The Ontario government has introduced legislation to cap public sector wage increases at an average of 1% annually for the next three years.
We are appalled by this legislation and any form of legislated wag caps. Legislating wages interferes with the right to free collective bargaining.
Our members, as all workers, deserve wages that reflect the real cost of living. A 1% annual increase means your wages will be worth less each year. Collective bargaining has allowed the employer and our members to jointly determine sustainable levels of compensation for decades.
The new wage cap would include teachers and staff at post-secondary institutions and hospitals. It will affect both unionized and non-unionized workers.
In addition to some 240 Information Technology professionals at the University of Ottawa, the Institute represents over 400 professional workers in the Ontario health sector including:
- Ontario Medical Physicists employed by the Regional Cancer Centres Employers Association (MP);
- Mechanical and Electronic Technologists employed by Sunnybrook Hospital (SUN-MET);
- Radiation Therapists employed by Sunnybrook Hospital (SUN-RT);
- Radiation Therapists employed by the Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC-RT);
- Radiation Therapists employed by Thunder Bay Regional Hospital (TBH-RT);
- Radiation Therapists employed by Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH-RT).