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Salary freeze hits hospital Continued from page 1 5 · Friday, April 16, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com "OTMH had a policy of maintaining parity with the unions so if there was a settlement in the union contracts we maintain that parity (with the non-unionized employees)," said Trish Carlton, HHS spokesperson. "So what this (Bill 16) does is it has some of our staff, like the nurses in Georgetown, receiving an increase and the nurses in Milton and Oakville not receiving an increase." Halton Healthcare Services President and CEO John Oliver said Bill 16 does not only affect 86 per cent of HHS's registered nursing staff, but approximately 70 per cent of the total HHS workforce including pharmacists, physiotherapists, diagnostic imaging technicians and more. The total number of people affected at OTMH is 1,583. Oliver said the salary freeze is particularly unfair because these professions are normally unionized, but not at HHS. "We were completely surprised by Bill 16, as were all hospitals, as was the Ontario Hospital Association. Nobody anticipated this salary freeze coming as part of the provincial budget," said Oliver. "We have a situation where our staff salaries are being frozen as of March 24, while all of the union hospitals around us have increases going through for those same types of jobs on April 1. This is very unfair and very inequitable." Oliver went on to say that HHS is working with the Ontario Hospital Association to influence the government to give some kind of con- sideration to these workers, so this inequity can be removed. A number of hospitals where the nurses are in a similar situation to those of OTMH have also been contacted and are now working together to persuade the government to reverse this policy. While Oliver believes a wage disparity between hospitals will impact recruitment as time goes on, for the moment, he says, it has not. "We really haven't had to do any active recruitment since the announcement of the freeze. We've been very, very successful in recruiting, in fact, we've been turning applicants away in almost all job categories," said Oliver. "We are already looking right now to sort out what kind strategies we can bring to bear to offset that (salary difference)." Oliver said the wage freeze is estimated to save HHS, and therefore the Province, $2.8 million. The provincial budget also indicated that overall base funding for all hospitals will be restricted to 1.5 per cent and the government plans to launch a 10-year capital plan one year from now in 2011, which means that the decision on the Milton District Hospital expansion program could be delayed for another year. The compensation freeze for public sector workers exempts municipalities (both union and non-union). However, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said, in media interviews the day after the budget, he hoped municipalities would `follow the Province's lead.' o t-of-T wn Ser vice & Ou rt rpo Ai OAKVILLE UNITED TAXI Spring has Sprung! Ask about our low Airport rates · · · · · · · · · · · · GO GREEN! The Montigo Peninsula. Introducing the three sided clean face. 3600 Laird Rd., Units 12 & 13 Mississauga, ON Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9-5, Sat. 10-4, Sun. 12-4 905.338.0044 Ê Join our growing team, call 905-338-6106 CALL US 24 HOUR · 7 DAYS A WEEK www.ontariohearth.com 905.569.2404 Ê THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT