The President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) is asking the Auditor General of Canada, Karen Hogan, to catalog the number of nurses under private contract across the country who do the same work as their counterparts in the public networks while being much better paid.
Posted at 6:20 a.m.
Union leader Linda Silas also offers Ms.me Hogan to conduct the review with auditors from each province to find out the average pay rates for agency nurses in each jurisdiction. She points out that contract nurses are ultimately paid with public funds, even if they work for private agencies.
In her letter to Karen Hogan, Linda Silas, who has chaired the CFNU for 19 years, writes that the astronomical increase in the use of nurses employed by private agencies in recent years threatens the sustainability of the public health system. There are currently several thousand vacancies as provinces and territories struggle to establish appropriate retention and recruitment strategies.
Yan Michaud, spokesperson for the auditor general, said Linda Silas’ letter was received Thursday, but it was too early to respond.
The federation also intends to ask nurses to answer a survey on the reasons why they work for agencies or would consider doing so. Besides salary, benefits can include flexible hours and greater mobility, while downsides can be a lack of benefits or job security.
Aman Grewal, president of a nurses’ union in British Columbia, says many health care nurses welcome agency counterparts who can lighten heavy workloads, even though the pay gap can be a source of pain. division.
She adds that union members may receive significantly higher pay as private contractors than as nurses, sometimes $25 more per hour, and those trained in emergency care may also prefer the job. independence offered in remote communities.
Aman Grewal says work-life balance is one of the main reasons nurses leave their jobs for contract work.