Nurses

Homecare nurses and the CCAC are finally agreeing on a new deal.

A wage increase forced a 17-day strike earlier this year but ONA Vice President, Vicki McKenna, says Northern nurses are receiving an extra wage increase in the second year of the deal to catch up with the rest of the province.

“They were the lowest paid in Ontario doing the same work at their southern counterparts.  Sometimes the difference was as high as six or seven dollars an hour.”

The new deal breaks down as follows:  A 1.4-per-cent increase in each of two years. ONA members in the two northern Ontario CCACs will receive a 1.4-per-cent increase in year one and a 3.4-per-cent increase in year two to catch up to the rest of the province.

The Community Care Access Centre says they’ll respect the arbitrator’s decision.

These new collective agreements with the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) settle the outstanding issue of wages, and we thank the arbitrator for his efforts in this process,” said provincial spokesperson Megan Allen-Lamb, CEO of North Simcoe Muskoka CCAC. “We respect the decision of the Arbitrator, however, we are disappointed that the Arbitrator ignored the freely negotiated settlements achieved in our sector in the current round of bargaining with CUPE, OPSEU and ONA members at the Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand Brant CCAC.”

The new deal affects roughly 35 homecare nurses in Timmins