Arbitrator gives Ontario hospital workers new deal, wage increase

There is a new two-year collective agreement for 9,600 hospital workers in the province.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union says arbitrator Robert Herman has issued an arbitration award for a deal for OPSEU-represented workers at 50 hospitals in Ontario.

The deal, which is retroactive to April 1 of this year, gives all employees a 1.4 per cent wage increase in each of the two years of the contract.

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It also includes a new process for the negotiation of voluntary innovative and flexible scheduling agreements.

OPSEU Hospital Professionals Bargaining Team chairwoman Sandi Blancher says she’s pleased with the wage gains, which she says go part way towards keeping up with inflation.

Those affected by the award include audiologists, speech language pathologists, dietitians, occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, physiotherapists, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, medical radiation technologists, biomedical technologists, psychologists, lab technologists and lab technicians.