The Ontario Nurses’ Association and the Ontario Hospital Association are back in arbitration Wednesday after contract negotiations broke down once again—this time over the push to implement nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in hospitals.
The ONA, which represents more than 60,000 hospital-sector nurses, said the latest round of bargaining ended without a deal and criticized the repeated failure of talks with hospital employers.
“Round after round of bargaining for our hospital-sector nurses ends this way,” said Erin Ariss, a registered nurse and ONA’s provincial president. “It’s both unacceptable and infuriating to ONA and those who are the backbone of patient care.”
The union said nurses across Ontario have held escalating public demonstrations in recent weeks to highlight what it describes as their top bargaining priority: the establishment of mandatory nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.
The arbitration hearing, led by arbitrator Sheri Price, is scheduled to conclude Thursday. A decision will follow in the coming months.
ONA has argued that nurse-to-patient ratios—policies that set a maximum number of patients per registered nurse—are essential to improving care quality, reducing complications, and retaining staff. The union said it opposes what it called a “just-in-time” staffing model favoured by hospital administrators, likening it to practices used in manufacturing.
“It’s horrifying that our government and hospital CEOs view nurses as nothing but an expense,” Ariss said. “Staffing ratios not only improve patient care, they help retain nurses and save the health-care system much-needed funding dollars.”
ONA represents more than 68,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates, across a range of settings including hospitals, long-term care homes, clinics, and community care.
