TORONTO — Registered nurses in Ontario hospitals will be getting a raise and better health benefits in a new, two-year contract that the hospitals complain is too generous, while the nurses say it's not enough.
An arbitration board has awarded the nurses a 1.4-per-cent wage increase in each year of the deal and better vision, hearing aid and dental implant coverage.
But the hospitals say in the award ruling that the deal is "too rich" for the Ontario government because the province's net debt is about $300 billion and its net-debt-to-GDP ratio is nearly 40 per cent.
The nurses, on the other hand, say they are "deeply discouraged" by the ruling, saying the increases won't keep up with inflation and that male-dominated professions such as police and firefighters have seen higher raises.
It also comes with higher shift premiums, a new minimum start rate for nurse practitioners and stronger language against violence in the workplace.
