ONA Agrees to Mediation to Settle CCAC Class Action Lawsuit
18 Jul 08 -- ONA legal counsel was recently approached by provincial government lawyers to enter into a joint mediation process in an effort to settle the class action lawsuits, initiated on behalf of our members working for CCACs and by OPSEU on behalf of its CCAC members.The suit was launched to redress the government’s failure to live up to its promise to ensure the transfer of their full pensionable service to the Hospitals of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP).
We view this as an opportunity to get a just, expedited and cost-effective result – short of going through the courts (and possibly the various appeal processes) over the next few years. As a result, we have agreed to participate in this process.
The intent is to invite the Honourable Justice George Adams to act as the mediator. He has frequently acted as a labour arbitrator and has considerable experience in the pension and benefits area. We will provide the details when the arrangements for the mediation have been finalized.
n/aBetter care for seniors needed: McGuinty
9 Jul 08 -- Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty acknowledged yesterday the province had "more work to do" to care for seniors in nursing homes as opposition parties and unions slammed the government over conditions in long-term care facilities.Long-term care needs enforceable standards, not vague reports
Toronto, 8 July 2008
Hospital receives funds for ER nurses
25 Jun 08 -- The province has given Sudbury Regional Hospital $62,500 to help reduce ER wait times by hiring nurses to receive ambulance patients.ONA Challenges Rouge Valley Lay-Offs
25 Jun 08 -- The Ontario Nurses’ Association’s (ONA), the union representing 54,000 front-line nurses and allied health professionals, has filed an application for judicial review of the decision made by Rouge Valley Health System’s board of directors to close its in-patient mental health facilities at Rouge Valley Ajax Pickering Hospital and eliminate 220 union staff positions – including 72 registered nurses – over the next three years.“Rouge Valley Health System has unilaterally decided to close beds and lay off registered nurses,” says ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN, “without consulting its fiscal advisory committee. We believe the hospital has failed to follow its obligations under the Public Hospitals Act to consult with the committee and allow it to provide recommendations regarding operations and staffing.”
Regulation 965 of the Public Hospitals Act obliges each hospital to create a fiscal advisory committee (FAC) including at least one staff nurse to provide recommendations to the board regarding the operation, use and staffing of the hospital. The courts have previously held that the purpose of these provisions is to give staff nurses a greater voice in hospital management, as well as to bring cooperation between nursing organizations and hospital management.
While one meeting of Rouge Valley’s FAC was held in 2007, at no time during the meeting was there a review of the decision to cut staff and alter services. The FAC was not given the necessary information to make recommendations to the board regarding those decisions. ONA asserts that the hospital is therefore in violation with the Public Hospitals Act and is asking that the decision to close the mental health beds at Ajax-Pickering and lay off RNs be quashed until the FAC can review the circumstances of the deficit and give informed and meaningful recommendations to the hospital board. A September 19 court date has been set.
“The hospital is facing a deficit of $78 million,” notes Haslam-Stroud. “It has failed in its obligation to consult its own FAC and has instead slashed its nursing staff with no input from staff nurses on the committee. The FAC is in place for a reason, and we believe the hospital board proceeded without statutory authority in approving these closures and cuts without first consulting it.”
Forty-seven registered nurses received lay-off notices from the hospital on May 15 – during Nursing Week celebrations. Though the hospital maintains that patient care and services won’t be affected, RNs are expressing serious concern about the impact on both patients and the nurses remaining.