Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from August, 2013

Physiotherapy: One more privatization scandal?

Lurking only slightly below the surface in the recent fight over changes to funding for physiotherapy is yet another problem with health care privatization. The government is stopping the ability of 94 physiotherapy clinics to directly bill OHIP. Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews says that, over the years, licences to provide these services have been bought up by large corporations. Currently, two-thirds of the billing goes to four companies that are, she says, "behind the protests" against her reforms. Moreover, she charges that the " existing 94 clinics have had an unlimited ability to bill the government and have become very creative in they way they bill." By reforming how the money is distributed, the government claimed they will provide physiotherapy, exercising and fall-prevention classes to 218,000 more people, mostly seniors .   And they are going to do this while providing less money for physiotherapy than they otherwise would:  $16,000,0

Union wage advantage grows by $1.71 per hour

The gap between union and non-union wages in Ontario has grown significantly since the start of the recession in 2008, increasing by $1.71 per hour, Statistics Canada data indicates. The hourly union advantage grew by 34 cents per hour each year on average.  For a full time worker, that means the advantage for having union coverage in your workplace is growing by about $663 per year.  Compared to five years ago, that means the union wage advantage for an employee working full time hours has grown by $3,334 per year. In July 2008, the union premium was already considerable at 26.5% ($25.75 average wage per hour for those with union coverage versus $20.35 for those without, a $5.40 an hour difference). Five years later, in July 2013, the union premium had grown to 31.7%.  Union wages averaged $29.56 in 2013 versus $22.45 for workers without union coverage.  That is a $7.11 advantage for workers with union coverage. Temporary Workers: the biggest advantage? Unionized tem

Ontario inflation goes up and wages fall behind

Ontario inflation is beginning to heat up.  As recently as May, the year over year increase in the Consumer Price Index was a mere 0.49% . Today's data for July indicates that Ontario  prices have gone up 1.65% since last year .  While this is partly due to a dip in prices in  June and July of 2012, prices also went up significantly in June and July of 2013.   Since May 2013, the CPI has increased from 123.0 to 123.4.  On an annualized basis, that would imply an annual inflation increase of 1.91% by May 2014. Gasoline prices led the way with an annual increase of 5.5% in Ontario (6.1% across Canada). Hourly wages and inflation Average hourly wages in Ontario for July  were up 1.5%  compared to a year earlier.  In other words, wages are falling slightly behind inflation.   This too is a bit of a change since May. Although hourly average wages were up a bit less in May -- 1.15% over the year -- that hourly wage increase was still significantly ahead of the 0.49% annual

Hospital overcrowding 'dangerous' as bed shortage hits hard

Hospitals are "full to bursting" and bed occupancy is reaching such "dangerous" levels that staff are struggling to maintain the safety and quality of patients' care, an authoritative study concludes. Alas and alack, this report is from the Guardian and refers to a new English study. But how much more apropos if the reference was to Ontario. While the English report flows from bed occupancy beginning to pass 85%, bed occupancy in Ontario is closer to 98%.  English ministers (at least until now) have liked to claim that hospitals maintain 85% bed occupancy.  In contrast, Ontario health minister Deb Matthews defends even more bed cuts . English Bed Occupancy Concerns Deepen English doctors warn that the bed occupancy findings reflect their increasingly frantic efforts to find beds and that patients – especially the elderly – are being scattered across hospitals. "A lack of beds in specialist wards results in patients being sent to wards where

With unemployment high, Ontario focuses on Jobs and Growth

With the release of the 2013-14 first quarter finances report, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa has announced the start of his own consultations on the economy. The focus (allegedly) is on "jobs and growth" . The formal pre-budget consultations with a committee of the legislature usually start in the late fall or winter. So Sousa's consultations (which have already begun) are getting the jump. If words mean much, the emphasis is quite different than under Dwight Duncan. Sousa's release headlines “The Path to Jobs and Growth”. Duncan's release of last year's first quarter finances sounded more like his imitation of the grim reaper, focusing exclusively on the deficit and the "strong action" he was taking to deal with it (“ First Quarter Finances Show Strong Action Plan Working -- McGuinty Government On Track to Eliminate Deficit ”). Duncan, if you recall, was just launching his attack on public sector collective bargaining.

A record drop in public sector jobs?

Much was  made by the  media  and others in the  chattering classes of the "record" drop in public sector employment reported in the July Labour Force survey by Statistics Canada last week. So, are public sector workers facing a fall? For Ontario, the figures show a drop of 23,600 in  public sector employment.  That's a drop of  1.7% compared to the previous month, certainly a significant one-month drop (although slightly less than the Canada-wide decline of 2%). But shake a few grains of salt on this monthly data.  Over the last three years, the trend is no growth rather than decline.  Since August 2010, Ontario public sector employment has stayed flat, hovering around 1.34 million, sometimes up a percent or two, sometimes down. The Labour Force figures can move about significantly on a month by month basis, even while the trend is flat.  In July 2011, public sector employment fell 22,800 over the previous month  but this did not signal a trend -- public