The Ford government suggests it must reduce the real wages of hospital workers via Bill 124, and now even proposes to appeal the court decision that found the legislation unconstitutional. However, no such need exists - quite the opposite. Spending on compensation has been shrinking as a portion of hospital budgets for many years. The result of this shrinkage? The short staffing, workplace violence, staff burn-out, and falling real wages that are currently hobbling hospitals. Spending on compensation has consistently declined as a percentage of total hospital spending in Ontario: Data source: CIHI, Provincial/territorial hospital spending by type of expense, province/territory and Canada (excluding Quebec and Nunavut) , The decline in compensation is not something intrinsic to modern hospitals. The experience in Ontario is in stark contrast with the experience in the rest of Canada. For provinces and territories other than Ontario, compensation is increasing as a share of total
Notes from Leftwords -- Doug Allan