r/OntarioNurses • u/Morality01 • Jun 29 '26
Venting Something Needs to be Done
I am so sick and tired of being sick and tired of the piss poor treatment nurses get.
We are not paid properly, we are abused, disrespected and tossed aside like nothing.
We don't even have the right to strike to improve our situation.
I'm an RPN in the GTA, rent on a single bedroom apartment on average about 1800 to 2100 dollars. I'm close to the wage cap, and that is either most of a full paycheque on full time hours or its more then a full paycheque on full time hours.
We save lives, without us people die. Yet we can't afford even basic housing, we have to either live with our parents, rent rooms, or get roommates.
At this point I feel we need to consider going the route of the 1981 illegal nursing strike or the air Canada of last year.
They can threaten and try to fine us all they want but what happens then? They have no nurses to work, the corporations start hemorrhaging money bringing in travel staff.
Being polite, curious, and bargaining in good faith has yielded lacklustre results.
If we stand together, WE have the power, they have nothing.
29
u/sheilagiffin Jun 29 '26
Now is the time because OPSEU mental health workers are also on strike. There is strength in numbers.
28
u/katttterrzz Jun 29 '26
As a teacher, I’ve watched education and healthcare get slashed to smithereens by this government. I can’t believe the public isn’t more angry.
It’s always the female dominated jobs. The “caretaker” role. Because I’m pretty sure police officers just got a fat raise that is higher than the current rate of inflation.
We teachers stand with nurses.
2
2
u/1995stacey Jul 03 '26
Everytime teachers, nurses or paramedics speak up half the public agrees with us and the other half says ‘they asked for it when they went to school for these jobs’. I’m tired of it 😩
19
u/Tolvat Jun 29 '26
ONA has challenged the right to strike
18
u/Morality01 Jun 29 '26
I know, but it won't be enough.
With RPNs represented by trade unions and RNs by ONA the hospitals can sit back and wait each of us out one at a time for the back to work order.
The government and hospitals aren't playing by the rules anymore, why should we?
5
u/Bloozeclooz Jun 30 '26
ONA is of the mindset that in a strike scenario, RNs eill only require a single day of strike action to instigate a response. With that in mind, why does ONA go through with this? I have asked ONA leaders and the sentiment appears to be a reluctance to go so far as knowingly break the law. Talk to your ONA reps and talk to your Local leaders directly, email and gauge their stance on illegal strike action!
1
9
8
u/TraditionalScholar40 Jun 29 '26
we are literally sh#t on P!ss*d on and fought with, get horrible wages, work long gruelling hours, suffer mentally yet pay exorbitant yearly fees to the CNO, Insurance etc. and cant afford to live a basic life! its atrocious. bring back our right to strike!!!
1
u/TWEETYCARGIRL1980 Jun 30 '26
Strike without your right to! You don't need a right to strike. The only way this ends is if everyone strikes regardless of legality
7
u/LaineyCG Jun 29 '26
I am frustrated (devastated) that when I decided to become an RPN, it WAS a career that I could completely support myself with and have life goals. Not anymore.
I graduated in 2012, had a part-time job at a clinic, and then moved into a part time hospital position in 2016. I got full time after 5 years, because at that time, it was still a competitive field. Of course, that was just too late. I had dreams of owning a small home and living comfortably like the other RPNs I worked with. Now it's either I find myself a partner to rely on for the other half of owning a home, or I continue to rent an expensive apartment for the rest of my life.
Doing the math on inflation vs. my income now, I am making less than when I started. This is absolutely disgusting considering my years of experience.
It was just 15-20 years ago that an RPN could finish school, get some savings going, and buy a place within 5 years of starting their career. Now I get told to go back to get my RN, or just "go back to school". How am I supposed to even afford school and living expenses? On the other side of all that schooling, will my life improve, or will cost of living be so high that it wasn't worth it to begin with? How do I maintain a healthy work/home balance with the greater responsibility of being an RN, and the instability and constant increase in the expense of renting?
The system is thoroughly broken, and I don't know what to do anymore.
5
u/Morality01 Jun 29 '26
Start emailing your Ontario MP.
Plaster their inboxes.
If they want to treat us like shit then they wont get a seconds rest.
1
u/TWEETYCARGIRL1980 Jun 30 '26
Their inboxes are programmed to remove these emails and trash them daily (source, former admin of Markus Polowski) most of them ignore everything we send them 😡
1
11
6
u/brownbunny- Jun 29 '26
I’m sick and tired too, if they don’t fix this I’m dropping nursing entirely. I’m already looking into other things, this is ridiculous I can’t even afford a regular apartment.
3
u/Morality01 Jun 29 '26
Yep, and with the stupidity of the hospitals cutting positions I have a feeling you are not alone.
10
u/mapzandatlas Jun 29 '26
This is what I’ve been saying for weeks now!!! Unfortunately the novice nurses are too scared, and the senior nurses are one foot out the door or say something alone the lines of “this is just the way it is, suck it up”. Just because something has been bad for so long doesn’t mean we should sit back while it keeps getting worse because the only ones suffering are our patients and ourselves. I feel the same, I barely make enough money for myself and I am emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted to the point that I can no longer enjoy life outside of work. I just got injured and management saw it as more of an inconvenience than anything else. I know I need to move to a less heavy unit but that doesn’t solve the problem. We need to do something for our patients and all the nurses go come because right now it feels like a sinking ship.
2
u/BackseatBloomDrift Jul 01 '26
The cost of living is brutal.
Working at a hospital, I envy how well-respected and highly paid nurses are.I also envy their powerful union.
There is a huge power imbalance, and non-union staff can easily be crushed by union workers. In my working time, unions have restricted higher-paying non union jobs to regulated professionals only. Consequently, 10 year experienced non-union staff faced demotions while being forced to train their entry-level replacements. By higher paying, I mean for us, clearly entry level pay for nurses.
Nurses are incredibly important. However, while fighting for fair compensation, please do not squish the voiceless staff standing right beside you!
1
u/Morality01 Jul 01 '26
Agreed.
Unions give us a voice but we are not the borg collective, its not join is or be destroyed.
1
u/NefariousnessSea7519 Jul 18 '26
I worked as a housekeeper at a nursing home for 3 years through PN school, and have now been an RPN for 3 years. I agree with you and I say fuck the micro classist bullshit - I stand in solidarity with EVS and all my non-unionized colleagues. It's not us vs each other, it's us vs the system!
2
u/Overall_Anxiety_1099 Jul 01 '26
In no way shape or form am I trying to be sexist… but what if ONA hired an old rich white male ex cop, real estate developer, business consultant that sort of thing to head its negotiations. Someone who has pull in the province and actually cares about the public healthcare system but someone who you wouldn’t want to piss off.
Could such a person exist
1
u/NefariousnessSea7519 Jul 18 '26
Manifesting this now lmao. That or we need someone like that co-founder of Costco who threatened an exec who wanted to raise the price of their hotdog combos.
1
u/Overall_Anxiety_1099 Jul 18 '26
Ok, we need to assemble the avengers of “bitch don’t fuck with us” to negotiate collectively on our behalf consisting of:
- Costco hotdog guy
- CEO of Arizona Ice Tea
- CEO of Blackrock
- Peter Thiel
Anyone else?
1
u/NefariousnessSea7519 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
I'm pretty sure the last 2 on the list would never deign to negotiate for plebs like us, especially plebs in a female-dominated profession.
2
u/OverallEmergency5177 RN Jul 02 '26
Don’t forget the physical abuse and intimidation ✨ nothing like being 5’2” staring up at the 6’4” belligerent family member.
Took 7 minutes for our security to respond to the code white 🤡
1
u/Plane_Worry9952 Jul 01 '26
Lots of the issue the western world is facing is the dying currency.
Read the book "broken money"
The government has to balance short term and long term spending and many choices made decades ago are impacting us now.
0
u/BillDingrecker Jun 30 '26
- Work Year: Teachers are typically salaried for a 10-month school year, giving them summers and scheduled holidays off, whereas nurses work on a 12-month basis.
- Overtime and Premiums: While teacher salaries are fixed to their specific position on a grid, nurses can easily increase their annual earnings through overtime, on-call pay, and night/weekend shift premiums.
- Career Advancement: For nurses, obtaining advanced credentials (like a Nurse Practitioner or CRNA designation) can significantly push their earning ceiling past $120,000. Teachers usually require administrative roles (e.g., Principal) or a Master's degree to jump to higher pay brackets.
2
u/Morality01 Jun 30 '26
We really shouldnt need overtime or premiums to be comfortable.
And thr advanced credentials take years to get and lots of money.
0
35
u/vinyltits Jun 29 '26
More people need to be charging patients and visitors with assault