To:
Bargaining Unit Presidents, Hospital Sector
From:
Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN, President
Date:
November 12, 2015
Re:
Hospital Local Issues Bargaining 2016 Round – Direction Included - IMPORTANT
C:
Board of Directors, Local Coordinators, District Service Teams
We have entered into bargaining for the hospital collective agreements, expiring March 31,
2016. While Notice to Bargain will not be sent until January 2016, the Memorandum of
Conditions for Joint Bargaining (MCJB) have now been signed by the parties, and you and your
bargaining teams should be preparing for Local bargaining. Your bargaining team should
already be elected. If your bargaining team is not elected, please call your Regional VicePresident immediately to ensure your team is elected as soon as possible. Labour Relations
Officers (LROs) should have already set meetings this fall and should now be working with your
elected membership negotiating committees to determine issues for Local bargaining.
Local bargaining proposals must be finalized with your Labour Relations Officer by January 14,
2016. These proposals must be vetted to ensure they are properly Local issues in accordance
with the MCJB (attached). Proposals must be tabled with the employer no later than February 1,
2016 to be timely.
Bargaining Unit Leaders Next Steps
In your leadership role you should be working with your LRO and elected negotiating teams by:
 Exploring whether it would benefit your team to hold a "Preparing your Team for
Negotiations Workshop" – I encourage you to discuss the matter with your Local
Coordinator because of the financial implications.
 Reviewing the Service Delivery Guidelines and Bargaining Unit Accountability documents
with your committees.
 Reviewing collective agreements.
 Identifying any current provisions that conflict with central language.
 Reviewing all Letters of Understanding appended to or negotiated during the term of the
collective agreement, e.g. innovative schedules, mentoring, supernumerary nurses.
 Reviewing issues raised by Bargaining Unit members to develop proposals.
 Reviewing all draft proposals within the context of articles already in the collective
agreement to avoid conflict with other articles and to evaluate if they contradict other
collective agreement provisions.
 Reviewing problem areas arising during the last agreement, e.g. scheduling issues and
difficulties, premium pay issues, vacation and lieu day denials, and vacation quotas.
 Identifying provincial priority areas for bargaining.
 Reviewing the Local Issues Collective Agreement Prototype to identify areas that need to be
explored with your LRO and Negotiating Committee that are not currently covered in your
Local appendices.
Bargaining Unit Presidents, Hospital Sector/November 12, 2015
Hospital Local Issues Bargaining 2016 Round – Direction Included
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Advising your LRO of dates important for the Bargaining Unit or Local leadership, such as
Area Coordinator Conference (ACC) and Provincial Coordinator Meeting (PCM) dates, so
bargaining dates do not conflict with them.
Consulting with your LRO on what disclosure you wish from your employer appropriate for
Local proposals needs to be identified, e.g. Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) stats
around violence incidents, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) numbers,
Bargaining Unit nursing hours, vacancies, copies of schedules, financial information related
to overtime costs and consecutive weekend costs.
Nurse Practitioner (NP) issues: We have developed prototype language that is to be used if
there are NPs in the Bargaining Unit, as their needs may be different.
Potential Proposals
It became apparent to the Hospital Central Negotiating Team (HCNT) as we read the Have a
Say questionnaire comments that many members do not know what language is currently
contained in their collective agreement. As you liaise and/or meet with your members during this
round of bargaining, please take these opportunities to educate them about the content of our
collective agreement-both central and local provisions.
Mentorship Letter of Understanding (LOU): Discuss with your LRO tabling language pertaining
to how mentors are chosen and/or clean up any current Local language.
Health and safety: Violence prevention is a very high priority issue for our members. ONA’s staff
have provided areas for improving and tightening up language about violence, appropriate
staffing and other issues. In addition, we have amended language for the Local issues prototype
based on their suggestions to table. Your LRO has contract analysis data to identify where such
language exists.
Pre-approved overtime: If you have language in the Local provisions that speaks to where
overtime is paid for a scheduling violation and it identifies pre-approval, the pre approval should
be removed as pre-approval is a central issue.
Denial of vacation and/or paid holiday lieu time requests: If you do not have language that
speaks to timely approval of vacation or lieu days for statutory holiday requests, language
should be tabled.
The members have clearly stated in Have a Say that they want their vacation time off; therefore,
there should be no language for vacation payouts.
Premium payments in Local provisions: There should be no concessions in the premium
payment provisions set out in Local issues. These provisions have been hard-won gains over
many rounds of bargaining under Article 14.03. The employers are actively seeking costcontainment provisions and we should aggressively fight against regressive proposals. We
have been successful in refusing concessions and need to continue to hold the line!
Scheduling issues: The Local Issues Prototype (to be mailed separately) contains sample
language for Scheduling Committees and Master Rotation language. This round of bargaining
may be a good opportunity to make gains in this highly important area for our members,
including ensuring that 1950 hours are scheduled for full-time members so there is no negative
impact on HOOPP/pension plan.
Rollover of collective agreements: We have been asked by Bargaining Unit leaders if it is
possible to rollover existing Local provisions. If this is to be done, the following must occur:
Bargaining Unit leaders must ask their members at a meeting if they are prepared to agree to a
rollover and give reasons why the union is making this proposal. If the answer is no, the
Bargaining Unit Presidents, Hospital Sector/November 12, 2015
Hospital Local Issues Bargaining 2016 Round – Direction Included
Page 3
Negotiating Committee cannot propose a rollover to the employer. If the answer is yes, the
Negotiating Committee and LRO can propose a rollover to the employer. If the employer agrees
to a rollover, an agreement is signed and needs to be ratified by membership and the employer.
We have appended a draft rollover agreement to this memo.
A number of tip sheets and documents are provided to assist as you prepare for bargaining. The
hospital collective agreements are available on ONA’s website, and they are now text
searchable. You have recently received the confidential Hospital Contract Interpretation Manual
and memory stick. I suggest you save this memo and attachments on that memory stick.
While we have agreed to the Local issues process with the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA)
under the MCJB, we have not agreed to a Local issues arbitrator. ONA’s nominee is Kate
Hughes and the hospitals’ nominee is unknown at this time. ONA’s nominee has acted as our
nominee for a number of Local issues rounds of bargaining.
If there is a problem getting dates with your employers and/or the employer refuses to meet or
exchange proposals in accordance with the memorandum, your LRO will advise the Manager of
Negotiations, who will follow up with the OHA.
Vetting Proposals
 Your LRO is to submit your Local proposals for vetting to her/his District Service Team
(DST) representative on the HCNPT two weeks prior to the exchange date with the
employer, but no later than January 14, 2016.
 Your LRO must also submit employer proposals for vetting to the DST representative within
a week of receiving them.
 Any new employer proposals submitted after bargaining begins need to be vetted as well.
Non-participating Hospitals
LROs will serve notice to bargain individually to non-participants. As usual, non-participants
bargaining is to be delayed until central bargaining is concluded unless, of course,
hospitals are prepared to agree to a “me too” to everything achieved in the central
negotiations. A non-participating hospital cannot be settled until the conclusion of central
bargaining. You cannot settle a non-participating hospital with anything less than what is
achieved in central negotiations.
If there are any questions regarding this memo, please speak to your LRO.
Attachments:
Memorandum of Conditions for Joint Bargaining
Local Issues Prototype (to be mailed separately in hard copy)
Tip sheets on Preparing for Bargaining, Demonstrated Need, Proposal Development and
Communication – Negotiations
Rollover LOU