Long Term Care Wage for RN

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I'm a new grad and I'm currently working as part time at a nursing home and my hourly pay is 26 plus in lieu of benifit 8.5%, which is less than the ona wage standard. The place I work has ona representive and the collective contract says to pay entre level RN $26+ 8.5% lieu of benifit. I'm just wondering why we are with the union and we get paid less? We pay a huge union fee every month and the hourly rate is much less than others. I think this nursing home is privately owned, does that make a difference?

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

If the collective agreement says entry level RNs are paid $26 + 8.5% in lieu of benefits, and you're a new grad being apid $26 + 8.5% in lieu of benefits, I don't see the issue. They're paying you what the contract says to pay you. If your workplace is privately-owned they will have probably negotiated the collective agreement separately from the publicly-owned facilities and the agreements will be different . The facility only has to abide by the conditions it agreed to in negotiations, which it appears to be doing. If you didn't have union representation, you could be making $20 an hour with NO benefits, or some other heinous conditions. You need to find a copy of your facility's collective agreement and educate yourself on what it allows and doesn't allow FOR YOUR WORKPLACE. What the rest of the workplaces around you have doesn't matter until the next time your contract is up for negotiations. That's when you collectively can change things.

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Thank you for the reply. I think my problem is I don't understand how union works. Because we are all under the same union and pay same amount of union dues.It's with ONA and ONA has a stander for RN wages, how come their contract doesn't follow the stander? I've being to other homes and they offered me 29.36 and they are under ONA.

At first I thought this 26 thing is a mistake, because the union rep told me to show her my offer, if this is mistake they can fix it. But when I saw the contract I knew that's what I will get.:(

I'm not complaining about it, but I want to know how union works, how come it allows the employer to pay nurses less than the minimum wage for RN that they posted?

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

I've explained that. Publicly-run facilities (provincially-owned and operated) bargain as a unit, a single entity called a central table. They have one contract that covers all the facilities in the group, although there can still be local conditions that only affect a single facility. Then there are the others, the privately-owned surgical centres, the nursing homes, homes for the aged and so on. They may have a bargaining unit or they may bargain on their own. In Ontario, there are 139 hospitals and facilities at the central table and 11 non-participating facilities. These separate tables include Homewood, Lakeridge Allied, Shouldice, James Bay General, Tillsonburg District, Chapleau Clerical, McCall, PMH Radiation Technology, London Health Sciences Allied, York Central and Strathroy Middlesex. All of these entities bargain indvidually and their contracts are different from the main contract. There will also be different contracts for NPs working in the same facilities. There are separate tables for public health, for community care and for clinics and industry. You can go to Ontario Nurses' Association - ONA Members and click on any of the groups on the list to the right side of the page and read the collective agreements for all 150 facilities and the separate tables; there are many similarities but there are also many differences between them.

I had a look at a random selection of current collective agreements between ONA and hospitals, nursing homes and homes for the aged. I found a range of starting rates for RNs. Hospitals at the central table start at $29.36 an hour. Nursing homes start at $26.32 although one, Chateau Park, starts at $27.47. Many of the homes for the aged appear to be part of the hospital group, starting at $29.36, but Timmins Golden Manor has a starting rate of $27.93. So as you can see, ONA does NOT have a single standard wage for RNs. Each contract, between each facility and the province, has a specific starting rate. Yours is $26.32. That's what they pay, it's what you accepted when you accepted the job. The union is not "allowing employers topay less than the minimum rate for RN" at all. All RNs starting at your LTC will start at the same rate and will receive wage increments at the same intervals. RNs who started working at, for example, North Centennial Manor (a home for the aged) will be paid $29.36 the same as RNs in hospitals while RNs starting at any of the Versa facilities will be paid $26.32.

Most of these contracts expire in March 2011 and there will be negotiations beginning probably in January. You need to speak to your local president and learn about your union. You need to understand what it does and what it doesn't do. Get involved.

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Specializes in Geriatrics/Retirement Residence.
We pay a huge union fee every month...

Sorry to bug you, as a future RN I'm really curious to know how much do you have to pay in union fees? :o It it like a set amount, or is a certain percentage of you salary?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTC/Geriatric.
Sorry to bug you, as a future RN I'm really curious to know how much do you have to pay in union fees? :o It it like a set amount, or is a certain percentage of you salary?

Depends on your provincial collective agreement. I believe that BCNU members pay 2% of there strait time wages in dues per cheque.

This as opposed to the union I belong to (HEU) :rolleyes: that charges 2.2% on total gross wages including overtime and shift differentials. :mad:

However, I certainly am happy to have union representation. Especially after reading some the horror stories from those not in a union. Constant fear of termination, having to negotiate your own wage/raises. Being "written up" for being sick or absent more than twice in a 6 month period, having to start early/stay after shift and not be paid for it....

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I've explained that. Publicly-run facilities (provincially-owned and operated) bargain as a unit, a single entity called a central table. They have one contract that covers all the facilities in the group, although there can still be local conditions that only affect a single facility. Then there are the others, the privately-owned surgical centres, the nursing homes, homes for the aged and so on.

Thank your for this reply, it's really detailed and now I understand. My representative is so busy I hardly see her, but I'll study the contract first.

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Sorry to bug you, as a future RN I'm really curious to know how much do you have to pay in union fees? :o It it like a set amount, or is a certain percentage of you salary?

ONA's union dues are summarized in the table in this link

http://www.ona.org/ona_members/members_faq_and_tutorials/dues_and_membership.html

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Specializes in Geriatrics/Retirement Residence.
ONA's union dues are summarized in the table in this link

http://www.ona.org/ona_members/members_faq_and_tutorials/dues_and_membership.html

Thanks :), Idk why I haven't seen this page myself!:rolleyes:

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