In Healthcare the Battle Lines are Drawn

[britman101]

Well after the AHS CEO announced there will be hiring freezes as AHS looks to be in a deficit position for 2024, the nurses sent back one heck of a reply. The UNA, nurse's union of Alberta, has stated they want a wage increase. Hopefully Danielle Smith is sitting down when she reads this. The nurse's want:

- first year - 25 percent wage increase.
- second year- 10 percent wage increase.

Oh my god, so much for fiscal restraint, the battle lines have been drawn.

[elkhunter11]

25%? Who do they think they are, politicians?

[sewerrat]

They still be whining about something else next year.

[moniaw24]

wouldn't we all like a 25% increase, there is always someone else who is willing to work more for less

[jstubbs]

Originally Posted by moniaw24

wouldn't we all like a 25% increase, there is always someone else who is willing to work more for less

Not the in the healthcare field. There are clear doctor and nurse shortages quite literally everywhere.

[Scott h]

Originally Posted by moniaw24

wouldn't we all like a 25% increase, there is always someone else who is willing to work more for less

If that was true Alberta wouldn't be paying agency nurses to work in rural hospitals. When the RN they hire out is pulling in over $100 hour (plus housing, travel, etc, etc), god only knows how much the agency itself is making on the deal.

[FCLightning]

Originally Posted by Scott h

If that was true Alberta wouldn't be paying agency nurses to work in rural hospitals. When the RN they hire out is pulling in over $100 hour (plus housing, travel, etc, etc), god only knows how much the agency itself is making on the deal.

So, quit hiring contract nurses altogether. Offer them a regular position where the voids exist. At some point they would rather work at a great paying job than not pay their rent.

[sns2]

My daughter just applied to a nursing faculty yesterday

[Drewski Canuck]

Actually, GOA got away with a great deal, but it started to count at the expiry of the 2019 Contract, which expires March 2024:

In the current contract, the UNA had negotiated a 4.25% wage increase over 4 years. While that was better than the contract they got under the NDP, it came short of allowing pay for nurses to keep up with inflation last year, never mind all 4 years of the contract.

In March 2016, the last time UNA members received a wage prior to the current contract, Alberta’s consumer price index was 135.0. In March of this year, it sat at 161.7, an increase of 19.78%.

During that same period, wages increased only 2.25%. That means that these nurses have received a reduction in real wages of 17.53%.

In other words, for every $100 they spent in March 2016, they can now afford only to spend $82.47.

And that’s not including inflation, which is sitting at 3.7%, as of last month, or the 2% raise for the final year of the contract.

For a few years of Contract Negotiations, GOA was threatening a "wage rollback" of 5 %, cumulative from 2019 for each year that the 2019 wages were paid.

The Contract was finally settled in January 2023, retroactive to 2019, but it was 4.25 % over the time period, with no "wage rollback". Of course Inflation took off in 2023, but after January 2023.

So you can see that the writing is on the wall for wage increases. If GOA wants to get young people into nursing, it has to be worthwhile, and we don't have alot of young people to go around. Immigrants typically do not have the qualifications and have to go through the 4 year BSc Nursing program like everyone else.

Getting Nurses to leave their home provinces to move to Alberta is going to be a challenge as the rest of Canada hates Alberta, and believes what the CBC says about us.

I for one have never seen babies roasted on a spit in Alberta, but try to tell that to someone from Ontario.

Drewski

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

Actually, GOA got away with a great deal, but it started to count at the expiry of the 2019 Contract, which expires March 2024:

In the current contract, the UNA had negotiated a 4.25% wage increase over 4 years. While that was better than the contract they got under the NDP, it came short of allowing pay for nurses to keep up with inflation last year, never mind all 4 years of the contract.

In March 2016, the last time UNA members received a wage prior to the current contract, Alberta’s consumer price index was 135.0. In March of this year, it sat at 161.7, an increase of 19.78%.

During that same period, wages increased only 2.25%. That means that these nurses have received a reduction in real wages of 17.53%.

In other words, for every $100 they spent in March 2016, they can now afford only to spend $82.47.

And that’s not including inflation, which is sitting at 3.7%, as of last month, or the 2% raise for the final year of the contract.

For a few years of Contract Negotiations, GOA was threatening a "wage rollback" of 5 %, cumulative from 2019 for each year that the 2019 wages were paid.

The Contract was finally settled in January 2023, retroactive to 2019, but it was 4.25 % over the time period, with no "wage rollback". Of course Inflation took off in 2023, but after January 2023.

So you can see that the writing is on the wall for wage increases. If GOA wants to get young people into nursing, it has to be worthwhile, and we don't have alot of young people to go around. Immigrants typically do not have the qualifications and have to go through the 4 year BSc Nursing program like everyone else.

Getting Nurses to leave their home provinces to move to Alberta is going to be a challenge as the rest of Canada hates Alberta, and believes what the CBC says about us.

I for one have never seen babies roasted on a spit in Alberta, but try to tell that to someone from Ontario.

Drewski

Well guess what, most of us lost buying power over the last few years due to inflation. And if everyone got a raise to match inflation, guess what effect that would have on inflation? The federal government and their irresponsible spending, and their carbon tax caused the unusually high inflation, and we all have had to suffer because of it.

[CanadianPsycho]

Price to be paid to staff the hospitals and clinics in this province. Short sighted low ball contracts simply make it more expensive in the future when a larger raise is required to keep people working. If you look at the AHS job postings there are an awful lot of empty spots that go unfilled. If they want those postings filled then they need to attract people and that means increasing compensation. Personally I say good on them. Id rather the gov pay for health care then give away money to the corps. Also beats paying travel nurses insane wages for them to fill all the holes.

[HyperMOA]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

Actually, GOA got away with a great deal, but it started to count at the expiry of the 2019 Contract, which expires March 2024:

In the current contract, the UNA had negotiated a 4.25% wage increase over 4 years. While that was better than the contract they got under the NDP, it came short of allowing pay for nurses to keep up with inflation last year, never mind all 4 years of the contract.

In March 2016, the last time UNA members received a wage prior to the current contract, Alberta’s consumer price index was 135.0. In March of this year, it sat at 161.7, an increase of 19.78%.

During that same period, wages increased only 2.25%. That means that these nurses have received a reduction in real wages of 17.53%.

In other words, for every $100 they spent in March 2016, they can now afford only to spend $82.47.

And that’s not including inflation, which is sitting at 3.7%, as of last month, or the 2% raise for the final year of the contract.

For a few years of Contract Negotiations, GOA was threatening a "wage rollback" of 5 %, cumulative from 2019 for each year that the 2019 wages were paid.

The Contract was finally settled in January 2023, retroactive to 2019, but it was 4.25 % over the time period, with no "wage rollback". Of course Inflation took off in 2023, but after January 2023.

So you can see that the writing is on the wall for wage increases. If GOA wants to get young people into nursing, it has to be worthwhile, and we don't have alot of young people to go around. Immigrants typically do not have the qualifications and have to go through the 4 year BSc Nursing program like everyone else.

Getting Nurses to leave their home provinces to move to Alberta is going to be a challenge as the rest of Canada hates Alberta, and believes what the CBC says about us.

I for one have never seen babies roasted on a spit in Alberta, but try to tell that to someone from Ontario.

Drewski

I am not sure about right now but AB has the highest (or we did) paid nurses in the country, with the lowest cost of living. Until we start losing nurses to PEI the wages should be frozen. That applies to all government union positions. These unions embolden the problem that Trudeau has created; they need to feel the pain first and foremost of their political alignments.

[Grizzly Adams1]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

25%? Who do they think they are, politicians?

One of the problems with our health care system is, every time the government talks about increased funding , the unions demand a piece of it.

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Originally Posted by britman101

Well after the AHS CEO announced there will be hiring freezes as AHS looks to be in a deficit position for 2024, the nurses sent back one heck of a reply. The UNA, nurse's union of Alberta, has stated they want a wage increase. Hopefully Danielle Smith is sitting down when she reads this. The nurse's want:

- first year - 25 percent wage increase.
- second year- 10 percent wage increase.

Oh my god, so much for fiscal restraint, the battle lines have been drawn.

Hiring freeze? What hiring freeze?

"Alberta Health Services (AHS) says changes to its hiring policy that require senior approval to take on new staff do not constitute a hiring freeze [...]"

So if a new hire now requires "senior approval", who could approve a new hire before?

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/pol...-hiring-freeze

ARG