Nurses working in provincial hospitals have a new contract.
An arbitrator is awarding them a two-year deal that includes wage increases of 1.4% in the first year and 1.75% in the second.
The contract is retroactive to April 1st of this year. It impacts some 61,000 members of the Ontario Nurses Association.
ONA President Vicki McKenna says the deal does fall short on some of their concerns.
McKenna says they don’t feel the contract really values the work of their members in hospitals in Ontario.
She adds it doesn’t address in staff shortages, increased workload as well as retention and recruitment efforts.
However, McKenna notes it does identify the importance of worker safety. McKenna says issues not addressed will come up again in the next round of bargaining.
