It’s going to be a challenging year for the hospitals of South Bruce Grey Health Centre and pretty well all hospitals in Ontario when it comes to staff wages in 2011.
President and CEO Paul Davies says the provincial government is sticking by its guns that non-union staff will get no increase next year.
And union personnel are expected to follow suit.
But Davies says that hasn’t happened.
Contracts have gone to arbitration and salary increases have been awarded in some cases.
Davies says nevertheless, the government is not prepared to fund the increases.
So that means if the hospital has to pay the arbitrated wages they have to find the money themselves since by law — they must have a balanced budget at the end of each year.
Davies didn’t come right out and say ‘layoffs’ — but indicated that if the increases go through, then “less individuals will getting that amount of money.”
He says the whole system puts the hospital board up against the wall.
The South Bruce Grey Health Centre has 60 non-union personnel out of a 365-person workforce.
