2294

Fax: (705) 268-4355

E Windsor3155 Howard Ave., Ste. 220

Windsor ON N8X 3Y9

Tel: (519) 966-6350

Fax: (519) 972-0814

Queen’s Park on March 5, 2009, timed to coincide with our Provin-cial Coordinators Meeting, being held just down the street. More than 100 ONA leaders, members, staff, students and allies carried

“Stop the Nursing Cuts” signs and chanted, “Cutting nurses, cutting care, when you need us, who’ll be there?”

At the rally, ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud decried the alarming trend of employers balancing their budgets on the backs of nurses and their patients, noting that both Minister of Health and Long-Term Care David Caplan and Premier Dalton McGuinty have recently stated that they will not make cuts to nurses, who are a

“valued and indispensible asset to our health care system.”“It appears that balancing budgets is more imperative to this gov-

ernment than safe patient care,” said Haslam-Stroud in reading out a list of 61 health care facilities where RN positions are being cut, totalling 1-million hours of lost care to our patients, residents and clients. “Hospital funding of 2.1 per cent for 2009 is inadequate when employers’ actual costs are between 3.5 and 4 per cent. The government should be working hard to retain each and every regis-tered nurse in Ontario before it’s too late, but their actions to stop these cuts have been non-existent.”

Echoing Haslam-Stroud’s sentiments during their rally speeches were Ontario Federation of Labour President Wayne Samuelson, Ontar-io Regional Director-elect of the Canadian Nursing Students’ Associa-tion Branden Shepitka, Kitchener-Waterloo MPP and PC Health Critic Elizabeth Witmer and NDP Parkdale-High Park MPP Cheri DiNovo.

Just prior to the rally, both Minister Witmer and NDP Health Critic France Gelinas raised questions on nursing care reductions dur-ing Question Period in the Legislature. A strong contingent of ONA leaders was in attendance, but the questions went largely unanswered.

Immediately following our rally, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care officials asked ONA to meet with their senior policy staffers to discuss the issue of nursing cuts.

For additional information on our Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign, see the insert included with this issue of Front Lines or log onto cuttingnursescuttingcare.ca.

Econt. from cover

ON OUR COVER: Flanked by ONA members carrying “Stop the Nursing Cuts” signs, ONA President Linda Haslam-

Stroud details the layoffs and registered nursing reductions happening throughout the province at our first Cutting

Nurses, Cutting Care campaign rally at Queen’s Park on March 5, 2009.

ONA Members Say Stop the Nursing Cuts!

February Board HighlightsThe following are key highlights from the most recent Board of Directors meeting, held February 4-5, 2009 at the ONA provincial office.

A The censures of Bluewater Health, Local 19, and Niagara Health System, Local 26, will continue.

A The $15,000 Johnson Inc. leadership monies for 2009 will be split evenly among the five regions ($3,000 each) to fund attendance at a 2009 Provincial Coordinators Meeting (PCM). Each region determines which Local will receive the monies, which must be used to fund a Bargaining Unit President or member under the age of 35 who has never attended a PCM. The Local may also use the monies to sponsor attendance at a PCM for a Canadian Nursing Students’ Association student leader. Johnson Inc. is the carrier of the ONA benefits plan.

A ONA will donate an additional $10,000 to the Ontario Health Coalition to support its “Hospital Cuts Threaten our Health” campaign.

A Three new members were welcomed to the Human Rights and Equity Team:– Nicola Dumont, Local 42.– Usha Arora, Local 25.– Pamela Mancuso, Local 46.

Complete highlights of the Board of Directors meeting are avail-able on the members’ section of the ONA website at www.ona.org. The next Board meeting will be held at the provincial office on April 15-17, 2009 and highlights will appear in the next issue of Front Lines.

nursing jobs or hours of nursing care in hospitals; nine out of 10 expect the delay in hiring 9,000 nurses from four years to five will result in longer ER wait times and waits for non-emergency surgery; 75 per cent believe that patients recovering from surgery will expe-rience more complications because of the hiring delay; and 77 per cent believe that the delay in hiring of nurses due to the uncertain economic situation is “very bad” or “bad.”

“It’s obvious that our Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign is echoing what the general public is thinking,” said ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud. “It is well known that as we move into an economic downturn, health care needs for Ontarians increase. Therefore, this is absolutely the worst time to cut registered nursing care. The government would be wise to listen to the taxpayers. We all want our tax dollars spent wisely during these tough times, but cut-ting nurses and cutting care is not wise for anyone – not for nurses and certainly not for our patients.”

Econt. from cover


ONA members shout “Shame! Shame!” as ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud reads an exhaustive list of Ontario health care facilities where registered nursing cuts are occurring during a Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign rally at Queen’s Park on March 5, 2009.

Up front

61322-3 ona_frontlines abr09 v8.indd 3 4/8/09 10:50:37 AM

APRIl20094

From ONA President / Présidente, AIIO

Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN

From ONA Chief Executive Officer / Directrice générale, AIIO


campaign Garnering attention, but Fight Must continue

few short weeks into our Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign and I can tell you that we are having an impact, but we still need your help if we are going to stop the disastrous nursing layoffs and

reductions in hours happening throughout the province in all sectors.There’s no doubt the media is very interested in our campaign, as

we receive interview requests on a daily basis. The public is flocking to our campaign website – cuttingnursescuttingcare.ca – leaving messages of support. And we have certainly caught the attention of the Opposition parties. The NDP issued a media release saying that ONA was “forced” to launch a campaign to stop the cuts. The Tories are running an “ad” on their website detailing nurse layoffs, which concludes by urging viewers to visit ONA’s campaign website! And both parties asked about the nursing cuts on the same day during Question Period in the Legislature – some-thing almost unheard of. If that isn’t an impact, I don’t know what is!

We are very encouraged by this response, but it’s the government we need to really listen – the very government that keeps telling us that nurses are the “heart of heath care” and invaluable to the system. Their actions – or perhaps I should say inaction – clearly prove otherwise. While Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care officials asked ONA to meet to discuss nursing cuts since we launched our campaign, we believe Minister Caplan needs to stop the nursing cuts now.

It is imperative that we keep up the pressure. Go to our campaign website and send a templated letter to your MPP or write your own, and encourage everyone you know to do the same. It takes less than a minute and couldn’t be easier.

The other real leverage we have is the public. You have been doing a spectacular job of getting the word out by distributing campaign flyers, staging information booths and/or displaying our campaign materials. We know that letters to the editors are one of the most read pages of any newspaper, so I ask you to write letters to your local newspaper(s), such as the one from Kimberley Sweeney on pg. 7.

If we all do our part, we will bring about change. After all, it will be very difficult for the government to ignore the collective voice of 54,000 ONA members, 10,000 nursing students and their families, friends and supporters!

Our Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign is all about putting an end to policies that threaten patient care. For every extra patient added to the workload of an average RN, the rates of complications and pa-tient deaths rise by 7 per cent. Patient deaths decrease by 5 per cent for every 10 per cent increase in the proportion of RNs working in a hospi-tal. The public depends on us to be their voice and now, more than ever, they are looking for us to protect their health. We can’t let them down.

a QTake Time to celebrate this nursing Week

e are fast approaching a favorite time of year for our members and staff: Nursing Week.

Nursing Week gives us an opportunity to thank you for your commitment to your patients/residents/clients, your profession, your union and health care system, and celebrate alongside you first hand. The stories the Board brings back to staff and me from their site visits during Nursing Week helps us paint more vivid pictures about your working realities when lobbying for needed changes to the health care system to the government and your employers. Your stories bring our actions to life and we need you to keep telling us.

There’s no question these are particularly tough and challenging times for our profession. Nurses are being laid off and reduced as em-ployers grapple with soaring deficits. We are faced with a crippling nursing shortage, resulting in horrendous workloads and burnout. Our members suffer verbal abuse from frustrated patients. Physical violence on the job is escalating. The list, unfortunately, goes on. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot to celebrate.

But I’d say the opposite is true. We know the public supports us wholeheartedly. Just take a look at the cover story on ONA’s recent public poll. They are heartfelt in their descriptions of how nurses make a real difference to a patient’s physical and emotional wellbeing. And that in itself is something to be very proud of as Nursing Week rolls around.

I also know that despite all your challenges, you remain completely committed to the task at hand: providing the very best care you can to the patients/residents/clients of this province. In fact, I hear time and time again that nursing is not just a job for you, it’s your life’s passion.

I am humbled by the number of you who thank me for the work ONA is doing on your behalf, particularly in the areas of negotiations, health and safety, and political action. You have our solemn promise that ONA will always be here to represent your interests to the govern-ment and employers.

While every week should be Nursing Week in my opinion, as ONA members deeply care for your patients/residents/clients every single day of the year, I hope that during this Nursing Week you are afforded the opportunity to truly understand, appreciate – and celebrate! – just how valuable you are. Happy Nursing Week!

Wla campagne retient l’attention, mais la lutte doit continuer

uelques brèves semaines se sont écoulées depuis le début de no-tre campagne Supprimer des postes d’infirmières c’est couper dans les soins, et je peux vous dire qu’elle a fait effet. Toutefois, nous

avons encore besoin de votre aide si nous voulons mettre fin aux catas-trophiques licenciements d’infirmières et aux diminutions des heures de travail qui ont lieu dans tous les secteurs partout dans la province.

Il n’y a aucun doute, les médias sont très intéressés par notre cam-pagne, car nous recevons des demandes d’entrevue quotidiennement. Le public se précipite sur notre site Web de la campagne (cuttingnur-sescuttingcare.ca), Supprimer des postes d’infirmières c’est couper dans les soins, et y laisse des messages de soutien. Et nous avons certainement capté l’attention des partis de l’opposition. Le NPD a diffusé un com-muniqué de presse disant que l’AIIO était « obligée » de lancer une campagne afin de mettre un terme aux réductions. Les Conservateurs font paraître une « publicité » sur leur site Web expliquant en détail les licenciements d’infirmières et terminent en incitant les visiteurs à consulter le site Web de la campagne de l’AIIO! De plus, la même jour-née, les deux partis ont posé des questions à propos des suppressions de postes d’infirmières pendant la période des questions à l’Assemblée législative, pratiquement du jamais vu.

Nous sommes très encouragés par cette réaction, mais c’est le gou-vernement qui devrait vraiment nous écouter. Les mesures, ou peut-être devrais-je dire leur manque de mesures, prouvent nettement le contraire. Même si les représentants du ministère de la Santé et des Soins de longue durée ont demandé de rencontrer les représentants de l’AIIO pour discuter des réductions dans les soins infirmiers depuis que nous avons lancé notre campagne, nous croyons que le ministre David Caplan doit mettre fin aux réductions dans les soins infirmiers.

Nous devons absolument poursuivre les moyens de pression. Je vous invite à vous rendre sur le site Web de notre campagne et d’envoyer le modèle de lettre (ou d’en rédiger une) à votre député provincial, et encouragez tous ceux que vous connaissez à faire de même. Vous avez accompli un travail extraordinaire pour faire en sorte qu’on parle de la campagne par le biais de dépliants, de la mise sur pied de kiosques d’information ou par l’affichage des documents liés à la campagne. Nous savons que les lettres au rédacteur en chef sont les pages les plus lues d’un journal et je vous demande donc de rédiger des lettres à vos quotidiens locaux.

Si nous prenons tous quelques minutes pour y participer, je suis convaincue que nous allons changer les choses. Le public compte sur nous pour se faire entendre, et maintenant, plus que jamais, il cherche à protéger sa santé. Nous ne pouvons le laisser tomber.


5 APRIl2009

From ONA Chief Executive Officer / Directrice générale, AIIO


Take Time to celebrate this nursing Weeke are fast approaching a favorite time of year for our members and staff: Nursing Week.

Nursing Week gives us an opportunity to thank you for your commitment to your patients/residents/clients, your profession, your union and health care system, and celebrate alongside you first hand. The stories the Board brings back to staff and me from their site visits during Nursing Week helps us paint more vivid pictures about your working realities when lobbying for needed changes to the health care system to the government and your employers. Your stories bring our actions to life and we need you to keep telling us.

There’s no question these are particularly tough and challenging times for our profession. Nurses are being laid off and reduced as em-ployers grapple with soaring deficits. We are faced with a crippling nursing shortage, resulting in horrendous workloads and burnout. Our members suffer verbal abuse from frustrated patients. Physical violence on the job is escalating. The list, unfortunately, goes on. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot to celebrate.

But I’d say the opposite is true. We know the public supports us wholeheartedly. Just take a look at the cover story on ONA’s recent public poll. They are heartfelt in their descriptions of how nurses make a real difference to a patient’s physical and emotional wellbeing. And that in itself is something to be very proud of as Nursing Week rolls around.

I also know that despite all your challenges, you remain completely committed to the task at hand: providing the very best care you can to the patients/residents/clients of this province. In fact, I hear time and time again that nursing is not just a job for you, it’s your life’s passion.

I am humbled by the number of you who thank me for the work ONA is doing on your behalf, particularly in the areas of negotiations, health and safety, and political action. You have our solemn promise that ONA will always be here to represent your interests to the govern-ment and employers.

While every week should be Nursing Week in my opinion, as ONA members deeply care for your patients/residents/clients every single day of the year, I hope that during this Nursing Week you are afforded the opportunity to truly understand, appreciate – and celebrate! – just how valuable you are. Happy Nursing Week!

W nla campagne retient l’attention, mais la lutte doit continuer

uelques brèves semaines se sont écoulées depuis le début de no-tre campagne Supprimer des postes d’infirmières c’est couper dans les soins, et je peux vous dire qu’elle a fait effet. Toutefois, nous

avons encore besoin de votre aide si nous voulons mettre fin aux catas-trophiques licenciements d’infirmières et aux diminutions des heures de travail qui ont lieu dans tous les secteurs partout dans la province.

Il n’y a aucun doute, les médias sont très intéressés par notre cam-pagne, car nous recevons des demandes d’entrevue quotidiennement. Le public se précipite sur notre site Web de la campagne (cuttingnur-sescuttingcare.ca), Supprimer des postes d’infirmières c’est couper dans les soins, et y laisse des messages de soutien. Et nous avons certainement capté l’attention des partis de l’opposition. Le NPD a diffusé un com-muniqué de presse disant que l’AIIO était « obligée » de lancer une campagne afin de mettre un terme aux réductions. Les Conservateurs font paraître une « publicité » sur leur site Web expliquant en détail les licenciements d’infirmières et terminent en incitant les visiteurs à consulter le site Web de la campagne de l’AIIO! De plus, la même jour-née, les deux partis ont posé des questions à propos des suppressions de postes d’infirmières pendant la période des questions à l’Assemblée législative, pratiquement du jamais vu.

Nous sommes très encouragés par cette réaction, mais c’est le gou-vernement qui devrait vraiment nous écouter. Les mesures, ou peut-être devrais-je dire leur manque de mesures, prouvent nettement le contraire. Même si les représentants du ministère de la Santé et des Soins de longue durée ont demandé de rencontrer les représentants de l’AIIO pour discuter des réductions dans les soins infirmiers depuis que nous avons lancé notre campagne, nous croyons que le ministre David Caplan doit mettre fin aux réductions dans les soins infirmiers.

Nous devons absolument poursuivre les moyens de pression. Je vous invite à vous rendre sur le site Web de notre campagne et d’envoyer le modèle de lettre (ou d’en rédiger une) à votre député provincial, et encouragez tous ceux que vous connaissez à faire de même. Vous avez accompli un travail extraordinaire pour faire en sorte qu’on parle de la campagne par le biais de dépliants, de la mise sur pied de kiosques d’information ou par l’affichage des documents liés à la campagne. Nous savons que les lettres au rédacteur en chef sont les pages les plus lues d’un journal et je vous demande donc de rédiger des lettres à vos quotidiens locaux.

Si nous prenons tous quelques minutes pour y participer, je suis convaincue que nous allons changer les choses. Le public compte sur nous pour se faire entendre, et maintenant, plus que jamais, il cherche à protéger sa santé. Nous ne pouvons le laisser tomber.

prenez le temps de célébrer la semaine des soins infirmiers

ous approchons à grands pas de la période de l’année préférée de nos membres et de notre personnel : la Semaine des soins infirmiers.

La Semaine des soins infirmiers nous donne à tous l’occasion de vous remercier de votre engagement envers vos patients, vos rési-dants et vos clients, votre profession, votre syndicat et votre système de santé et de célébrer ensemble avec vous. Les témoignages que m’ont livrés les membres du Conseil, ainsi qu’aux membres du personnel, par suite de leurs visites sur les lieux pendant la Semaine des soins infir-miers, nous aident à brosser un tableau plus juste des réalités liées à vo-tre travail lorsque vous avez à faire pression auprès du gouvernement et de vos employeurs pour que soient apportées les améliorations néces-saires au système de soins de santé. Vos témoignages nous permettent de concrétiser nos actions et nous avons besoin de vous pour que vous continuiez à nous les transmettre.

Les membres de notre profession traversent sans contredit une pé-riode difficile. Des infirmières sont mises à pied et des heures de soins sont diminuées alors que les employeurs accusent de lourds déficits. Nous nous heurtons à une importante pénurie d’infirmières, ce qui alourdit énormément la charge de travail de nos effectifs et contribue à leur épuisement professionnel. Nos membres sont victimes de violence verbale de la part de patients frustrés. La violence physique est de plus en plus fréquente dans nos environnements de travail. Parfois, il ne semble pas qu’il y ait beaucoup de raisons pour célébrer.

Mais j’aurais tendance à dire le contraire. Nous savons que le public nous appuie sans réserve. Il suffit de jeter un coup d’œil à l’article-ve-dette portant sur le récent sondage de l’AIIO. Avec une grande sin-cérité, ils m’ont fait savoir que les infirmières contribuaient de façon tangible au bien-être physique et psychologique des patients. Et cela est en soi quelque chose dont nous devons nous enorgueillir, alors que se déroule la Semaine des soins infirmiers.

Je sais également que malgré tous ces défis, vous consacrez toujours la même ardeur à votre tâche, à savoir offrir les meilleurs soins possible à vos patients, résidants et clients de l’ensemble de la province. En fait, j’ai entendu maintes et maintes fois que les soins infirmiers ne sont pas seulement un travail pour vous, ils sont la passion de votre vie.

Je suis touchée par le fait qu’un grand nombre d’entre vous m’ont remerciée personnellement pour le travail que l’AIIO accomplit en votre nom, particulièrement dans le domaine des négociations, de la santé et de la sécurité et de l’action politique. Je vous promets solen-nellement que l’AIIO sera toujours là pour représenter vos intérêts auprès du gouvernement et des employeurs. Joyeuse Semaine des soins infirmiers!


6

ona MeMbers across onTario

FEBRUARY2009

Central bargaining for members in the nursing homes sector will soon

be underway following the election and orientation of the 2009 Nurs-

ing Homes Central Negotiating Team.

Earlier this year, an election was held for the team. The members

are:

• MarieHaase,Region4,Extendicare,St.Catharines(chair).

• LeslieGreen,Region2,Extendicare,MedexandRevera,

Longfields Manor.

• SandraKravets,Region5,BrouilletteManor.

• VictoriaThomas,Region3,TendercareLiving,Scarborough.

• ClaudetteMessier,Region1,Jarlette,ElizabethCentre.

• LindaHaslam-Stroud,President,Ex-Officio.

• VickiMcKenna,FirstVice-President,Ex-Officio.

Staff members on the team are:

• MichelleMcColl,LabourRelationsOfficer(LRO),NorthDistrict

Service Team.

• JohnVance,LRO,WestDistrictServiceTeam.

• LizDewar,LRO,EastDistrictServiceTeam.

• MarkMiller,LRO,SouthDistrictServiceTeam.

• BevMathers,Manager,WestDistrictServiceTeam,Chief

Spokesperson.

• ValerieMacDonald,ProjectManager.

• DanAnderson,ChiefNegotiator.

• LesleyBell,ChiefExecutiveOfficer,Ex-Officio.

Nursing Homes Team Prepares for BargainingThe first order of business was orientation, team building and de-

velopment of proposals when the team met in Toronto from February

23-27, 2009. In formulating proposals, the team reviewed member-

ship research and grievances, arbitrations and issues raised by nursing

home members to ensure that your priorities are achieved.

The Memorandum of Conditions for Joint Bargaining was signed

in March by the ONA team and the employer team, and the parties

exchanged proposals on March 16, 2009. Bargaining began on March

30-April 3, 2009 and continues on April 20-24, 2009. Mediation, if

necessary, is scheduled for April 30 and May 1-2, 2009. Arbitration, if

necessary, is scheduled for June 15-16, 2009.

The following team vision expresses its commitment: The Nurs-ing Homes Central Negotiating Team is a strong, united, courageous, diverse team, committed to achieving a powerful, effective collective agreement that reflects the integrity, commitment and values of nurs-ing home nurses across the province.

The team will be mailing an update following each bargaining session.

Updates can also be viewed on the members’ section of the ONA website

at www.ona.org under “Bargaining,” or you can e-mail ONA President

Linda Haslam-Stroud at [email protected] with questions/comments.

To improve the communication channels with you, this round the

team will also be initiating a teleconference for Bargaining Unit Presi-

dents in each region. Following each bargaining session, Bargaining

Unit Presidents from each region will be able to speak to their elected

team member, the team chair and chief spokesperson Bev Mathers.

For a history of nursing homes central bargaining, turn to pg. 10.

Members of the 2009 Nursing Homes Central Negotiating Team, photographed at ONA’s provincial office during orientation in late February, are (front row, left to right): Claudette Messier, Victoria Thomas, Marie Haase, Sandra Kravets, Leslie Green. Back row (left to right): Mark Miller, First Vice-President Vicki McKenna, President Linda Haslam-Stroud, Bev Mathers, Michelle McColl, CEO Lesley Bell, John Vance, Dan Anderson. Missing: Liz Dewar, Valerie MacDonald.

Did You Receive Your Nursing Week Gift?As a small token of our appreciation in honour of Nursing Week 2009, you will find a gift included in this package with Front Lines.

This year, the gift is an attractive and multi-functional ONA pen, with black ink on one end and a highlighter on the other. Such pens have proven very popular with our members in the past.

If you did not receive your pen in this package, or if it is in any way damaged, call (416) 964-8833 or toll-free 1-800-387-5580 during regular business hours, press 0 for the receptionist and ask for “PRT Intake,” or send an e-mail to [email protected].

While we understand that these are stressful times for all of us, we sincerely hope you take some time to acknowledge and celebrate the important work you do for our patients, residents and clients in this province.

And please don’t forget to send Front Lines your Nursing Week photos and stories for publication in the next issue at the e-mail address listed above.

Health care messages are popping up all over

the town of Wallaceburg in southwestern On-

tario, thanks largely to the work of Local 35,

which isn’t taking the news of the potential

closure of its local hospital’s emergency de-

partment lying down.

In February 2009, a report by a consulting

firm retained by the Local Health Integration

Network (LHIN) recommended the closure of the

emergency department (ED) of the Sydenham

campus of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.

Local 35 and members of the community

were up in arms over the so-called Hay Report, fearing that removing

health care services from the community could potentially harm lo-

cal residents and put an increased burden on their colleagues at the

Chatham site, who could see an additional 21,000 annual patients who

would normally have gone to the Sydenham campus.

“The nurses from the Wallaceburg ED met amongst ourselves and

decided to contact some community leaders to see if there was support

for any type of campaign to keep ED services in our community,” said

Local 35 Coordinator Shirley Roebuck. “This is important because we

have to fight for local health services to remain in our area.”

The support was certainly there, as evidenced by two town hall

meetings in early February (co-chaired by Roebuck), where there was

an overwhelming turnout. Local 35 bumped up its efforts by providing

Powerpoint presentations to local councils, gathering 9,800 signatures

Community Backs Local’s Campaign

The following letter to the editor from Local 134 Coordinator Kimberley Sweeney was pub-lished in the Blue Mountains Courier Herald

and the Barrie Advance on March 9, 2009.Are community hospitals safe for patients?

The Ontario Nurses’ Association, representing

54,000 registered nurses and allied health

care professionals, thinks readers should hear

the facts and then decide.

Due to multi-million-dollar shortfalls in

local hospital budgets, patient care hours are

being cut, and that means compromised pa-

tient care. Our community is currently faced

with tremendously long waits in the ER, only

to be faced with the possibility of being ad-

mitted to the hospital and then kept in the

ER for up to three days because of hospital

overcrowding.

Speak out Against RN Cuts, Member Urges Public


7 APRIl2009

The first order of business was orientation, team building and de-

velopment of proposals when the team met in Toronto from February

23-27, 2009. In formulating proposals, the team reviewed member-

ship research and grievances, arbitrations and issues raised by nursing

home members to ensure that your priorities are achieved.

The Memorandum of Conditions for Joint Bargaining was signed

in March by the ONA team and the employer team, and the parties

exchanged proposals on March 16, 2009. Bargaining began on March

30-April 3, 2009 and continues on April 20-24, 2009. Mediation, if

necessary, is scheduled for April 30 and May 1-2, 2009. Arbitration, if

necessary, is scheduled for June 15-16, 2009.

The following team vision expresses its commitment: The Nurs-ing Homes Central Negotiating Team is a strong, united, courageous, diverse team, committed to achieving a powerful, effective collective agreement that reflects the integrity, commitment and values of nurs-ing home nurses across the province.

The team will be mailing an update following each bargaining session.

Updates can also be viewed on the members’ section of the ONA website

at www.ona.org under “Bargaining,” or you can e-mail ONA President

Linda Haslam-Stroud at [email protected] with questions/comments.

To improve the communication channels with you, this round the

team will also be initiating a teleconference for Bargaining Unit Presi-

dents in each region. Following each bargaining session, Bargaining

Unit Presidents from each region will be able to speak to their elected

team member, the team chair and chief spokesperson Bev Mathers.

For a history of nursing homes central bargaining, turn to pg. 10.

Did You Receive Your Nursing Week Gift?As a small token of our appreciation in honour of Nursing Week 2009, you will find a gift included in this package with Front Lines.

This year, the gift is an attractive and multi-functional ONA pen, with black ink on one end and a highlighter on the other. Such pens have proven very popular with our members in the past.

If you did not receive your pen in this package, or if it is in any way damaged, call (416) 964-8833 or toll-free 1-800-387-5580 during regular business hours, press 0 for the receptionist and ask for “PRT Intake,” or send an e-mail to [email protected].

While we understand that these are stressful times for all of us, we sincerely hope you take some time to acknowledge and celebrate the important work you do for our patients, residents and clients in this province.

And please don’t forget to send Front Lines your Nursing Week photos and stories for publication in the next issue at the e-mail address listed above.

Health care messages are popping up all over

the town of Wallaceburg in southwestern On-

tario, thanks largely to the work of Local 35,

which isn’t taking the news of the potential

closure of its local hospital’s emergency de-

partment lying down.

In February 2009, a report by a consulting

firm retained by the Local Health Integration

Network (LHIN) recommended the closure of the

emergency department (ED) of the Sydenham

campus of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.

Local 35 and members of the community

were up in arms over the so-called Hay Report, fearing that removing

health care services from the community could potentially harm lo-

cal residents and put an increased burden on their colleagues at the

Chatham site, who could see an additional 21,000 annual patients who

would normally have gone to the Sydenham campus.

“The nurses from the Wallaceburg ED met amongst ourselves and

decided to contact some community leaders to see if there was support

for any type of campaign to keep ED services in our community,” said

Local 35 Coordinator Shirley Roebuck. “This is important because we

have to fight for local health services to remain in our area.”

The support was certainly there, as evidenced by two town hall

meetings in early February (co-chaired by Roebuck), where there was

an overwhelming turnout. Local 35 bumped up its efforts by providing

Powerpoint presentations to local councils, gathering 9,800 signatures

Community Backs Local’s Campaign

on a petition, instigating an ongoing e-mail campaign, and delivering

more than 400 Ontario Health Coalition “Hospital Cuts Threaten our

Health” postcards to their MPP. They even inspired local businesses and

places of worship to get in on the action.

“I am most pleased with the community signs,” added Roebuck,

who has already had letters to the editor published in her local news-

papers. “It was extremely gratifying to see those signs after we took

our message to the public.”

Mostrecently,Local35joinedforceswithcommunityleaderstoform

theSOSCommittee(SaveourSydenham).Atravellingconvoyjourneyed

to MPP offices in Chatham in late March, followed by an open community

meeting with the LHIN, to which Premier Dalton McGuinty was invited.

“Political action is very exciting,” concluded Roebuck. “Even small

victories prove that we can change things!”

The following letter to the editor from Local 134 Coordinator Kimberley Sweeney was pub-lished in the Blue Mountains Courier Herald

and the Barrie Advance on March 9, 2009.Are community hospitals safe for patients?

The Ontario Nurses’ Association, representing

54,000 registered nurses and allied health

care professionals, thinks readers should hear

the facts and then decide.

Due to multi-million-dollar shortfalls in

local hospital budgets, patient care hours are

being cut, and that means compromised pa-

tient care. Our community is currently faced

with tremendously long waits in the ER, only

to be faced with the possibility of being ad-

mitted to the hospital and then kept in the

ER for up to three days because of hospital

overcrowding.

Speak out Against RN Cuts, Member Urges PublicPatients are often being shifted from ER

hallways to in-patient unit hallways as a

means to solve the ER gridlock. When these

departments add extra patients to their al-

ready heavy workload, no added staff gets

hired, and this increases the risk of patient

complications and mortality.

There is no end in sight to the overcrowd-

ing, but Ontario hospitals are about to bal-

ance their books on patients’ backs by cutting

services, and patient care hours by cutting

registered nurses.

Quite frankly, registered nurses find this sit-

uation deplorable and this community should

be outraged that patients are not getting the

care they are entitled to. Things will only get

worse with the government’s current plan.

The only way to stop the degradation of

patient care is to speak out. ONA has launched

a new website to make it easy for everyone to

send a message to the government to stop the

cuts.

As nurses, we are devastated by our inabil-

ity to provide you with the care that we strive

to provide. Help us fight for patients and visit

www.cuttingnursescuttingcare.ca today.

Kimberley Sweeney, RN

ONA Local 134

Kimberley Sweeney, RN


APRIl20098

ona MeMbers across onTario

RNECs Must Receive Higher Pay for RN Work, Arbitrator RulesONA has won a significant award for two Registered Nurse Extended

Class (RNEC) members who worked extra RN shifts, but were not given

the rate of pay for their classification.

In November 2007, each grievor became licensed as an RNEC and be-

gan working as such in a hospital in the Nurse Practitioner classification

under the collective agreement. Prior to becoming nurse practitioners,

both grievors had previously been registered nurses working in the ICU.

In September 2008, the hospital was experiencing shortages of staff

for available shifts in the ICU, and the grievors worked occasional shifts

to assist. This work was over and above the grievors’ work day and/or

work week and qualified them to be paid at premium rates of pay.

The grievors performed the same work and assumed the same du-

ties and responsibilities as all other RNs in the ICU. The hospital paid

the grievors the RN rate of pay instead of the RNEC rate of pay for the

ICU overtime shifts worked. ONA grieved that they should be paid the

RNEC rate of pay for all shifts worked.

The arbitrator agreed with ONA that rates of pay in the hospital

agreement are based on the individual’s classification and not the work

assignment being performed, and that the term “regular straight time

hourly rate” in Article 14.01 means the individual’s regular rate of pay

for the classification they are in. Therefore, time-and-one-half was to

be paid based on the RNEC classification rates of pay. The arbitrator

also agreed that the collective agreement language stating “a nurse

who is moved to a lower classification shall be placed at the level on

the grid…” did not apply to situations where a nurse was simply as-

signed to perform the duties of a lower classification, but only in the

case of movement from one classification to another as a result of a

jobpostingoralayoff.

For additional ONA wins, see the “Awards and Decisions” column on pg. 20.

Local 83 Member Wins H&S Award

Now that’s Cold!

ONA Local 83 is proud to announce that on December 2, 2008, member

Frances Smith was given the 2008 Health and Safety Activist Award

from the Ottawa and District Labour Council and the Workers Health &

Safety Centre for her outstanding contributions in the workplace.

“It had been a very difficult time at the Ottawa Hospital, as amal-

gamation forced four hospitals to become one,” said Local 83 First

Vice-Coordinator Susie Blair. “During the amalgamation, an outstand-

ing ONA member was significant in facilitating with other trade unions

and management to get new terms of reference so that each campus

has its own functioning Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC). That

member was Frances Smith.”

Smith has been an active member of the Ottawa Hospital, General

Campus’ JHSC. As well, she has been the worker co-chair of the JHSC

for several terms. As such, she was instrumental in setting up subcom-

mittees for Violence in the Workplace, the Muscular Skeletal Committee

and the Bariatric Committee. She is also actively involved in Early and

Safe Return to Work programs, along with accommodation meetings for

our ONA members.

Smith was also an elected member of ONA’s 2008-2011 Hospital

Central Negotiating Team for Region 2.

“Frances is a union activist who listens well to ONA members and

shares her knowledge willingly,” added Blair. “Without the help of our

health and safety specialist and the support of our Local executive, it

would be difficult to put forward our issues. At the front lines, we are

the vehicle to do so, and we should remember that it is the team effort

that makes our workplaces safer.”

ONAextendsourcongratulationstoSmithforajobwelldone!

James Bay General Hospital Bargaining Unit President Denis Gagne (left) and Moosonee site representative Andrew Bunker from Local 10 brave the cold snowy weather this past January to pose by the hospital’s sign in the small Hudson’s Bay town. The photo was taken as negotiations with the hospital got underway.

Local 83 member Frances Smith shows off her prestigious 2008 Health and Safety Activist Award, while Local 83 Vice-Coordinator Susie Blair (left) and Local 83 Coordinator Rita Wayne (right) stand proudly by her side.

The March Provincial Coordinators Meeting (PCM) was a sea of red and

blue as ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud highlighted our Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign activities to date and led delegates on

a march to Queen’s Park to demand the government stops nursing cuts

now!

At the PCM, held on March 4-5, 2009 in downtown Toronto, Local

leaders were provided with updates on recent ONA activities, including

bargaininginallsectors,organizing,hallwaynursing/overcapacityand

nursing student outreach; watched new ONA DVDs highlighting the

November Biennial Convention and the work of our union since the

last PCM; and listened to guest speakers, including Ontario Federa-

tion of Labour President Wayne Samuelson, who discussed continuing

layoffs in the manufacturing industry; and Tyler Kuhk, President-elect,

and Branden Shepitka, Ontario Regional Director-elect of the Canadian

Nursing Students’ Association.

“We represent 12,000 students from 20 schools and I can tell you

they are excited about the student affiliation with ONA,” said Kuhk.

“They are also really engaged in terms of the Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign and have been promoting it on their Facebook pages.”

As this was the first PCM since ONA launched our Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign in early February, delegates scooped up cam-

March PCM Highlights Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care Campaign


9 APRIl2009

Local 83 Member Wins H&S Award

ONA Local 83 is proud to announce that on December 2, 2008, member

Frances Smith was given the 2008 Health and Safety Activist Award

from the Ottawa and District Labour Council and the Workers Health &

Safety Centre for her outstanding contributions in the workplace.

“It had been a very difficult time at the Ottawa Hospital, as amal-

gamation forced four hospitals to become one,” said Local 83 First

Vice-Coordinator Susie Blair. “During the amalgamation, an outstand-

ing ONA member was significant in facilitating with other trade unions

and management to get new terms of reference so that each campus

has its own functioning Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC). That

member was Frances Smith.”

Smith has been an active member of the Ottawa Hospital, General

Campus’ JHSC. As well, she has been the worker co-chair of the JHSC

for several terms. As such, she was instrumental in setting up subcom-

mittees for Violence in the Workplace, the Muscular Skeletal Committee

and the Bariatric Committee. She is also actively involved in Early and

Safe Return to Work programs, along with accommodation meetings for

our ONA members.

Smith was also an elected member of ONA’s 2008-2011 Hospital

Central Negotiating Team for Region 2.

“Frances is a union activist who listens well to ONA members and

shares her knowledge willingly,” added Blair. “Without the help of our

health and safety specialist and the support of our Local executive, it

would be difficult to put forward our issues. At the front lines, we are

the vehicle to do so, and we should remember that it is the team effort

that makes our workplaces safer.”

ONAextendsourcongratulationstoSmithforajobwelldone!

The March Provincial Coordinators Meeting (PCM) was a sea of red and

blue as ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud highlighted our Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign activities to date and led delegates on

a march to Queen’s Park to demand the government stops nursing cuts

now!

At the PCM, held on March 4-5, 2009 in downtown Toronto, Local

leaders were provided with updates on recent ONA activities, including

bargaininginallsectors,organizing,hallwaynursing/overcapacityand

nursing student outreach; watched new ONA DVDs highlighting the

November Biennial Convention and the work of our union since the

last PCM; and listened to guest speakers, including Ontario Federa-

tion of Labour President Wayne Samuelson, who discussed continuing

layoffs in the manufacturing industry; and Tyler Kuhk, President-elect,

and Branden Shepitka, Ontario Regional Director-elect of the Canadian

Nursing Students’ Association.

“We represent 12,000 students from 20 schools and I can tell you

they are excited about the student affiliation with ONA,” said Kuhk.

“They are also really engaged in terms of the Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign and have been promoting it on their Facebook pages.”

As this was the first PCM since ONA launched our Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care campaign in early February, delegates scooped up cam-

March PCM Highlights Cutting Nurses, Cutting Care Campaign

paign materials, including buttons, flyers and posters, for their mem-

bers and received an overview of the campaign. Then it was off to

Queen’sPark,justdownthestreet,forourfirstcampaignrally,which

was hugely successful and covered widely in the media. (Please see

cover story for specific information on the rally.)

The week began with an interesting and informative education

session on lessons learned from the inquest into the November 2005

workplace murder of ONA member Lori Dupont, presented by Barbara

MacQuarrie, Community Director of the Centre for Research and Edu-

cation on Violence Against Women and Children at the University of

Western Ontario; Liz McIntyre, ONA senior legal counsel; and Colin

Johnson, ONA Labour Relations Officer, Litigation Team.

Full highlights of the meeting are available on the members’ sec-tion of the ONA website at www.ona.org. The June Provincial Coordina-tors Meeting will be held on June 3-4, 2009 at the Kingbridge Confer-ence Centre and Institute in King City. Education takes place on June 2, 2009 on The Future is Now: Realities of the 21st Century Workplace.

ONA members attending must pre-register with ONA’s Conference and Meeting Planner Andrea Bright at [email protected] by April 30, 2009.


APRIl200910

Employees in the long-term care sector do not have the right to strike. Rather, if bargaining breaks down, the dispute is resolved by inter-est arbitration under the Hospital Labour Dis-putes Arbitration Act (HLDAA). ONA has been universally successful in achieving collective agreements for charitable homes and municipal homes, especially in relation to wages that match the hospital rates. For nursing homes, it has been a rollercoaster in achieving hospital rates and los-ing them.

Wage parity was originally won in the mid-1970s for the first certified home, an Extendicare facility, and was lost, primarily through wage restraint legislation (Anti-inflation Board (AIB) in 1978 and Inflation Restraint Board (IRB) in 1982) or through settlements reached at nursing homes, in advance of and below the hospital out-come. In 1989, ONA generally achieved hospi-tal rates for most of our nursing homes, and then lost it in 1991 as a result of the recession.

History of Group Bargaining in Nursing HomesLimited group bargaining started in the mid-1970s in the Extendicare chain. When we cer-tified Bestview facilities (now Revera), those homes were added to the group. In 1982, Arbi-trator Swan restored hospital parity after it was lost through the AIB. In the 1985 round, Arbi-trator Teplitsky refused to restore parity to this group, although he restored it to the Diversicare Homes. Following this time, group bargaining was ceased by ONA and bargaining proceeded individually.

While bargaining individually, ONA suc-ceeded in achieving parity at Extendicare in 1989 and then at Versa Care. Following these successes, group bargaining resumed in 1991, following indications from the big chains that they were interested in true group bargaining.

The Ready Round of Central Homes Bargaining – Term 1991-1993The first round covered collective agreements expiring in early 1991. Approximately 43 homes participated. The parties agreed to use a single mediator/arbitrator, Vince Ready. In the spring of 1991, ONA settled the hospital sector collec-tive agreement in the early days of the Rae gov-ernment, achieving a significant wage improve-ment, amounting to about 23 per cent at the top of the grid. By fall 1991, when nursing homes bargaining was concluding, Ontario was in an economic downturn. Arbitrator Ready advised ONA that there was no way to achieve parity in a two-year deal, but if ONA agreed to a three-year deal with a reopener in the third year, we could achieve 15 per cent in the first two years and the remainder in the reopener. ONA recommended the settlement to our members.

In the spring of 1993, with now more than 60 homes participating, Ontario was in a full-scale re-cession and Arbitrator Ready refused to give ONA parity. The award was issued just prior to the Social Contract legislation and Arbitrator Ready awarded only 1 per cent at the top few levels of the grid. The agreement expired on December 31, 1993.

The Jolliffe Round – Term 1994-1995The next round of bargaining was chaired by Ar-bitrator Jolliffe and a three-person Arbitration Board. Negotiations started late for approxi-mately 95 facilities and extended into 1995. A provincial election occurred in June and before the Conservatives took office, ONA reached a proxy pay equity deal that provided for an hourly average adjustment of $1.50 that would be allocated differentially, with lower amounts at the start of the grid and higher amounts at the top, providing some catch up to the higher hos-pital rates. Therefore, at bargaining, both parties agreed to remove most of their monetary items and the round focussed on non-monetary items,

standardizing many items and formatting. At arbitration, the Board rejected the em-

ployers’ attempt to eliminate Bargaining Unit protection language. The Board also awarded continuation of any superior condition in this area and others. The Board did award that the Union could enforce, through the collective agreement, whatever level of staffing hours pre-scribed by legislation.

The Kaplan Round – Term 1996-1997At the same time, the government passed Bill 26, the Omnibus Bill, which eliminated proxy pay equity and rolled back our $1.50 average adjust-ment to approximately 60 cents.

During the 1996-1997 round, the homes were no longer fully covered by the Social Con-tract, therefore ONA asked for a compensation increase. However, ONA made it clear to the Ar-bitration Board that our first priority was job se-curity. Arbitrator Kaplan was the chair of the Ar-bitration Board. The size of the group remained relatively the same. The Arbitration Board reject-ed our efforts to include a staffing formula in the collective agreement and the employers’ efforts to delete all the job security language, and fine-tuned the clause, allowing the Union to enforce staffing regulations. The Kaplan Board doubled to 90 days the notice of layoff.

Interim Agreement – November 1997Prior to the 1998 round of bargaining, there were two important developments that significantly im-pacted the bargaining climate. One was the striking down of the government’s legislation eliminating proxy pay equity. The other was the failure of the employers’ efforts in rights arbitrations to win an interpretation of the job security legislation that excluded protection in respect of “overlap work” or work that could be done either by an RN or RPN. The employers argued that the provision did not stop them from laying off RNs and giving the work to RPNs. The Board rejected their argument and upheld the grievance.

The employers approached ONA in late 1997 to see if we were prepared to engage in mid-term bargaining. ONA agreed, and an interim agree-ment was reached, giving the Bargaining Units for the first time complement protection based on existing staffing levels.

1998-1999 SettlementThe interim agreement was set to expire on March 31, 1998 if a new collective agreement was not reached.

The parties were able to reach a new col-lective agreement on April 1, 1998. Bargaining took place on a “without prejudice” basis, since the parties had not agreed to a Memorandum of Conditions for Joint Bargaining. ONA was back at the table to negotiate compensation. This time ONA focussed on improvements to the imple-mentation of the original pay equity deal. ONA had indicated the intention to pursue pay equity separate from bargaining and that our collective agreement settlement was without prejudice to our pay equity claim.

This round also included a concession on part-time paid holiday payment in exchange for an increase in the percent in lieu to 12.5/8.5 per cent if in the RRSP. Approximately 95 Bargain-ing Units were covered by the deal, which ex-pired on June 30, 1999.

The Pathe Round – Term 1999-2001The team commenced bargaining in the spring of 1999, ahead of the hospitals, while trying to maintain a current collective agreement. ONA’s priorities for this round were hospital parity and some improvements in working conditions. The parties were able to reach agreement on some improvements, including a sick leave plan, guide-lines for influenza vaccines, including the right to refuse, and improved vacation time for long-service employees.

The parties held arbitration in July with the Pathe Arbitration Board with outstanding is-sues – hourly hospital parity, weekend premium, standby payment, payment and leave for BScN courses, paid parental leave, credit for recent re-lated experience and the employer’s proposal to delete semi-private hospital coverage.

In November, Arbitrator Pathe awarded an average 4 per cent wage increase over the two-year term of the collective agreement, a weekend premium for all homes, standby payment, 15 weeks of parental leave with a SUB top-up of 75 per cent, and two years for one-year credit for re-cent related experience in homes where there was no existing clause.

One important issue that Arbitrator Pathe

As the Nursing Homes Central Negotiating Team begins the next round of negotiations, we thought it would be the perfect time to provide you with a history of our group bargaining in this sector to date.

History of Group Bargaining for Nursing Homes:

A Story of Struggles and Successes!

SPECIAL REPORT


11 APRIl2009

standardizing many items and formatting. At arbitration, the Board rejected the em-

ployers’ attempt to eliminate Bargaining Unit protection language. The Board also awarded continuation of any superior condition in this area and others. The Board did award that the Union could enforce, through the collective agreement, whatever level of staffing hours pre-scribed by legislation.

The Kaplan Round – Term 1996-1997At the same time, the government passed Bill 26, the Omnibus Bill, which eliminated proxy pay equity and rolled back our $1.50 average adjust-ment to approximately 60 cents.

During the 1996-1997 round, the homes were no longer fully covered by the Social Con-tract, therefore ONA asked for a compensation increase. However, ONA made it clear to the Ar-bitration Board that our first priority was job se-curity. Arbitrator Kaplan was the chair of the Ar-bitration Board. The size of the group remained relatively the same. The Arbitration Board reject-ed our efforts to include a staffing formula in the collective agreement and the employers’ efforts to delete all the job security language, and fine-tuned the clause, allowing the Union to enforce staffing regulations. The Kaplan Board doubled to 90 days the notice of layoff.

Interim Agreement – November 1997Prior to the 1998 round of bargaining, there were two important developments that significantly im-pacted the bargaining climate. One was the striking down of the government’s legislation eliminating proxy pay equity. The other was the failure of the employers’ efforts in rights arbitrations to win an interpretation of the job security legislation that excluded protection in respect of “overlap work” or work that could be done either by an RN or RPN. The employers argued that the provision did not stop them from laying off RNs and giving the work to RPNs. The Board rejected their argument and upheld the grievance.

The employers approached ONA in late 1997 to see if we were prepared to engage in mid-term bargaining. ONA agreed, and an interim agree-ment was reached, giving the Bargaining Units for the first time complement protection based on existing staffing levels.

1998-1999 SettlementThe interim agreement was set to expire on March 31, 1998 if a new collective agreement was not reached.

The parties were able to reach a new col-lective agreement on April 1, 1998. Bargaining took place on a “without prejudice” basis, since the parties had not agreed to a Memorandum of Conditions for Joint Bargaining. ONA was back at the table to negotiate compensation. This time ONA focussed on improvements to the imple-mentation of the original pay equity deal. ONA had indicated the intention to pursue pay equity separate from bargaining and that our collective agreement settlement was without prejudice to our pay equity claim.

This round also included a concession on part-time paid holiday payment in exchange for an increase in the percent in lieu to 12.5/8.5 per cent if in the RRSP. Approximately 95 Bargain-ing Units were covered by the deal, which ex-pired on June 30, 1999.

The Pathe Round – Term 1999-2001The team commenced bargaining in the spring of 1999, ahead of the hospitals, while trying to maintain a current collective agreement. ONA’s priorities for this round were hospital parity and some improvements in working conditions. The parties were able to reach agreement on some improvements, including a sick leave plan, guide-lines for influenza vaccines, including the right to refuse, and improved vacation time for long-service employees.

The parties held arbitration in July with the Pathe Arbitration Board with outstanding is-sues – hourly hospital parity, weekend premium, standby payment, payment and leave for BScN courses, paid parental leave, credit for recent re-lated experience and the employer’s proposal to delete semi-private hospital coverage.

In November, Arbitrator Pathe awarded an average 4 per cent wage increase over the two-year term of the collective agreement, a weekend premium for all homes, standby payment, 15 weeks of parental leave with a SUB top-up of 75 per cent, and two years for one-year credit for re-cent related experience in homes where there was no existing clause.

One important issue that Arbitrator Pathe

did answer was that the appropriate comparator for nursing homes nurses are hospital nurses.

2001-2004 Settlement ONA was successful in obtaining a significant increase in the hourly wage rates. At the start level, the increase was 12.02 per cent over the life of the agreement. At one year through seven years, it varied between 9.21 per cent and 12.05 per cent. At eight years, it was 13.99 per cent and at nine years, 20.17 per cent. In reviewing the historical relationship of wages in the nurs-ing homes to wages in the hospital, the ONA team believed this settlement narrowed the gap between the two groups; the team would be well positioned for the next round of bargaining.

The incentive/retention bonuses had a sig-nificant impact on the amount of money that a nurse actually took home in a given year. The bonuses were not added to the wage rate until December 2003 and were paid once per year.

As a result in a change to the recent related experience provision, employees could now re-ceive one year of credit for each year of experi-ence. Current employees who had experience prior to being hired by their current employer qualified for a change in grid level, unless they were already at the maximum of the salary grid based on their previous experience.

The Kaplan Round – Term 2004-2006Again, wages remained the number one priority in this round. The employers were unbending on the issue of hospital parity and did not appear to value the work of the registered nurses. ONA proceeded to arbitration on the issue of wages and was awarded a 3 per cent increase on July 1, 2004, plus a further 30 cents per hour for Steps 8 and 9 on the grid. Effective July 1, 2005, Arbitra-tor Kaplan removed the start rate from the col-lective agreement and advanced everyone a level up the grid and then awarded an additional 2.5 per cent and, again, a 30 cent per hour increase to Steps 8 and 9 on the grid. The ONA bargaining team was disappointed with the wage settlement and felt it again demonstrated a lack of under-standing and respect for the nursing home sec-tor. As well, despite the teams expressed concern about workload issues and the employers’ ability to attract and retain staff, the employers refused

to acknowledge that there were any problems with staffing (no shortage of RNs).

Vacation entitlements were standardized while maintaining for current staff superior four and five-week entitlements. Participation in the group RRSP plan became mandatory for all staff – full-time, part-time and casual – while the ar-bitrator amended the per cent in lieu to 8.5 per cent. The arbitrator also eliminated semi-private coverage, improved vision coverage, increased life insurance coverage to twice annual salary and implemented a minimum of a two-year floating lag in the Ontario Dental Association fee sched-ule for dental payment.

The parties returned to the arbitrator, who awarded the increase in Accidental Death and Dismemberment, but agreed with the employer that private coverage was also eliminated.

2006-2009 SettlementAgain, the top priority was hospital parity. The settlement resulted in wage increases every six months over the life of the agreement. The in-creases were 1.75 per cent in five six-monthly intervals, followed by a 2 per cent increase on January 1, 2009, for an agreement expiring June 30, 2009. The agreement for the participating homes now expires 15 months after the hospital central agreement expires and assists bargaining for the team as they will know the outcome of the hospital round of bargaining.

Negotiating a defined benefit pension plan for nursing home members had long been a priority and in this round, the parties agreed to a letter of understanding regarding the Nursing Homes and Related Industries Pension Plan. ONA members moved into this plan in January 2008. Other im-provements included increased health and welfare benefits with a paramedical bank to a maximum of $750 per insured person per year. The language for the Disability Income Protection Plan was im-proved to ensure that each employer self-insures the first three days of any illness. The payment method for vacation pay has been standardized so that all members will be paid for vacation at their current rate of pay. Clear language regarding vio-lence in the workplace was negotiated, including assurances that employers deal with any issues of violence, abuse or harassment from residents, fami-lies or other employees.


APRIl20091212

ona neWs

Country’s Blood supply at Risk, ONA WarnsONA seeks to stop Forced hamilton Job transfersONA is appalled by the January announcement that

Hamilton Health Sciences is cutting 51 RNs and

decreasing hours of other positions.

Themajorityofnurseswillbemovedtoother

areas of the hospital, which may be out of their

specialty. ONA is concerned that the forced trans-

fers will remove our members’ rights to take early

retirement, compensation packages or to bump less

senior nurses, which are available under layoff lan-

guage.

“This is a blatant violation of our collective

agreement,” said ONA President Linda Haslam-

Stroud. “It’s a total lack of respect for our nurses

on the front lines. Nurses are not indispensible

widgets who can simply be thrown into any other

specialty. This is a major precedent-setting issue

for us and we are prepared to do whatever it takes

to stop it.”

In total, the hospital has announced it is elimi-

natingupto300jobstocut$25-millionfromits

budget.

ONAispreparingdozensofgrievancesandcourt

action over the forced transfers, and is encouraging

our members to send letters about this situation to

their local MPPs. Some of the other employers vio-

lating the layoff provision include Toronto East Gen-

eral, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Quinte Health

Care and University Health Network, Toronto.

The Canadian Blood Services’ (CBS) plan to replace registered nurses, including sev-

eral ONA members, who perform health screening and assessments of blood donors

with unregulated employees will risk the safety of our country’s blood supply, ONA

says.

CBS plans to train people with a high-school education to become “multi-skilled

employees” who will perform the health screening and health assessments work pre-

viously done by registered nurses in its 40 Canadian permanent collection sites and

at its more than 20,000 donor clinics annually.

“This misguided plan poses a serious risk to the safety of the public as well as to

the safety of the country’s blood supply,” said ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud.

“Those trusted with keeping the supply safe should remember the lessons learned

during the tainted blood scandal of the 1990s and cancel this ill-conceived plan.”

The Krever Commission, which investigated the tainted blood catastrophe, lead-

ingtotheformationofCBS,emphasizedthatCBSshouldmaketheprocessofblood

donor screening more “extensive and more intrusive,” noting that careful screening

is essential to maintain the safety of the blood supply.” Registered nurses currently

screening donors have the power to issue temporary or indefinite deferrals based on

screening and assessments. The role requires the skills and knowledge that RNs pos-

sess to obtain the health information needed to determine if a deferral is necessary.

“Plus, as regulated health professionals, RNs are bound by professional standards

of practice and ethics, including those surrounding patient confidentiality,” added

Haslam-Stroud. “Unlicensed workers will not be held to the same standards as RNs.”

Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions President Linda Silas wrote a letter to Fed-

eral Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq expressing members’ alarm about this situa-

tion.

ONA’s media release on the CBS’ decision picked up national attention from out-

lets such as the Calgary Sun, Prince George Citizen, Cape Breton Post and Fredericton Daily Gleaner.

We Really Do Need “All these Nurses,” Dean saysIf nurses are cut now, we will feel it badly

for the next decade and beyond, the dean of

the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Nursing

writes in an opinion piece published in the

Toronto Star on March 10, 2009.

“Every time we cut nurses, we hit a pipe-

line,” said Sioban Nelson. “It is not today’s

nurses we affect, but the next 10 years’ worth

of nurses. In five years’ time, with normal attri-

tion and the retirement of the boomers, there

will inevitably be more panicked calls for nurs-

es, but where will they be? Every time nursing

jobsarecut,smartyounghighschoolstudents

watch and learn. They choose other careers…

Do we really need all these nurses? We do.”

She added that we need new graduates

developing their skills and knowledge in a

safe and supportive environment, and ad-

vanced nurse practitioners to bring creative

and cost-effective solutions to complex sys-

tem problems, provide access to people our

system fails, prevent and manage illness and

keep people well and safe in the community.

“To cut nurses is to cut the system’s capac-

ity to do this now and into the future,” Nelson

states. “It is in everyone’s interest to make sure

our decision-makers understand this and are

held accountable for the consequences of their

actions. As members of the profession and mem-

bersofthepublic,itisourjobtoensurethis.”

To view the entire opinion piece, log on to the ONA website at www.ona.org. On the right-hand menu of the home page under “Health Care News,” click on “Are RNs Really Necessary?”

Fill out Your Postcards!If you haven’t yet signed and returned the Ontario Health Coalition’s (OHC) “Hospi-tal Cuts Threaten our Health” postcard or the Ontario Federation of Labour’s (OFL) “violence” postcard, included with the last issue of Front Lines, it’s not too late! And if you’ve misplaced the postcards, they can be downloaded at (OHA): www.ontari-ohealthcoalition.ca or (OFL) www.ofl.ca.

Fighting for Public health Care

ONA First Vice-President Vicki McKenna is surrounded by media following a town hall meeting in Owen Sound on February 24, 2009, where more than 100 people, including union members, members of the Grey Bruce Labour Council and the public, voiced their concerns over the Grey Bruce Public Health Unit’s decision to lay off two full-time and four part-time public health nurses, members of Local 4, close satellite offices and cut services and programs to deal with its deficit. ONA is concerned the deci-sion will result in the degradation of the health unit’s ability to deliver mandated services, risking the community’s health. ONA has requested the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care conduct a review of the Grey Bruce Health Unit under Section 82 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act (see Front Lines, February 2009, Vol. 9. No. 1, pg. 10). The Ministry of Health responded that it is aware of the situation and is monitoring it from Queen’s Park. For the First Vice-President’s take on the situation in public health care, see her column on pg. 16.


13 APRIl2009

ONA seeks to stop Forced hamilton Job transfersONA is appalled by the January announcement that

Hamilton Health Sciences is cutting 51 RNs and

decreasing hours of other positions.

Themajorityofnurseswillbemovedtoother

areas of the hospital, which may be out of their

specialty. ONA is concerned that the forced trans-

fers will remove our members’ rights to take early

retirement, compensation packages or to bump less

senior nurses, which are available under layoff lan-

guage.

“This is a blatant violation of our collective

agreement,” said ONA President Linda Haslam-

Stroud. “It’s a total lack of respect for our nurses

on the front lines. Nurses are not indispensible

widgets who can simply be thrown into any other

specialty. This is a major precedent-setting issue

for us and we are prepared to do whatever it takes

to stop it.”

In total, the hospital has announced it is elimi-

natingupto300jobstocut$25-millionfromits

budget.

ONAispreparingdozensofgrievancesandcourt

action over the forced transfers, and is encouraging

our members to send letters about this situation to

their local MPPs. Some of the other employers vio-

lating the layoff provision include Toronto East Gen-

eral, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Quinte Health

Care and University Health Network, Toronto.

Court of Appeal hears ONA’s sARs Case The Ontario Court of Appeal has recently heard ONA’s case against the Ontario government over

its handling of the SARS outbreak in the Greater Toronto Area.

ONA launched an action against the Ontario government in 2005 on behalf of ONA member

Tecla Lin, who tragically lost her life in the second SARS outbreak, and 52 other nurses for neg-

ligence in the handling of the SARS outbreak, arguing officials failed to provide adequate and

timely information alerting nurses on how to protect themselves.

The government then brought a motion to strike the claim, stating they did not owe nurses

infected with SARS a duty to take reasonable steps to protect them. The government lost this

motion and appealed the decision.

TheCourtofAppealheardthecaseonFebruary25-26,2009,butreservedjudgmentatthat

time.Asaresult,itmaybesometimebeforeajudgmentishandeddownfromthecourt.

AseparateSARSlawsuit,launchedbythefamilyofONAmemberNeliaLaroza,whoalsodied

tragically in the second SARS outbreak, is currently before the courts.

We Really Do Need “All these Nurses,” Dean saysIf nurses are cut now, we will feel it badly

for the next decade and beyond, the dean of

the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Nursing

writes in an opinion piece published in the

Toronto Star on March 10, 2009.

“Every time we cut nurses, we hit a pipe-

line,” said Sioban Nelson. “It is not today’s

nurses we affect, but the next 10 years’ worth

of nurses. In five years’ time, with normal attri-

tion and the retirement of the boomers, there

will inevitably be more panicked calls for nurs-

es, but where will they be? Every time nursing

jobsarecut,smartyounghighschoolstudents

watch and learn. They choose other careers…

Do we really need all these nurses? We do.”

She added that we need new graduates

developing their skills and knowledge in a

safe and supportive environment, and ad-

vanced nurse practitioners to bring creative

and cost-effective solutions to complex sys-

tem problems, provide access to people our

system fails, prevent and manage illness and

keep people well and safe in the community.

“To cut nurses is to cut the system’s capac-

ity to do this now and into the future,” Nelson

states. “It is in everyone’s interest to make sure

our decision-makers understand this and are

held accountable for the consequences of their

actions. As members of the profession and mem-

bersofthepublic,itisourjobtoensurethis.”

To view the entire opinion piece, log on to the ONA website at www.ona.org. On the right-hand menu of the home page under “Health Care News,” click on “Are RNs Really Necessary?”

Budget Won’t sustain Nursing Workforce, ONA says

The provincial budget does nothing to ad-

dress the ongoing reduction of nursing care

hours happening in all sectors throughout

Ontario, ONA has told the media.

“The budget will not sustain the current

nursing workforce,” ONA President Linda

Haslam-Stroud told reporters at Queen’s

Park. “With base funding for hospitals re-

duced and minimal increases for other sec-

tors, cuts to registered nurse positions and

the reduction of nursing hours will only get

worse.”

Specifically, the budget, which was

brought down on March 26, 2009, raises

health care spending by 4.7 per cent, from

Fill out Your Postcards!If you haven’t yet signed and returned the Ontario Health Coalition’s (OHC) “Hospi-tal Cuts Threaten our Health” postcard or the Ontario Federation of Labour’s (OFL) “violence” postcard, included with the last issue of Front Lines, it’s not too late! And if you’ve misplaced the postcards, they can be downloaded at (OHA): www.ontari-ohealthcoalition.ca or (OFL) www.ofl.ca.

$40.7-billion to $42.6-billion in 2009-2010.

But hospitals, some of which have been mak-

ing cuts to nursing staff to balance their bud-

gets, will only receive a 2.1 per cent increase

in base funding, despite the fact that their

costsareprojectedinthe3.5percentrange.

While the budget promises 900 new nurs-

ing positions in 2009-2010, that won’t stop

the erosion of patient care because the net

effect will still be fewer front-line registered

nurse hours in the system.

“Every RN position cut represents the

equivalent of 1,950 hours of nursing care,”

Haslam-Stroud added. “Cutting nurses is risk-

ing our patients’ health and lives.”

ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud fields media questions during a scrum following the reading of the Ontario budget at Queen’s Park on March 26, 2009.


APRIl200914

ona neWs

ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud joins Dr. Anil Chopra, Director of Emergency Medicine for the University Health Network (middle), and Ontario Hospital Association President Tom Closson (via telephone) for a live, one-hour discussion about emergency room wait time targets on Goldhawk Live on February 26, 2009. Haslam-Stroud told host Dale Goldhawk (left) that nursing cuts throughout the health care sector mean that setting targets is a fine exercise, “on paper,” but that the system needs more RNs and beds to deal with the increasing number of people requiring health care. She also spoke about hallway nursing and its detrimental effects on patients, the rising morbidity and mortality risks as RNs are required to care for increasing numbers of patients when their workloads are already too heavy, and convinced Dr. Chopra, who is also an ER physician, that while emergency wait times can be reduced, other parts of the hospital will suffer because of it.

talking targets

President’s Letter to the Editor Published

The following letter to the editor by ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud was published in the St. Catharines Standard on January 31, 2009.

(Letter to the editor writer) Susan Empringham hit the nail on the head when she urged ordinary citizens to take action to improve health care.

The Ontario Nurses’ Association has made the issue of “hallway nursing” a priority in 2009 and our 54,000 members would love some help from Ontarians who encounter this dangerous situation in our hospitals.

Empringham urges people to write to their MPPs and actively protest in an effort to improve conditions for the patients and their families who spend hours or even days in crowded waiting rooms and hallways.

I would encourage everyone – whether they’ve had to spend time in an ER or not – to speak up now. Hallway nursing is not just unpleasant for the patients, it’s risky, too.

Parking those who are ill wherever there’s an empty space with a Post-It note on the wall over the head of the stretcher is hardly conducive to safe, quality patient care.

Ordinary Ontarians must take note of this regressive situation and demand better. All of our lives depend on it.

Linda Haslam-Stroud, RNPresidentOntario Nurses’ Association

NEWS iN BriEF

E Hospital nurses will receive their yearly

raises despite multi-million dollar hospital

deficits, the head of the Ontario Hospital

Association (OHA) states. Tom Closson dis-

missed the suggestion by Kevin Smith, CEO

ofSt.Joseph’sHealthcare,tofreezewages

for all hospital workers. “We negotiated a

contract in good faith with ONA,” he said.

“That contract was negotiated prior to the

economic meltdown that the world is fac-

ing.” The OHA bargains centrally with ONA

on behalf of participating Ontario hospi-

tals.

E The head of the Hospitals of Ontario Pension

Plan (HOOPP) has told a pension symposium

that the province should adopt reforms to

encourage the creation of more innovative

forms of pension plans. “It should be easier

forworkerstochange jobsandkeeptheir

pension benefits whole,” said John Crocker.

Under HOOPP, workers are in a plan that

coversanindustryratherthanjustasingle

employer. HOOPP manages $30-billion of

pension assets for 321 participating em-

ployers with 255,000 workers in the health

care sector, including thousands of ONA

members.

NaMES iN THE NEWS

E Windsor’s Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital, Local

8, has hired a safe workplace advocate, a po-

sition created following the coroner’s inquest

into the murder of ONA member Lori Dupont

at the hospital in November 2005. Dawn Ricker-Vassos, who has served 10 years at

the helm of Victim Services of Windsor and

Essex County, said she will ensure that staff

feel safe and know where to go when they

don’t.

E Tyler Kuhk has been elected President of the

Canadian Nursing Students’ Association at

its annual national conference in Charlotte-

town, Prince Edward Island this past Janu-

ary. Kuhk, a third-year Lakehead University

student, resumed the one-year presidency

on April 1, 2009. Brendan Shepitka has

taken over Tyler’s former role as Ontario Re-

gional Director of the CNSA.

E An advocate of publicly funded health care

has been chosen president-elect of the Ca-

nadian Medical Association (CMA), a de-

parture from the last two leaders. Dr. Jeff Turnbull, chief of staff at the Ottawa Hos-

pital, said “it’s a message to those setting

health care policy that doctors want to see

change, but they want to see it within a

publicly funded system.” The Canadian

Federation of Nurses Unions has frequently

criticizedoutgoingCMAPresidentDr.Rob-

ert Ouellet for his advocacy for a system

based on a public-private hybrid.

COuNTErParTS

E An arbitrator has settled a contract dispute

between the Prince Edward Island Nurses’

Union (PEINU) and the province, providing

for a four per cent wage increase in each of

the first two years of the contract, which can

be reopened in the third year. The union was

hoping that a three per cent wage incentive

to encourage senior nurses to keep working

would be included in the pension calcula-

tions – the main reason negotiations broke

down – but the arbitrator ruled “anyone with

25 years or more will get the three per cent,

but it will only be pensionable at the end of

your career for those that reach the thresh-

old of eligibility for a non-reduced pension,“

said PEINU President Barbara Brookins. “So

although we didn’t achieve full pensionabil-

ity, we made significant inroads.”

E The Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses’

Union (NLNU) is resuming negotiations

with the government following the com-

pletion of its strike vote. The vote began on

February 9, 2009 and continued until the

end of March (results were not available at

press time). “Our preference has been and

remains to negotiate an agreement that

addresses the provincial nursing shortage,”

said NLNU President Debbie Forward. Con-

ciliation talks broke down last fall.


15 APRIl2009

JI_ONA_Jan09_FINAL.eps 1/14/09 4:12:16 PM

NEWS iN BriEF

E Hospital nurses will receive their yearly

raises despite multi-million dollar hospital

deficits, the head of the Ontario Hospital

Association (OHA) states. Tom Closson dis-

missed the suggestion by Kevin Smith, CEO

ofSt.Joseph’sHealthcare,tofreezewages

for all hospital workers. “We negotiated a

contract in good faith with ONA,” he said.

“That contract was negotiated prior to the

economic meltdown that the world is fac-

ing.” The OHA bargains centrally with ONA

on behalf of participating Ontario hospi-

tals.

E The head of the Hospitals of Ontario Pension

Plan (HOOPP) has told a pension symposium

that the province should adopt reforms to

encourage the creation of more innovative

forms of pension plans. “It should be easier

forworkerstochange jobsandkeeptheir

pension benefits whole,” said John Crocker.

Under HOOPP, workers are in a plan that

coversanindustryratherthanjustasingle

employer. HOOPP manages $30-billion of

pension assets for 321 participating em-

ployers with 255,000 workers in the health

care sector, including thousands of ONA

members.

NaMES iN THE NEWS

E Windsor’s Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital, Local

8, has hired a safe workplace advocate, a po-

sition created following the coroner’s inquest

into the murder of ONA member Lori Dupont

at the hospital in November 2005. Dawn Ricker-Vassos, who has served 10 years at

the helm of Victim Services of Windsor and

Essex County, said she will ensure that staff

feel safe and know where to go when they

don’t.

E Tyler Kuhk has been elected President of the

Canadian Nursing Students’ Association at

its annual national conference in Charlotte-

town, Prince Edward Island this past Janu-

ary. Kuhk, a third-year Lakehead University

student, resumed the one-year presidency

on April 1, 2009. Brendan Shepitka has

taken over Tyler’s former role as Ontario Re-

gional Director of the CNSA.

E An advocate of publicly funded health care

has been chosen president-elect of the Ca-

nadian Medical Association (CMA), a de-

parture from the last two leaders. Dr. Jeff Turnbull, chief of staff at the Ottawa Hos-

pital, said “it’s a message to those setting

health care policy that doctors want to see

change, but they want to see it within a

publicly funded system.” The Canadian

Federation of Nurses Unions has frequently

criticizedoutgoingCMAPresidentDr.Rob-

ert Ouellet for his advocacy for a system

based on a public-private hybrid.

COuNTErParTS

E An arbitrator has settled a contract dispute

between the Prince Edward Island Nurses’

Union (PEINU) and the province, providing

for a four per cent wage increase in each of

the first two years of the contract, which can

be reopened in the third year. The union was

hoping that a three per cent wage incentive

to encourage senior nurses to keep working

would be included in the pension calcula-

tions – the main reason negotiations broke

down – but the arbitrator ruled “anyone with

25 years or more will get the three per cent,

but it will only be pensionable at the end of

your career for those that reach the thresh-

old of eligibility for a non-reduced pension,“

said PEINU President Barbara Brookins. “So

although we didn’t achieve full pensionabil-

ity, we made significant inroads.”

E The Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses’

Union (NLNU) is resuming negotiations

with the government following the com-

pletion of its strike vote. The vote began on

February 9, 2009 and continued until the

end of March (results were not available at

press time). “Our preference has been and

remains to negotiate an agreement that

addresses the provincial nursing shortage,”

said NLNU President Debbie Forward. Con-

ciliation talks broke down last fall.


APRIl200916

Foundation of health care crumblinghile so much of the media’s attention lately has been focused on cuts at provincial hospitals, we are also beginning to witness the unravelling of the very foundation of our health care system:

public health.Public health funding is a cost-sharing arrangement, with the prov-

ince providing 75 per cent (up from 50 per cent under the Harris gov-ernment) and the municipalities 25 per cent. Some programs are fund-ed 100 per cent provincially, such as Healthy Babies, Healthy Children. But that program has not received a funding increase in two years, and ONA’s Public Health Network reports that the funding freeze has led to reductions in this program throughout the province.

Just as other health care employers, we are also starting to see re-ductions to staff and services as public health units deal with deficits. Nowhere has this been more evident than at the Grey Bruce Public Health Unit, where six part- and full-time registered nurses are be-ing laid off, satellite offices closed and mandated services streamlined. Somewhere along the line, the principal role of the public health unit to oversee effective delivery of public health programs has been over-shadowed by the need to balance the books, and in the example of Grey Bruce, fund an elaborate new building. Unfortunately, I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg and we will see other public health units make similar cuts.

This is very serious, and every Ontario resident should be concerned. We know that public health is a critical service. If cuts are made to this sector – the very sector responsible for keeping people healthy in the first place – it will have a devastating ripple effect throughout the entire health care system, as people will end up in much costlier institutions.

For all of these reasons, ONA has requested a formal review of the Grey Bruce Health Unit under Section 82 of the Health Promotion and Protection Act. On the national front, ONA prepared a resolution on public health for the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) National Executive Board; the resolution will go before voting del-egates at the CFNU Convention in June. It resolves that the CFNU and member organizations seek to reverse the erosion of the roles of public health members through lobbying the federal and provincial governments for funding to ensure that public health programming grows, and the significant role of public health nurses is recognized. We will also be providing a submission on the government’s discus-sion paper, Building Capacity for Local Public Health in Ontario. Front Lines will provide updates on these initiatives.

We need the government to take public health seriously and fund it 100 per cent – and at appropriate levels. If not, the very foundation of health care will surely crumble under our feet.

From First Vice-President

Vicki McKenna, RN

W M

Critical Illness Survivor Plan is underwritten by Western Life Assurance Company andadministered by Johnson Inc. MEDOC® is a registered trademark of Johnson Inc.MEDOC® is underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada andis administered by Johnson Inc. Johnson Inc. and Royal & SunAlliance InsuranceCompany of Canada share common ownership. All other available benefits are underwritten by Manulife Financial and administered by Johnson Inc. Some conditions may apply. LRP.01.09

Voluntary Benefits

A Benefitfor Everyone

For more information, contactthe ONA Program Administrator:

Johnson Inc.1595 16th Ave., Suite 700Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3S5(905) 764.4959 (local)1.800.461.4155 (toll-free)

Plus

• Long Term Disability

• Extended Health Care &

Semi–Private Hospital

• Dental Care

• Critical Illness

• Life Insurance

• Accidental Death &

Dismemberment

• MEDOC® Travel Insurance

• Retiree Coverage Available

ONA2a_Jan09, 2.625x10.25_CMYK 1/14/09 3:22 PM Page 1

effritement de la fondation des soins de santéême si une grande partie de l’attention des médias a porté ces derniers temps sur les réductions effectuées dans les hôpitaux provinciaux, nous avons également commencé à assister à l’ef-

fritement de la base même de notre système de soins de santé : la santé publique.

Le financement de la santé publique est une entente de partage des coûts entre la province qui contribue à 75 pour cent et les municipali-tés à 25 pour cent. Certains programmes sont financés par la province à 100 pour cent, tels que le programme « Bébés en santé, enfants en santé ». Depuis deux ans cependant, ce programme n’a reçu aucune augmentation de son financement et le réseau de la santé publique de l’AllO indique que le gel du financement s’est soldé par des réductions au sein de ce programme dans l’ensemble de la province.

Tout comme d’autres employeurs des soins de santé, nous com-mençons à voir des réductions de personnel et de services alors que les bureaux de santé publique s’affairent à réduire les déficits. Nulle part ailleurs les réductions ne sont plus évidentes qu’au bureau de santé publique Grey Bruce, où six infirmières autorisées à temps partiel et à temps plein ont été licenciées, des bureaux satellites ont été fermés et des services, rationalisés. À un moment donné, le rôle principal du bureau de santé publique de superviser une prestation efficace de pro-grammes liés à la santé publique a été éclipsé par la nécessité d’équili-brer les budgets.

Nous savons que la santé publique est un service essentiel. Si ce sec-teur subit des suppressions, secteur qui a pour responsabilité d’abord de garder les gens en bonne santé, ces suppressions auront un effet de dominos dévastateur sur l’ensemble du système de santé, car les gens se retrouveront dans des établissements qui coûtent beaucoup plus cher.

C’est pourquoi, l’AllO a exigé une évaluation officielle du bureau de santé publique Grey Bruce en vertu de l’article 82 de la Loi sur la protection et la promotion de la santé. Au niveau national, l’AllO a pré-paré une résolution sur la santé publique pour le conseil exécutif natio-nal de la Fédération canadienne des syndicats d’infirmières/infirmiers (CFNU) qui sera soumise au vote des délégués au congrès du CFNU au mois de juin. La résolution précise que le CFNU et les organismes membres cherchent à renverser l’érosion des rôles des éléments du ré-seau de santé publique en faisant pression auprès des gouvernements fédéral et provincial pour obtenir du financement afin de s’assurer qu’il y ait davantage de programmes de santé publique et que le rôle important des infirmières œuvrant au sein de la santé publique soit re-connu. Nous soumettrons également une présentation dans le cadre d’un document de travail du gouvernement intitulé Building Capacity for Local Public Health in Ontario.


17 APRIl2009

Critical Illness Survivor Plan is underwritten by Western Life Assurance Company andadministered by Johnson Inc. MEDOC® is a registered trademark of Johnson Inc.MEDOC® is underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada andis administered by Johnson Inc. Johnson Inc. and Royal & SunAlliance InsuranceCompany of Canada share common ownership. All other available benefits are underwritten by Manulife Financial and administered by Johnson Inc. Some conditions may apply. LRP.01.09

Voluntary Benefits

A Benefitfor Everyone

For more information, contactthe ONA Program Administrator:

Johnson Inc.1595 16th Ave., Suite 700Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3S5(905) 764.4959 (local)1.800.461.4155 (toll-free)

Plus

• Long Term Disability

• Extended Health Care &

Semi–Private Hospital

• Dental Care

• Critical Illness

• Life Insurance

• Accidental Death &

Dismemberment

• MEDOC® Travel Insurance

• Retiree Coverage Available

ONA2a_Jan09, 2.625x10.25_CMYK 1/14/09 3:22 PM Page 1

E The Ontario government has announced a new website that provides information about local health services: www.ontario.ca/healthcareoptions. Visitors to the site will be able to find the nearest clinics, urgent care centres, family health teams, general practitioners and emergency rooms by typing in their postal codes. The government is also introducing Health Care Connect, a new program to help people find a family health care provider. Ontarians can call 1-800-445-1822 to register with the program, and to get assistance in finding care.

E The Ontario government has announced targets for the total amount of time patients wait in emergency rooms, and is publicly posting data about emergency wait times. The province set two targets:• Forpatientswithminororuncomplicatedconditions,whichrequirelesstimefor

diagnosis, treatment and observation, the target is four hours. The data from October shows that 90 per cent of patients spent a maximum of 4.6 hours in the ER.

• Forpatientswithcomplexconditions,whichrequiremoretimefordiagnosis,treat-ment or hospital bed admission, the target is eight hours. The data from October shows that 90 per cent of patients spent a maximum of 13.5 hours in the ER.

Total time spent in the ER begins when a patient registers at the ER, and continues as the patient receives treatment. It ends when the patient is discharged home or admitted to a hospital bed. The information about local hospital emergency wait times is available at www.ontariowaittimes.com. The government’s three-pronged strategy for reaching these targets includes:• ProvidingOntarianswithinformationonalternativestoemergencycarethroughthe

new website www.ontario.ca/healthcareoptions (see first bullet).• Increasingcapacityandimprovingprocesseswithintheemergencythroughprograms

such as the Hospital Performance Fund, which gives hospitals with high emergency room volumes financial incentives to lower their times.

• Speedingtheflowofpatientsinemergencybyensuringthatacutecarebedsareavail-able for those who need them through discharge of patients when appropriate to alternative levels of care, such as long-term care or home care.

• Forinformationonthefundingreceivedbyhospitalsforemergencyimprovements,go to: www.health.gov.on.ca/english/media/news_releases/archives/nr_08/may/er_alc_strategy_combined_bg_04_20080529.pdf.

E Three new nurse practitioner-led clinics have been announced in Belle River, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay. The three clinics are part of 25 new clinics that will come into operation by 2011-12. The government said the remaining 22 clinics will begin to move forward in the spring.

E As part of Ontario’s diabetes strategy, the government is providing $75-million to in-crease bariatric surgery capacity, also known as gastric bypass surgery, from 244 to 1,470 a year at four centres of excellence by 2011-2012: • St.Joseph’sHealthcareHamiltonwillprovide450surgeriesayear.• HumberRiverRegionalHospitalwillprovide330surgeriesayear.• GuelphGeneralHospitalwillprovide240surgeriesayear.• TheOttawaHospitalwillprovide450surgeriesayear.

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and Hamilton Health Sciences will form the hub of the centres of excellence.

Queen’s park upDaTe

effritement de la fondation des soins de santéême si une grande partie de l’attention des médias a porté ces derniers temps sur les réductions effectuées dans les hôpitaux provinciaux, nous avons également commencé à assister à l’ef-

fritement de la base même de notre système de soins de santé : la santé publique.

Le financement de la santé publique est une entente de partage des coûts entre la province qui contribue à 75 pour cent et les municipali-tés à 25 pour cent. Certains programmes sont financés par la province à 100 pour cent, tels que le programme « Bébés en santé, enfants en santé ». Depuis deux ans cependant, ce programme n’a reçu aucune augmentation de son financement et le réseau de la santé publique de l’AllO indique que le gel du financement s’est soldé par des réductions au sein de ce programme dans l’ensemble de la province.

Tout comme d’autres employeurs des soins de santé, nous com-mençons à voir des réductions de personnel et de services alors que les bureaux de santé publique s’affairent à réduire les déficits. Nulle part ailleurs les réductions ne sont plus évidentes qu’au bureau de santé publique Grey Bruce, où six infirmières autorisées à temps partiel et à temps plein ont été licenciées, des bureaux satellites ont été fermés et des services, rationalisés. À un moment donné, le rôle principal du bureau de santé publique de superviser une prestation efficace de pro-grammes liés à la santé publique a été éclipsé par la nécessité d’équili-brer les budgets.

Nous savons que la santé publique est un service essentiel. Si ce sec-teur subit des suppressions, secteur qui a pour responsabilité d’abord de garder les gens en bonne santé, ces suppressions auront un effet de dominos dévastateur sur l’ensemble du système de santé, car les gens se retrouveront dans des établissements qui coûtent beaucoup plus cher.

C’est pourquoi, l’AllO a exigé une évaluation officielle du bureau de santé publique Grey Bruce en vertu de l’article 82 de la Loi sur la protection et la promotion de la santé. Au niveau national, l’AllO a pré-paré une résolution sur la santé publique pour le conseil exécutif natio-nal de la Fédération canadienne des syndicats d’infirmières/infirmiers (CFNU) qui sera soumise au vote des délégués au congrès du CFNU au mois de juin. La résolution précise que le CFNU et les organismes membres cherchent à renverser l’érosion des rôles des éléments du ré-seau de santé publique en faisant pression auprès des gouvernements fédéral et provincial pour obtenir du financement afin de s’assurer qu’il y ait davantage de programmes de santé publique et que le rôle important des infirmières œuvrant au sein de la santé publique soit re-connu. Nous soumettrons également une présentation dans le cadre d’un document de travail du gouvernement intitulé Building Capacity for Local Public Health in Ontario.


APRIl200918

huMan riGhTs anD eQuiTy

What it Means to be a Racialized Member in a Leadership Role

tion and Guelph District Labour Council. My role as a Local Coordinator has given me the confidence to engage with these groups.

Aisha JahangirLocal 25 Coordinator

Taking a leadership role in my local Bargain-ing Unit has made me realize that anything can be achieved if you put your heart and soul into it. Like a large number of people, I do not like public speaking or speaking in a large group setting. Since becoming a site rep for my Lo-cal, I have grown immensely, especially when it comes to my communication skills. I am able to speak articulately on a wide variety of ONA is-sues in various group settings and feel comfort-able representing members at meetings with all levels of management. I would encourage other racially diverse members to become involved in their local Bargaining Unit because all of us need to become involved today in shaping ONA’s leadership face for tomorrow.

Cynthia MascollLocal 70

The following are excerpts from comments made by members who were involved in ONA’s Leadership Development Program (LDP), as either participants or mentors. The LDP provided leadership skills to underrepresented women members of ONA, as designated groups have traditionally not been reflected in leadership roles. To download an expanded bilingual flyer of these comments, click on the “Human Rights and Equity” link on the members’ section of the ONA website at www.ona.org.

I have been in a leadership role for many years. I was forced to get involved at a time when nurses of colour were not represented in management or leadership roles. Even though nurses of colour had the knowledge, skills and the qualifications, we were passed over, both by our employers and our colleagues. I will continue to stay in a leadership role so oth-ers can use me as an example and know that nothing is impossible to achieve.

Marcia RobinsonLocal 95 Coordinator

Taking on a leadership role as Local Coordi-nator has been a very meaningful experience. I am very proud to be a nurse and am very dedi-cated to the work that I do and the patients I look after. I am also a firm believer that we, as individuals, must first look after ourselves before we may be able to look after others. That is why it is extremely important for me to be involved in my professional nursing union. ONA is there to look after my needs and protect my rights, to ensure that I have a safe environment in which to nurse, and look after and care for my patients. My role as a Lo-cal Coordinator has given me the opportunity to have a much deeper understanding of the current issues and dilemmas that nurses face today, what the future holds for nursing and how the government’s decisions impact the care that we, as nurses, deliver. I have learned a lot and have so much more to learn. I have met and worked with other nurses that have the same passion and concerns as me. I come from a racially diverse group, and can always add to issues with a different perspective and understanding. I am aware of the culturally sensitive issues and can share these experiences and views with others. I am also actively in-volved with our local Ontario Health Coali-

For racially diverse members, (the Leadership Development Program) is a great opportunity to stand up for what you believe in. This will equip you with a voice to express your views in a conformed manner while representing others, therefore building on your public speaking skills and continuing the caring. It will allow you the voice to communicate freely with all levels of management on issues that impact your mem-bers. Therefore, it creates leadership opportuni-ties and builds your inner self-confidences. (The program) is an excellent avenue for your profes-sional growth and development, and creates a fo-rum for racially diverse members to collectively represent their issues in ways not understood by members who are not marginalized. It provides for equality and recognition of you as an indi-vidual. No one can walk the walk we have been forced to take. No one understands the pain and suffering we’ve faced through systemic discrimi-nation. No one can express the pain racialized members face like you do. Therefore, step up and be counted. The road is not easy, but we need to be brave and take a stand for our moral values. Remember, your walk is only a part of the bigger gain. So stand up and speak out! Be a part of a team who cares and works to make a difference.

Erica White Ryan Human Rights and Equity Representative

Local 96

eDucaTion

In the last issue of Front Lines, we published photos from ONA’s recent Local Coordinators and Treasurers Conference. In this column, our Provincial Education Coordination Team provides us with the details of the three-day event and early results from the evaluations.

Assisting with the Running of a LocalIn January, ONA’s Local Coordinators and Treasurers gathered at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto for education.

In total, three days of education were conducted from January 27-January 29. Treasurers attended the Treasurers Workshop on January 27-28, 2009, newly elected Local Coordinators attended the Workshop for new Local Coordinators on January 28, and all ONA Treasurers and Local Coordinators were invited to the Local Coordinators and Treasurers Conference on January 29.

The Treasurers Workshop is held annually in Toronto. This workshop is designed to equip ONA Treasurers with the skills and capacity to meet their accountabilities. On the first day of the workshop, the focus was on reviewing the updates to Simply Accounting 2008, and access-ing the ONA portal. Following the hard work of the day, Treasurers had the chance to connect with each other at a dinner.

On day two, Treasurers learned how to complete payroll remittances and resolve unallo-cated amounts at month’s end. They also participated in “Tip Tables,” small breakout sessions facilitated by Dianne Leclair, Vice-President with the portfolio of finance, and staff. The Tip Table sessions were designed to allow members to learn from not only the facilitator, but from one another. Leclair held sessions on how to talk expenses with the team and give phenomenal financial reports, while ONA staff covered topics such as Dues Remittance Reports, Using Technology at ONA and the Simply Accounting Program. Members responded well to the Tip Table sessions, with 98 per cent of Treasurers stating that the format was either helpful or very helpful to their role. One Treasurer wrote in the evaluation, “The Tip Table format was great – learned lots from other Treasurers.”

The introduction of 2009 also rang in a number of new Local Coordinators, nine of whom attended the Workshop for New Local Coordinators. The day started bright and early, as Local Coordinators trekked their way from the Delta Chelsea to ONA’s provincial office for breakfast and a mini-workshop to introduce them to their computers. They then returned to the Delta Chelsea where they spent the day reviewing ONA’s structure, Constitution and the various communication templates used at ONA, such as e-scans. According to one member, one new thing learned from the day was “how to get ready for (the) budget prep meeting and how to make motions.”

At the Local Coordinators and Treasurers Conference, the ONA Players returned to per-form “Much Ado About Audits,” a skit set in Elizabethan times that highlighted the impor-tance of working with the auditor when in receipt of management letters. All members received an “Audit Pen” at the close of the performance to remind them that two authorized signatures are required on their audit. Members also walked through a comparison of audit and financial statements, a review of changes to the Local Financial Policy Guide and the Guide for Local Ex-ecutives, and closed with a presentation from Stephanie Staples, a life and wellness coach.

During the Conference, ONA also launched Minutes, Motions and Meticulous Meetings, a CD toolkit comprised of templates designed to help Locals run their meetings more efficiently. The templates can also be found on the members’ section of the ONA website under “Edu-cation.” Early indications are that the conference was a huge success. The majority of the 95 members in attendance reported that they found the day helpful. More than one member com-mented in the evaluation how hard their Treasurer worked and how much they were valued.

Leadership Development Program Returns In the fall of 2009, ONA is again offering our Leadership Development Program, specifically

designed to enhance the leadership skills of women from ONA’s designated groups who have

traditionally been underrepresented in leadership roles.

The program consists of 10 female participants from the designated groups – Aboriginal;

Racialized; Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered; Disabled and Francophone. We are also

recruiting 10 female mentors from these groups to serve as coaches and mentors.

The program requires a commitment from the participants to attend all sessions, complete

assignments, be available for post-program follow up, engage in all aspects of the program,

and create an action plan and apply their key leanings to develop themselves as leaders.

Participants will be funded by ONA for meals, accommodations, salary and travel.

If you are interested in becoming a participant, please fill out an Expression of Interest form

and return to ONA by April 30, 2009. You will find the form and detailed information about

the program on the members’ section of the ONA website at www.ona.org. Click on “Human

Rights and Equity.”


19 APRIl2009

What it Means to be a Racialized Member in a Leadership RoleFor racially diverse members, (the Leadership Development Program) is a great opportunity to stand up for what you believe in. This will equip you with a voice to express your views in a conformed manner while representing others, therefore building on your public speaking skills and continuing the caring. It will allow you the voice to communicate freely with all levels of management on issues that impact your mem-bers. Therefore, it creates leadership opportuni-ties and builds your inner self-confidences. (The program) is an excellent avenue for your profes-sional growth and development, and creates a fo-rum for racially diverse members to collectively represent their issues in ways not understood by members who are not marginalized. It provides for equality and recognition of you as an indi-vidual. No one can walk the walk we have been forced to take. No one understands the pain and suffering we’ve faced through systemic discrimi-nation. No one can express the pain racialized members face like you do. Therefore, step up and be counted. The road is not easy, but we need to be brave and take a stand for our moral values. Remember, your walk is only a part of the bigger gain. So stand up and speak out! Be a part of a team who cares and works to make a difference.

Erica White Ryan Human Rights and Equity Representative

Local 96

cFnu neWs

E CANADIAN FeDeRAtION of Nurses Unions

(CFNU) President Linda Silas has penned

a letter to the editor of the National Post, dismissing outgoing Canadian Medical

Association President Robert Ouellet’s

trip to Europe to find innovative ways

to reduce wait lists and control costs. “A

tour of different facilities in Canada will

show how wait lists can be eliminated,”

her letter states. “In southwestern

Saskatchewan, one physician working

in a team with three nurse practitioners

looks after 3,200 patients, over twice the

Canadian average. In Hamilton, teams of

mental health counsellors, family doctors

and psychiatrists have increased the num-

ber of patients treated for mental health

problems by 900 per cent while decreas-

ing physician referrals to the regional

psychiatry clinic by 70 per cent. In Sault

Ste. Marie, a task force reduced the time

from mammogram to breast cancer diag-

nosis from 107 to 18 days.” She concluded

that we need to focus on making these

innovations the new norm in health care

delivery.

eDucaTion

In the last issue of Front Lines, we published photos from ONA’s recent Local Coordinators and Treasurers Conference. In this column, our Provincial Education Coordination Team provides us with the details of the three-day event and early results from the evaluations.

Assisting with the Running of a LocalIn January, ONA’s Local Coordinators and Treasurers gathered at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto for education.

In total, three days of education were conducted from January 27-January 29. Treasurers attended the Treasurers Workshop on January 27-28, 2009, newly elected Local Coordinators attended the Workshop for new Local Coordinators on January 28, and all ONA Treasurers and Local Coordinators were invited to the Local Coordinators and Treasurers Conference on January 29.

The Treasurers Workshop is held annually in Toronto. This workshop is designed to equip ONA Treasurers with the skills and capacity to meet their accountabilities. On the first day of the workshop, the focus was on reviewing the updates to Simply Accounting 2008, and access-ing the ONA portal. Following the hard work of the day, Treasurers had the chance to connect with each other at a dinner.

On day two, Treasurers learned how to complete payroll remittances and resolve unallo-cated amounts at month’s end. They also participated in “Tip Tables,” small breakout sessions facilitated by Dianne Leclair, Vice-President with the portfolio of finance, and staff. The Tip Table sessions were designed to allow members to learn from not only the facilitator, but from one another. Leclair held sessions on how to talk expenses with the team and give phenomenal financial reports, while ONA staff covered topics such as Dues Remittance Reports, Using Technology at ONA and the Simply Accounting Program. Members responded well to the Tip Table sessions, with 98 per cent of Treasurers stating that the format was either helpful or very helpful to their role. One Treasurer wrote in the evaluation, “The Tip Table format was great – learned lots from other Treasurers.”

The introduction of 2009 also rang in a number of new Local Coordinators, nine of whom attended the Workshop for New Local Coordinators. The day started bright and early, as Local Coordinators trekked their way from the Delta Chelsea to ONA’s provincial office for breakfast and a mini-workshop to introduce them to their computers. They then returned to the Delta Chelsea where they spent the day reviewing ONA’s structure, Constitution and the various communication templates used at ONA, such as e-scans. According to one member, one new thing learned from the day was “how to get ready for (the) budget prep meeting and how to make motions.”

At the Local Coordinators and Treasurers Conference, the ONA Players returned to per-form “Much Ado About Audits,” a skit set in Elizabethan times that highlighted the impor-tance of working with the auditor when in receipt of management letters. All members received an “Audit Pen” at the close of the performance to remind them that two authorized signatures are required on their audit. Members also walked through a comparison of audit and financial statements, a review of changes to the Local Financial Policy Guide and the Guide for Local Ex-ecutives, and closed with a presentation from Stephanie Staples, a life and wellness coach.

During the Conference, ONA also launched Minutes, Motions and Meticulous Meetings, a CD toolkit comprised of templates designed to help Locals run their meetings more efficiently. The templates can also be found on the members’ section of the ONA website under “Edu-cation.” Early indications are that the conference was a huge success. The majority of the 95 members in attendance reported that they found the day helpful. More than one member com-mented in the evaluation how hard their Treasurer worked and how much they were valued.

Leadership Development Program Returns In the fall of 2009, ONA is again offering our Leadership Development Program, specifically

designed to enhance the leadership skills of women from ONA’s designated groups who have

traditionally been underrepresented in leadership roles.

The program consists of 10 female participants from the designated groups – Aboriginal;

Racialized; Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered; Disabled and Francophone. We are also

recruiting 10 female mentors from these groups to serve as coaches and mentors.

The program requires a commitment from the participants to attend all sessions, complete

assignments, be available for post-program follow up, engage in all aspects of the program,

and create an action plan and apply their key leanings to develop themselves as leaders.

Participants will be funded by ONA for meals, accommodations, salary and travel.

If you are interested in becoming a participant, please fill out an Expression of Interest form

and return to ONA by April 30, 2009. You will find the form and detailed information about

the program on the members’ section of the ONA website at www.ona.org. Click on “Human

Rights and Equity.”

A Meeting of the (CFNu) MindsMembers of the CFNU National Executive Board, comprised of executives from pro-vincial nursing unions across Canada including ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud and First Vice-President Vicki McKenna (pictured), as well as ONA Chief Executive Officer Lesley Bell, meet at ONA’s provincial office on February 12, 2009 to discuss strategies and share expe-riences and ideas at the national level.


onTario nurses’ associaTion

85 Grenville St., Ste. 400

Toronto ON M5S 3A2

rigHTS

Understaffing grievance open to the public

ONA and Leisureworld Nursing Home

(Abramsky, January 23, 2009)The employer objected to ONA’s public in-vitation to media to attend the arbitration of its grievance that the employer had failed to maintain proper RN staffing levels at Leisure-world St. George.

The arbitrator ruled in favour of media ac-cess to the hearing, a position supported by both ONA and counsel for the Toronto Star. Although not all issues that arise between a nursing home and a union are valid matters of public interest, staffing levels and compli-ance with such public statutes as the Nursing Home Act are. The issue of understaffing has already been made public through availability of Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care reviews of the home’s operation. Any negative impact that further publicity may have on collective bargaining was purely speculative. In any event, public knowledge of such hear-ings is difficult to control in the Internet age.

The arbitrator also noted that there were no issues regarding the confidentiality of wit-nesses or information, and that the privacy in-terests of the residents would not be adversely impacted by media coverage of this proceed-ing. The arbitrator opened the hearing to the media, only prohibiting the use of cameras and recording devices in the hearing room.

The following is a sampling of recent key awards and/or decisions in one or more of the following areas: rights arbitration, interest arbitration, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), Long-Term Disability (LTD) and Ontario Labour Relations Board. A complete listing of recent awards and decisions can be found in the members’ secure section of ONA’s website at www.ona.org.

WSiB

ONA wins appeals with total monetary value in excess of $1.5-million

South Hospital

(December 29, 2008)In 2002, this nurse injured her lower back by helping a patient moving from a wheelchair. She was diagnosed with a slip disc and under-went multiple surgical procedures to correct her disc condition. As a result of her surgical procedures, the injured worker was left with a left-sided paralysis. The injured worker ex-perienced many falls and had to have bilateral knee surgeries. She is now unable to walk and is herself wheelchair bound.

This nurse was finally given full loss of earnings (LOE) benefits until age 65, a non-economic loss (NEL), and was declared “un-employable.” She is unable to care for herself, and WSIB has accepted her in its Serious Inju-ry Program (SIP), which provides added ben-efits for only the most seriously injured work-ers in Ontario. ONA argued that her husband should be paid a wage, and WSIB agreed to pay him $800 monthly, with a payment ret-roactive to 2002. WSIB pays for grass cutting and snow removal, an automated wheelchair and renovations to her van to accommodate her wheelchair.

WSIB also will be renovating her home in the near future to accommodate her disabili-ties and will conduct a further reconsidera-tion of her NEL award.

Importance to ONA: This is another sad case of a nurse who will never work again due to a workplace injury. This case highlights the battles our members and ONA’s WSIB Team face in trying to convince the WSIB that our work can be very dangerous, and resulting in-juries completely debilitating. It took many months to win this appeal, which will have a total monetary value in excess of $1.5-million.

LTD

Occupational Health to the rescue again!Hospital, Region 4

(November 27, 2008)The member, who had bilateral knee injuries, was doing modified duties – project work – but was unable to achieve full-time hours due to marked inflammation and pain, which sub-stantially decreased her mobility.

The carrier refused to recognize informa-tion from the member’s family physician, believed that she could work full-time hours, and terminated her benefits during the “own occupation” phase.

The Occupational Health physician proved to be quite helpful; although the member would not let him do a hands-on as-sessment, he was able to review her file and reveal many holes in the carrier’s decision.

In the end, the carrier reversed its decision and reinstated benefits. In addition, reports are that the case manager was very patient and reasonable with deadlines.

Thank you once again to a supportive Oc-cupational Health Department and, in this occasion, the carrier’s staff as well.

aWarDs anD Decisions


front lines april 2009

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