Defend Public Healthcare

The proposed public sector "compensation restraint"   legislation floated on Wednesday by the Liberals is neatly silent on whether the government will impose contract concessions on 500,000 working people. The government consistently talks of a "compensation freeze" or "compensation restraint".  Obligingly, the media has usually repeated that framing of the issue, as if it were the main bone of contention between the government and the unions. But actions speak louder than words and it it is quite clear from the terms the government is actually imposing on school board workers (through Bill 115) that contract concessions  rather than a contract freeze is what the government has in mind. While I will leave it to the lawyers to have the final word on the proposed legislation, the government's proposed Respecting Collective Bargaining Act 2012  artfully leaves the framework of the contracts to be imposed undefined.  The "mandates" that

Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak has kept his powder dry and has reframed from personally criticizing the Liberals' proposed public sector labour legislation. Or even commenting on it.   Instead, he sent out Monte McNaughton , who faulted the proposed legislation with a variety of vague criticisms:   the legislation "is clearly lacking teeth" and exempts too many workers,  McGuinty "is taking a weak approach," and "doesn't have the courage to make tough decisions". But McNaughton did not say the PCs would actually vote against the bill.   Hudak's absence and McNaughton's refusal to say the PCs will oppose the legislation, make it look like the PCs are open to some sort of a deal with the Liberals. They had better watch out -- the Liberal labour strategy has led the Liberals to a sudden, sharp drop in the election polls. So it may not be a winning strategy for the PCs to twin up with the Liberals on it.  The Liberals wil

Dwight Duncan claimed yesterday that compared to the belt-tightening endured by workers in the private sector, his legislation restricting collective bargaining in the public sector "is tame stuff". Sounds like a claim worth investigating. Wages are the most important single item bargained -- for both workers and employers. So it's a pretty good way to compare outcomes for different sorts of workers. According to Ontario Ministry of Labour own data, public sector and private sector workers have done about the same in collective bargaining. In 2010, private sector annual wage settlements averaged 2.0%, while the public sector averaged 1.9%. In 2011, the private sector averaged 1.9% versus the public's sector's 1.6%. So far this year (January through July) both public sector and private sector have averaged 1.7%. Compounded, the private sector is actually 0.4% ahead of the game. Duncan, perhaps might claim that if you went back more than the last

No surprise here -- but the bosses of the for-profit corporations that provide long term care and home care services funded by the public sector are excluded from the Protecting Public Services  legislation proposed today by the Liberal government (as set out in schedule 1 of the Public Sector Compensation Restraint Act, 2012 ) . Also no surprise -- the unionized employees who work  for those bosses at for-profit long-term care and home care businesses don't get any such exclusion (as set out in schedule 1 of the  Respecting Collective Bargaining Act [Public Sector], 2012 ) . They, like other publicly funded workers, are free only to agree to terms and conditions pre-determined by government.

The owners of the Shouldice Hosptial may sell the eight hectares of land that the hospital sits upon. Centric, the prospective buyers of Shouldice Hospital, say they will likely move to a new location after the four year lease is up.  "I think the vendors possibly have other ideas for the property," Centric's Peter Walkey told the Toronto Star . Eight hectares is a lot of land and in condo crazy Toronto it also means a lot of money. If this was a public hospital, that cash (or the land itself)  would stay with the public, for the public's use. But when funding starts flowing to for-profit providers, private interests may prevail. Deb Matthew, the health minister, has to make a decision on the sale.  She wrote to the Star ,  "Our government is committed to public health care. ... No new private hospitals have been, or will be, considered in the future." But she didn't say she would prevent the sale of the Shouldice Hospital to a for profit corpo

Sudbury hospital officials expect the shortage of hospital beds in the city will force 4 surgeries a day to be cancelled.  Thirty have been cancelled this month. Dr. David Boyle, the hospital's medical director of surgical services told the CBC he's frustrated because his department has toiled away at reducing surgical wait lists. “We've worked hard over the last two years to improve all of our wait lists. We still have quite a lot of stressors on our wait list compared to the other parts of the province."   Boyle said the problem lies in the absence of a home care strategy for seniors. Earlier this year, the hospital (Health Sciences North) was forced to cut 30 beds. The government is expected to require the hospital to cut another 30 beds next March.   Meanwhile, Betty Kutcha, CEO, of the Erie-St. Clair Community Care Access Centre told the Chatham Daily News , that personal support home care is becoming more limited as the agency is required to direct its

It's not often that Ontario hospitals express opposition to government policy publicly. But the government's new cap on public sector executive pay of $418,000 (annually) has caused them to come out and release a public statement expressing their "extreme disappointment." "This is another example of the Government of Ontario and legislators devaluing the work and skills of hospital leaders, and those who lead Ontario's vital BPS organizations," the OHA noted. The Ontario Hospital Association notes that 'only' 77 hospital executives are paid more than $418,000. But don't worry too much about them, the cap will only apply to new executives -- and even for these new hires, the government has indicated that special exceptions can be made.  Moreover, the bosses aren't getting concessions imposed on them like the school board workers. Nevertheless, the hospital bosses must be angry -- their rather spirited statement isn't goi