Bill 124 Compensation: Fair treatment for SJHC and LHSC Research staff.
The Issue
UPDATE FEB 20, 2024
Lawson has confirmed that in addition to SJHC research staff being impacted by the inequitable compensation related to Bill 124, LHSC research staff are also impacted.
Both SJHC and LHSC research staff received a one-time lump sum payment, but not the corresponding Bill 124 wage increase that all other non-union hospital staff AND Lawson administration staff received. As such, research staff is losing out on wages from April 1st 2023 onwards.
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Who is impacted?
Approximately 300 non-union Lawson Research Institute (LRI) staff employed by St. Joseph's Health Care London (SJHC).
What is at stake?
Pay equity for ALL non-union SJHC research employees. The SJHC non-union "research staff" were informed by email on Friday Dec. 15, 2023, that they are not eligible for the retroactive wage increase that has been provided as of September 14, 2023, to the rest of the non-union staff at the hospital as part of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice overturning Bill 124, Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019. Instead, the research staff are being told they will only receive a one-time lump sum payment for the additional salary percentages awarded to the rest of the non-union staff for the years 2020 to 2022 affected by the Bill 124 wage restraint. The research staff believe that this is unfair treatment by our employer (SJHC) to award a salary increase to correct Bill 124 to the majority of the non-union staff at the hospital but not all. Therefore, we are launching this online petition to call upon the SJHC and LRI leadership to reconsider this decision and provide equal treatment regarding Bill 124 compensation to research staff.
In addition to this, that we believe is unfair treatment by our employer (SJHC), we are aware that the Lawson research administration staff who are employed by London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) were provided on May 26, 2023, with the same retroactive wage increase as the rest of the non-union staff at LHSC.
Why are the Lawson research administration staff employed by LHSC eligible for a retroactive wage increase but the Lawson research staff employed by SJHC are not?
Why is now the time to act?
Lawson research staff at SJHC have repeatedly been made to feel inferior to non-research staff at the hospital. These concerns were voiced at the Research Evolution forums held last year by SJHC and LHSC and we’ve been told that we were heard loud and clear. We deserve to be treated the same as all other SJHC employees and want to voice this opinion again. This unfair decision of giving a retroactive wage increase to all non-union SJHC employees except the research non-union staff does not seem like we have been heard loud and clear and is not good for employee morale. We were affected by Bill 124 wage restraints just like the rest of our peers and we deserve to be compensated accordingly.
Petition Closed
The Issue
UPDATE FEB 20, 2024
Lawson has confirmed that in addition to SJHC research staff being impacted by the inequitable compensation related to Bill 124, LHSC research staff are also impacted.
Both SJHC and LHSC research staff received a one-time lump sum payment, but not the corresponding Bill 124 wage increase that all other non-union hospital staff AND Lawson administration staff received. As such, research staff is losing out on wages from April 1st 2023 onwards.
-------------------
Who is impacted?
Approximately 300 non-union Lawson Research Institute (LRI) staff employed by St. Joseph's Health Care London (SJHC).
What is at stake?
Pay equity for ALL non-union SJHC research employees. The SJHC non-union "research staff" were informed by email on Friday Dec. 15, 2023, that they are not eligible for the retroactive wage increase that has been provided as of September 14, 2023, to the rest of the non-union staff at the hospital as part of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice overturning Bill 124, Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019. Instead, the research staff are being told they will only receive a one-time lump sum payment for the additional salary percentages awarded to the rest of the non-union staff for the years 2020 to 2022 affected by the Bill 124 wage restraint. The research staff believe that this is unfair treatment by our employer (SJHC) to award a salary increase to correct Bill 124 to the majority of the non-union staff at the hospital but not all. Therefore, we are launching this online petition to call upon the SJHC and LRI leadership to reconsider this decision and provide equal treatment regarding Bill 124 compensation to research staff.
In addition to this, that we believe is unfair treatment by our employer (SJHC), we are aware that the Lawson research administration staff who are employed by London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) were provided on May 26, 2023, with the same retroactive wage increase as the rest of the non-union staff at LHSC.
Why are the Lawson research administration staff employed by LHSC eligible for a retroactive wage increase but the Lawson research staff employed by SJHC are not?
Why is now the time to act?
Lawson research staff at SJHC have repeatedly been made to feel inferior to non-research staff at the hospital. These concerns were voiced at the Research Evolution forums held last year by SJHC and LHSC and we’ve been told that we were heard loud and clear. We deserve to be treated the same as all other SJHC employees and want to voice this opinion again. This unfair decision of giving a retroactive wage increase to all non-union SJHC employees except the research non-union staff does not seem like we have been heard loud and clear and is not good for employee morale. We were affected by Bill 124 wage restraints just like the rest of our peers and we deserve to be compensated accordingly.
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Petition created on January 5, 2024