nurse

A constitutional challenge has been launched over a labour law that restricts any form of job action, including a strike, by nurses in Ontario when trying to negotiate a new contract.

The Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act (HLDAA) was put in place in 1965.

The Act was intended to resolve contract disputes without disrupting essential healthcare services.

President of the Ontario Nurses Association Erin Ariss says it has allowed for a system that sidesteps meaningful collective bargaining.

“Instead, employers have relied on arbitrators to impose contracts that reinforce the status quo and consistently fail to address critical systemic issues like equal wages and understaffing,” says Ariss.

Ariss says the tipping point for them came with last year’s arbitrator-imposed contract that ignored the nurses’ demand for nurse-to-patient ratios.

“This followed more than 15 years without a negotiated settlement by hospital employers,” says Ariss.

More recently, bargaining for nursing homes broke down after only a couple of weeks when employers held firm on their negotiating position, leading to arbitration to decide on a contract.

The union also see HLDAA as a gender equality issue, given that more than 90% of workers impacted are women in a historically female-dominated profession.

“Recognition without respect is meaningless,” says Ariss.

“If the Ford government truly values nurses, it must do more than offer symbolic thanks. It’s time to confront the reality we are living every day and respect our right to the same collective power nurses across Canada have enshrined in our constitution.”