An interest arbitration board has awarded a two-year collective agreement to Groves Memorial Community Hospital and Unifor Local 1106, including 3% general wage increases in each year and special wage adjustments for registered practical nurses and skilled trades workers.
The hospital, located in Fergus, Ont., is part of the Wellington Health Care Alliance and provides comprehensive health care services including emergency, surgical, and obstetrical care. The bargaining unit represents approximately 160 service employees working as RPNs, personal support workers, pharmacy technicians, housekeeping aides, dietary aides, and tradespersons.
The collective agreement expired March 31, 2024. After negotiations in 2024 and 2025, the parties reached agreement on several issues but submitted outstanding compensation matters to arbitration.
Wage increases and special adjustments
The board awarded 3% general wage increases effective April 1, 2024, and April 1, 2025, finding these “highly normative among the relevant comparators for the years we are dealing with here.”
The union sought a $4.80 per hour wage adjustment for RPNs to address recruitment and retention issues. The union pointed to high numbers of job postings in 2025, short tenure among nurses, and high overtime levels in 2024 and 2025. The union also cited higher RPN wage rates at other hospitals.
The employer opposed the adjustment, noting RPNs received a $2.18 per hour increase in September 2023 to address recruitment and retention problems. The employer argued much of the union’s evidence predated that adjustment and said the 2025 postings were for temporary and casual positions covering short-term absences.
The board awarded a $1.00 per hour wage adjustment for RPNs effective Oct. 1, 2025. “Taking all of the relevant factors into account – not only recruitment and retention, but also comparability and replication, among the other criteria – we find that a $1.00 wage adjustment for RPNs effective October 1, 2025 is appropriate,” the board found. “This will bring the RPNs more in line with relevant comparators.”
For the four or five skilled trades employees, the union sought a $7.00 per hour adjustment, citing increased service requests, overtime requirements, and significantly higher wages at other hospitals. The employer said skilled trades workers spend significant time on general maintenance and argued it had no difficulty attracting and retaining these employees.
The board awarded a $0.50 per hour special wage adjustment for skilled trades effective April 1, 2024, before application of the general wage increase. “We are also persuaded that some catch-up is warranted for skilled trades employees, whose wages lag those at relevant comparators, including hospitals in close proximity to this one,” the board found.
Premium pay for mentorship and preceptorship
The union sought $2.00 per hour premiums for both mentorship and preceptorship duties. The collective agreement has included mentorship language since 2009 but without associated premium pay.
The board awarded a $2.00 per hour preceptorship premium, finding the provision “has become standard among relevant comparators.” The premium applies when nurses supervise nursing students in accordance with College of Nurses of Ontario professional standards.
For mentorship, the board introduced a $1.00 per hour premium. The employer had acknowledged hospitals normally pay premiums for these duties but argued rates should start lower before reaching the top of the range.
Partial dissents filed
Both the union and employer nominees filed partial dissents.
The union nominee said the wage adjustments should have been greater based on recruitment, retention, and comparability arguments. The nominee also said the mentorship premium should have matched the $2.00 preceptorship premium “since the mentorship premium language was already in the collective agreement.”
The employer nominee disagreed with the classification adjustments, arguing they did not replicate a freely negotiated agreement. “The Employer’s recruitment/retention evidence was compelling and supported a finding that classification adjustments were not warranted for the two classifications,” the nominee wrote.
The employer nominee also noted North Wellington Health Care, part of the same alliance, voluntarily settled its collective agreement renewal with OPSEU without similar adjustments. “Unfortunately, this Award will likely give rise to the kind of whipsawing and leapfrogging that arbitrators and adjudicators often attempt to avoid,” the nominee wrote.
The collective agreement runs from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2026. The board remains seized under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act.
See the full text of the ruling here: Groves Memorial Community Hospital v Unifor, on Behalf of Unifor Local 1106, 2026 CanLII 225 (ON LA)
