News and Events

Queensway Carleton Hospital – Member Update (June 28, 2024)

The following contains important information in regards to Article 14.06 in our central agreement and partial shift premium interpretation.

Article 14.06 specifically touches upon call-in premium by saying “where a regular PT or FT nurse is called in to work outside their regularly scheduled hours”.  The interpretation of this language isn’t readily available in our contract the facts are being pulled from a recent arbitration decision between the ONA and TOH. The arbitrator ruled that partial shifts that are posted by the hospital will be paid at double time.

What is a partial shift and when will double time apply?

• A partial shift is a part of a shift on your unit. If your unit is exclusively 12 hours if anything less than a 12 hour shift is posted it will be double time. If you are a mix of 8s and 12s then anything less than an 8 hour shift that is posted on that unit will trigger the double time premium.
• If a 12 hour shift is posted on Vocantas and you bid on it and offer to only work a partial shift it will NOT trigger the premium. (Ex your unit is only 12 hour shifts, a QB is posted and you only bid on the DE portion). Therefore, you can still bid and offer to work a partial tour but it will not trigger the double time premium.
• If you are called at home and MANDATED to come into work it is at double time for any hours you are mandated.
• If you are mandated to extend your shift when you are already at work it is only 1.5 time.

Ways you will see this reflected in shift offers:

• The hospital can, but most likely will stop posting partial shifts on Vocantas since these will be awarded at double time.
• If you request partial shift vacation this will most likely be denied since the hospital will not want to post the partial shift.
  • Requesting a full shift off will have a higher chance of being granted.
  • If you have a medical appointment, you can request vacation for your full shift off, or ask your manager to give you unpaid leave (and have bank time paid out if you have any) or switch shifts with a coworker. You can still request a partial shift vacation but this might not be granted due to the new premium rules.

This might be difficult to adjust to at first however it also helps to keep the hospital accountable to grant full shift vacations and post proper full shifts.

If you have any questions, or further concerns please reach out to Merissa, Ganen or Laura. Remember if you feel you are missing double time from a shift you only have 9 CALENDAR days from the shift occurrence to file a grievance.

Bargaining Unit President Merissa Pyke local084bup750@ona.org

Queensway Carleton Hospital – Member Update (June 21, 2024)

The following contains important information in regards to shift cancellations or being sent home due to above quota and your rights.

1. You receive a call at home or you are informed that your upcoming shift is cancelled.
   1. For FT staff – you need 48 hours notice before the scheduled shift, any less and you will be paid time and a half on your next scheduled shift as per 14.12. Let staffing know this. If the change isn’t made let your manager know that you will be filling out a grievance fact sheet.
   2. For PT staff or casuals that are scheduled on the pre-posted 6-week schedule.  You need 24 hours notice before the scheduled shift.
2. While you are at work you are told your unit is above quota and staff need to be sent home.
   1. Staff will first be asked if anyone wants to take vacation.  YOU DON’T HAVE TO TAKE VACATION. This is on a voluntary basis.
   2. If no one takes vacation and staff need to be sent home, first to be sent home will be the PRIMARY CASUAL nurses.  These are nurses that have casual status within the hospital (not nurses who own PT or FT lines and have casual status on your unit.)
   3. If there are no casual nurses on the unit working then the hospital will move onto PT or FT staff.  Your options can be found under the Central Agreement article 10.09 b)i):
      1. Accept the layoff (you don’t have to accept, you can move onto one of the following steps, you also don’t have to take vacation.)
      2. Elect to transfer to a vacant position, provided they are qualified to perform the available work (Float where there is a shortage.)
      3. Displace the least senior nurse in the bargaining unit whose work they are qualified to perform (this is the least senior nurse in the HOSPITAL whose work you are qualified to do.)

If you are approached, please make sure you know your rights.

If you are denied your choice, please let your manager know that you will be grieving it and fill out a grievance fact sheet to submit to Ganen or Laura within 9 calendar days.

“Bumping” is a “thing” in these situations.  If you are told it is not and denied bumping rights then please inform your manager that you will be grieving it and fill out a grievance fact sheet to submit to Ganen or Laura within 9 calendar days.

If you are PT or FT and a casual nurse with the hospital is allowed to stay at work while you are sent home, please fill out a grievance fact sheet.

Article 14.12 applies if you are PT and a shift is cancelled within 24 hours of its scheduled start time

Article 14.12 applies if you are FT and a shift is cancelled within 48 hours of its scheduled start time.

Article 10.09 (Layoff) applies if you are PT/FT and your shift is cancelled before the 24/48 hour window or after the shift has started.

Bargaining Unit President Merissa Pyke local084bup750@ona.org

Queensway Carleton Hospital – Member Update (April 9, 2024)

Hello members! I was lucky enough to attend our Provincial Leadership Meeting on March 26-28 in Toronto. Here were some highlights:

• Transparent bargaining is coming to Hospital sector for central negotiations! This will allow more correspondence and discussion between the ONA Central Bargaining team and our members.  Stay tuned for more information.
• Please continue to fill out workload forms and submit to your unit reps, ONA has a new team that helps specifically to follow up on workloads.
• Interesting information around some American states and British Columbia that implemented legislation for safe nursing ratios for patient care.
• The next Provincial Coordinators Meeting will be held June 11-12 in Ottawa and I will be looking to take some of our interested unit reps to view the meeting. More details to come mid May.

Welcome to our new unit reps!

Tyler Watt – A4

Jayme D’Entremont – D4

Zephanie Reeves – Park Place

Amber Lamothe – Day Stay and PACU

Jessica Beachum – AmbCare and Endo

Leanne Gray -B2

We still need reps for C4, ACE and A3! Please step up and support your members!

An expression of interest has also been released for JOHSC reps for Park Place and QCH. Please ask your unit rep for more information.

Workloads:

Please fill out workloads so we can bring them up at HAC, ask your unit rep for help if you are unsure. Workloads can cover staffing challenges (ratios), inability to provide safe patient care due to heavy workloads.  We are working with reps to have workload examples provided on the unit for frequently occurring issues.  Please follow up with your unit rep.

Grievances:

Please ask your unit rep for guidance to complete a grievance.  We continue to look for grievances regarding mandating and reassignment (floating) consecutive shifts.  Also working partial tour grievance (4 or 8 hours) please follow up with unit reps for more information.  Grievances need to be brough up to your manager and the union within 9 DAYS of the occurrence.

Nursing Week (May 6-12):

Our QCH ONA rep has been working hard on some surprises for our members, stay tuned!

Bargaining Unit President Merissa Pyke local084bup750@ona.org

Queensway Carleton Hospital and Park Place – Join the Joint Occ Health and Safety Committee!

We are in need of 1 member each for our Queensway Carleton Hospital and Park Place Joint Occ Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC.)

As a member of JOHSC your time will be paid for by the hospital and inspections are expected to be conducted during work hours.  You will be provided with training and working with a buddy at each site (Laura Gale at QCH and Julissa Edgar at Park Place.)

You will be assisting your team with the following:

• Injuries
• Violence prevention.
• Form 7s.
• Incident reports.
• Inspections and inspection report backs.
• Renovation and new construction planning.
• Risk Assessments.

Please submit your Expression of Interest by May 1, 2024 to L84LV750@ona.org.

In your Expression of Interest please include: Name, Address, Phone Number, Email, Unit and Site (PP or QCH, you must be permanent at the site you are applying to), ONA Membership # and briefly explain why you are interested in the position and any experience you might have that would contribute to JOHSC.

Queensway Carleton Hospital – Join our team!

After our exciting fall election our union is still in need of members. Here are the positions we are still in need of and a brief summary of expected duties:

Unit Reps for A4, A3, ACE, C4, D4, PACU, Day Stay, Endo, Amb Care and clinics, Park Place, Birth Unit, MBU and SCN.

• Send monthly updates to Exec about your unit (floating complaints, scheduling problems, scheduling concerns etc.)
• Refer unit member questions to the appropriate exec member.
• Direct new members to our website and Facebook group.

Workload and Professional Responsibility Rep

• One more person to work with Areta.
• Collect completed workload reports from members or unit reps.
• Summarize workloads and help to recognize trends.

Please submit your Expression of Interest by February 16, 2024 to local084bup750@ona.org.

In your Expression of Interest please include: Position of Interest, Name, Address, Phone Number, Email, Unit, ONA Membership # and briefly explain why you are interested in the position.

We are also still looking for a PT negotiating committee rep.  The expression of interest for this position will be sent out as bargaining approaches with lots of notice.

We hope that this upcoming year will have lots of member involvement and education! Access ONA has free workshops offered to help you succeed in your position and you can reach out to your BUP prior to taking a workshop to see if we can reimburse you for your time.  We also hope to have active members attend ONA conferences this year.

Queensway Carleton Hospital – Health and Safety News (January 24, 2024)

Hello all,

I am a new Health & Safety rep so I attended a workshop today that I signed up for through Access ONA (the online portal) called Health and Safety: What you need to know.

I think it is important to share some of the key points. Please know that you can reach out to me or Laura Gale if you have questions related to health & safety at QCH. We can also help you navigate problems with workplace violence and harassment.

• All employees are legally required to report unsafe or potentially hazardous working conditions. Usually the first person step would be to take concerns to your unit manager. If you are dealing with verbal aggression or intimidation then the first step is to tell the individual to stop. It is strongly suggested but not required to report issues in writing. I would recommend using the RL system so there is a paper trail.
• If you are injured at work you should seek medical attention (you have the right to choose where) and complete a WSIB Form 6 as soon as possible. This form provides WSIB with your account of the events and then they will follow up with the employer. If you obtain medical care the treating MD/NP will need to complete a Form 8.
• Issues that are not resolved through JOHSC are escalated to the Ministry of Labour. If you encounter a critical health and safety concern that needs to be addressed immediately you have the right to call the MoL directly to report.
• The hospital is legally unable to reprimand you for reporting safety concerns (section 50 of OHSA).
• You are always entitled to have an ONA rep present when meeting with the employer to discuss or report issues regarding health & safety, violence and harassment. ONA advises members never to sign a non-disclosure agreement as this would prevent you from accessing support from ONA related to these issues.

Health and Safety Committee Rep Julissa Edgar edgar.julissa@gmail.com

Queensway Carleton Hospital – Member Update (January 19, 2024)

1. I have physical copies of the Central Agreement, I am waiting for our Local Agreements to come in and will drop off in break rooms. The agreements are both available on VIP, ONA website and the ONA app which is really great to have on your phone. If you need a hard copy urgently reach out to me and I can bring for you at work.
2. The seniority list will be posted under the communication center of VIP (coming soon, not up yet.)
3. I have reached out to HR about getting vacation quotas on the VIP vacation planners, they are working on it and have to wait for a system update. Currently there is no date when this will be available so managers have been instructed to post on bulletin boards on units and to communicate this at huddle.
4. I am planning on addressing Vocantas concerns and having a meeting with staffing and the LROs in regards to our concerns. Please keep posting on the Facebook thread if you have further concerns and I will compile to bring forward. This might still be a month or two out as I am busy getting settled in the position but I recognize it is a priority.
5. If you have reached out to the team and haven’t received an answer in 3 days please follow up, we’re getting emails set up and things might end up in junk mail.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Bargaining Unit President Merissa Pyke local084bup750@ona.org

Welcome to our new Local team!

A big welcome to all of our new Local 84 executive team members starting their positions on Jan. 1, 2024. We look forward to working with you in advocating for our members!