On January 21 Arbitrator Gerry Lee issued his award for the Unified Bargaining Unit’s Bill 124 wage re-opener. Included in the Lee award, the Unified Bargaining Unit nurse grids will be at parity with the OPS Correctional Bargaining Unit nurse classification wage grids, effective January 1, 2024.
The parties have reviewed the employer proposal on nurse wage grids and are now in agreement with the grids below.
The Memorandum of Agreement with the updated grids includes the salary schedule for the following nursing classifications:
- 50050 Nurse 1, General
- 50052 Nurse 2, General
- 50054 Nurse 3, General
- 50120 Nurse 1, Public Health
- 50122 Nurse 2, Public Health
- 50124 Nurse 3, Public Health
- 41500, 41502, 41504, 41506 Psychiatric Nursing Assistant 1-4
- 50064 Nurse, Outpatient Clinics
- 50070 Nurse 1, Clinic
- 50072 Nurse 2, Clinic
- 50075 Head Nurse, Output Clinics
- 50080 Nurse 1, Nursing Education
- 50082 Nurse 2, Nursing Education
- 50084 Nurse 3, Nursing Education
- 50110 Nurse 2, Special Schools
- 50112 Nurse 3, Special Schools
- 50128 Nurse, Occupational Health & Safety
- 50068 Residential Health Nurse, Facility for the Developmentally Handicapped
The Employer has advised that they are prioritizing the implementation and payment of all nurse wage grids. This will be a two-step process – with current 2024 wage rates implemented first followed by retroactive payments later.
Experience Credit for Nurses
The parties continue to work on Experience Credit for Nurses. The Memorandum of Agreement will establish a timeline for implementation as well as the process. This will ensure that all current employees will have sufficient time to submit their claims once the Employer has established their process.
Special Case Committee
In addition to the wage increases, the arbitration award included a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), which outlined a new dispute resolution process to address outstanding special cases.
Phase 1 of this process involves the Union selecting members to sit on the joint committee. The OPSEU/SEFPO committee members have been identified and were chosen from the last bargaining team membership.
They are as follows:
- Chris Eckert, Chair of Committee – CERC & OCWA
- Kevin Sprague – MNRF
- Grace Grieve – MOH
- Shawn Burr – MECP
Committee members will be doing research on each case and will be contacting the submitting bodies for updated materials and information.
If agreement is not reached between the parties, mediation and arbitration will then be scheduled in the fall.
In solidarity,
Amanda Usher
Central Employee Relations Committee (CERC) Chair
Chris Eckert
Central Employee Relations Committee (CERC) Vice-Chair