A significant milestone has been achieved in the nearly 20-year fight to achieve pay equity for thousands of members in OPSEU/SEFPO’s Hospital Professionals Division (HPD). The union and the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) have come to an agreement over male comparators in disputed pay bands, avoiding a lengthy Pay Equity Tribunal process.
The two parties issued a joint announcement on November 9 that an agreement has been reached for a pay equity plan, which affects over 200 job classifications under the HPD central bargaining unit.
The parties will proceed to finalize a pay equity plan in accordance with the mediated settlement and the terms of reference. The OPSEU/SEFPO HPD Pay Equity Steering committee, which consists of Sandi Blancher, Betty Palmieri, Susan Head, Peggy Burke and OPSEU/SEFPO Pay Equity Negotiator Alex Dell, will be meeting to finalize the outstanding details and ensure compliance with the Pay Equity Act. Once the pay equity plan is achieved, a full roll-out will follow which includes pay equity adjustments and retro pay for those job classes that worked in previously underpaid female jobs.
This announcement comes as a result of over 19 years of negotiations and a fight for pay equity that dates back to the early 2000s.
The mediated settlement will provide HPD members in job classes that are eligible to receive a pay equity adjustment – including members who worked in the hospital during the time period of negotiations, regardless of whether or not they are still currently working in the hospital – an adjustment that will be retroactive to 2007, the year when the terms of reference for this joint committee were signed.
The new pay equity plan will serve to foster a stronger, more inclusive environment for HPD members for decades more to come. Thank you to the HPD Pay Equity Steering Committee for their hard work and perseverance in the ongoing negotiations for this agreement.