London, Ont. healthcare workers rally against two tier healthcare, worry about burnout

Healthcare workers rallied at all three London, Ont. hospitals on April 27, 2023, to protest Bill 60. (File)

London, Ont. healthcare workers rallied against Bill 60 at all three London hospitals on Thursday afternoon.

OPSEU members gathered simultaneously at Victoria, University, and St. Joseph’s hospitals calling for an end to provisions in Bill 60 that will, according to union leaders, create a two tier healthcare system.

They believe it will further decimate staffing levels at publicly funded hospitals.

“The fear is that they're actually going to poach us as healthcare workers out of the public system by dangling some nice, nice wages for us at the beginning,” said Steve McCaw, OPSEU Local 106 President. “And then again, we'll have a hard time replacing the staff. We are in a critical shortage of staff right now as it is,” he added.

Victoria and University hospitals are under the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) network. The organization told CTV News it has taken steps in the past year to address the nurse shortage.

“One such measure includes an enhancement to overtime pay – from time-and-a half (wage times 1.5) to double time (wage times 2) – that we introduced in November 2022 to meet the demand,” explained LHCS’s Human Resources and Workforce Wellness Executive Julia Marchesan.

That increases nurses’ overtime pay by 33 per cent.

LHCS said they carried the incentive past flu season because hospital staffing shortages are ongoing in London and across the country.

“The enhancement is still in effect and will be reviewed periodically,” Marchesan added.

McCaw fears this could lead to rapid burnout.

"We've already gone through that. It's just continuing on,” he told CTV News.

However, Marchesan said there is no expectation that nurses pick up extra shifts.

“We know that each person will have different needs and obligations both at work and outside of work, and different capacities to accept overtime,” she added. “We strongly encourage all staff to pay close attention to their own physical and mental health when deciding on whether to work overtime or not.”

McCaw believes a long term solution would be to hire permanent positions for departments that are suffering.

"They're withholding the dollars," he said.