Health care unions call ‘retention’ bonus a gimmick

By Pat Van Horne, USW member of the CHC Board of Directors

The Ontario Conservatives plan to give bonuses instead of wage increases to nurses will not improve the future of public health care in Canada.

In a joint letter, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), and Unifor say, “Nurses remain significantly undervalued and a one-time signing bonus will not, unfortunately, address that.”

Health care workers’ wages in the province are capped at one per cent. Inflation rates across Canada are much higher than that.  Bonuses to some, but not all, do not address resource and staff shortages.

Here is the full text of the unions’ letter: