Annual Report: July 1, 2007- June 30, 2008 - Ontario Nurses ...

Vision StatementOntario Nurses’ Association: Our Union.Respected. Strong. United.Committed to members who care for people.Mission StatementONA is a proactive union committed toimproving the economic welfare and qualityof worklife for our members, to enable themto provide high quality health care.Table of Contents2007-2008 Board......................................................................1President’s Message................................................................. 2CEO’s Message.......................................................................... 3Bargaining.................................................................................. 4The Year in Review...................................................................6Organizing................................................................................ 11Political Campaigns.................................................................12Education..................................................................................14Professional Issues...................................................................15Awards and Decisions............................................................ 16Long-Service Employees.........................................................18Financial Report...................................................................... 19ONA Provincial Office85 Grenville St., Ste. 400Toronto, ON M5S 3A2Tel: (416) 964-8833, toll-free 1-800-387-5580, press 0Fax: (416) 964-8864E-mail: onamail@ona.orgONA is the union representing 54,000 registered nurses andallied health professionals across Ontario working in hospitals,long-term care facilities, public health, community healthagencies and industriesOntario Nurses’ Association

ONA Board 2007-2008The 2007-2008 ONA Board of Directors, overlooking ParliamentHill in Ottawa in June 2008, are (left to right): Dianne Leclair,Karen MacDonald, Anne Clark, Andy Summers, Linda Haslam-Stroud, Vicki McKenna, Jeanne Soden.Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN, PresidentAnne Clark, RN, Vice-President Region 2Portfolio: Communications and Public Relations. It was another busy Portfolio: Labour Relations. Clark worked extensively identifying provincialtrends in labour relations. She also represented ONA in committeesyear for the President’s portfolio, with the media interview agendadominated by key issues such as nursing reductions and layoffs, “hallway”nursing, violence in the workplace, the nursing shortage and bar-member link to ONA’s All-Sector Strategy Bargaining Project Team.at the Ontario Federation of Labour and continued to serve as the Boardgaining. Demanding a minimum standard of care for long-term care Clark also began her work as the Board lead of ONA’s new Communityresidents, a moratorium on the competitive bidding process, and actionon the Dupont inquest recommendations figured prominently inCare Access Centres Network.Haslam-Stroud’s communications work this year, along with continuing Andy Summers, RN, Vice-President Region 3to liaise with government officials, allies, other stakeholders and nursingstudents.original nurses, ONA’s racialized members, gay, lesbian and transgen-Portfolio: Human Rights and Equity. Fostering opportunities for abderedmembers as well as disabled nurses and allied workers was the focusof Summers’ agenda. Highlights of the year included the LeadershipVicki McKenna, RN, First Vice-PresidentPortfolio: Political Action and Professional Issues. Dominating Development Program for targeted groups, the November HumanMcKenna’s work was participating in the planning and implementationof the Ontario Federation of Labour’s fiscal advisory working com-event, and the new Alliance of Human Rights and Equity representa-Rights and Equity Caucus and recommendations stemming from thatmittees, preparing members for the fall 2007 provincial election, workingwith our allies and other stakeholders on issues of common interest rights and equity agenda is more visible, which included enhancing thattives. Summers was also instrumental in ensuring that ONA’s humanrelating to ONA members’ practice and workplaces, participating in section on the ONA website and dedicating a column in each issue ofroundtables to develop strategies to better support members in the our membership publication Front Lines.use of the Professional Responsibility Clause, and sitting on variousexternal groups with the government in relation to health human resources.A highlight for McKenna was joining the Governor-General’s Portfolio: Finance. Leclair met with numerous Locals over the course ofDianne Leclair, RN, Vice-President Region 4Leadership Conference in June 2008 and travelling to Canada’s far the year to help prepare budgets and develop financial policies designednorth.to meet the needs of members while also meeting ONA’s accountability.She also helped spearhead yet another successful Treasurers’ Workshop inKaren MacDonald, RN, Vice-President Region 12008, the first using the “self-directed” learning approach. As the BoardPortfolio: Occupational Health and Safety. This was an action-packed lead for community care access centre (CCAC) restructuring, Leclair wasyear for MacDonald, as ONA demanded that employers and the governmenttake a stand against increasing violence in the workplace andvery active in the final representation vote of our CCAC campaign.provide other occupational health and safety protections, including Jeanne Soden, RN, Vice-President Region 5safe needles and N-95 respirators. MacDonald was also a key player in Portfolio: Education. Soden continued to support members in theirONA’s second annual occupational health and safety workshops at the education needs. As the Board lead on ONA’s Provincial Educationspring Area Coordinators Conferences and was named the Board lead Coordinating Team, Soden worked closely with the team this year inon ONA’s new Public Health Unit Network.the design of new workshops, the education calendar and the videoconferencingpilot project. Soden was also ONA’s representative on theOntario Federation of Labour’s Women’s Committee.A n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 81

Linda Haslam-Stroud, RNONA PresidentMessage from the PresidentOn behalf of the ONA Board of Directors, I am pleased to presentyou with this year’s Annual Report, a high-level wrap-upof key activities within our organization. I hope you will takea few minutes to read these next few pages and acquaint yourselfwith all the hard work of ONA members and staff in fighting forneeded improvements to our health care system for the benefit ofthose who truly matter most: our patients/clients/residents.But as 2008 marks an important anniversary for ONA – 35years – I think it’s important to first reflect on how far we’vecome. When ONA was first formed in 1973, nurses were paida starting wage of just $3.72 an hour. There was no outlet forworkload concerns, no layoff provisions or severance pay and nodental benefits. Today, these items exist in our collective agreements,plus enormous improvements to wages, health benefits,responsibility pay, parental leaves, vacations, premiums, standbypay, recognition of previous experience, scheduling, etc. Clearlywe’ve come a long way in a relatively short period of time, and inthis past year, our successes continued to pile up.Coming off our negotiated settlement for members in thenursing homes sector in 2006, ONA was also able to reach avery good contract for hospital members at the bargaining table,always the preferred method, which provided significant improvementsto wages, including a lump sum payment, and benefits.Your letters of support to the central bargaining team werea true source of encouragement to them during their difficultand at times exhaustive task.Our equally exhaustive community care access centres(CCAC) representation campaigns, necessitated by the amalgamationof CCACs to realign with the Local Health IntegrationNetworks, also ended on a high note late last year, as we wereable to retain and recruit 2,364 members. It proved to us beyonda doubt that ONA is clearly the union of choice for healthcare professionals in this province, and we owe deep gratitude toall the members and staff who worked so diligently around theclock to ensure the CCAC workers understood the many benefitsof ONA membership and got out to vote.Thanks to our extensive lobbying efforts with our allies, wemanaged to secure a temporary halt to the competitive biddingprocess in the home care sector this year. This insidious systemhas done nothing but remove job security for our members andthe continuity of care so crucial to their clients’ wellbeing. Andfor what? The bottom line! The only winners are the for-profitcorporations, who make money off some of the most vulnerablemembers of our society.ONA can also take partial credit for an important win affectingall members – and indeed all nurses in this province. In August2007, the government announced that beginning in September2008, all hospitals would be required to supply safetyengineeredneedles and that it would stockpile N-95 respirators.This will be applied to other health care settings in the next twoyears, but ONA won’t be satisfied until every single nurse in ourprovince is given this level of protection.So while we celebrate these key successes and dozens of othersthis anniversary, we also acknowledge that we have a lotof hard work ahead of us. Our hospital members are facing thethreat of layoffs or reductions in their hours as their employersattempt to stay out of the red. We still don’t have a minimumstandard of care for residents in long-term care. The competitivebidding process has not come to a permanent end. Our publichealth nurses – the very foundation of health care – continueto suffer the effects of municipal downloading, as we call for 100per cent of provincial government funding for that sector. Andindustry nurses have been deeply affected by the loss of jobs inthe manufacturing industry due to a strong Canadian dollar (upuntil recently) and softening American economy.These challenges can seem overwhelming at times, but justas we have in the past 35 years, I know we will continue to meetthem head on. Because if there’s one thing that’s evident, it’sthe perseverance that our members have exhibited in workingtowards a health care system that allows us to provide the qualitypatient care we so desperately want. We haven’t won all ourbattles, but I think it’s fair to say that whenever a significant gainhas been achieved in our health care system, ONA has almostalways been behind it.So this anniversary, I hope you will reflect on all that we haveachieved these past 35 years and be very proud of yourselvesand that you have a union which is truly making a difference.That really is something to celebrate.2Ontario Nurses’ Association

Lesley Bell, RN, MBAONA Chief Executive OfficerMessage from the CEOOn behalf of ONA staff, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members for thededication you have shown to our organization, our profession, our patients/clients/residentsand our health care system – not just this past year, but throughout the last 35.The theme of our anniversary celebrations this year is, “ONA: A Proud Past. A PowerfulFuture,” and I think that sums it up perfectly. From our first day of being, we demandedrespect for front-line nurses, and that respect has grown over the years. The governmentlistens to our concerns. The public understands our struggles. The media reports on ouractivities. And our patients/clients/residents truly appreciate all that we do. In fact, I thinkit’s fair to say that ONA is now known as the voice of registered nurses and allied healthprofessionals in the province.While ONA members are the driving force behind everything we have done over the past 35years, there’s no question that we couldn’t have made significant gains without the incredibleknowledge, skills and just plain hard work of ONA staff. Just this past year alone, they dedicatedendless hours to successfully pull our organization through the final CCAC restructuringvote. They marched alongside members at our home care and violence against nurses rallies.They prepared compelling submissions to the government on topics such as long-term care reform.And I can proudly report, that due to their perseverance, and with the leaders’ assistance,89 per cent of our members now have bona fide status, meaning they have signed membershipcards and will, as a result, receive all our mailings, be eligible to run and vote in Local and provincialelections, and attend Biennial Conventions and Provincial Coordinators Meetings. Thehard work of ONA staff is highlighted throughout this report and I urge you to read on.We have also made servicing improvements this past year to facilitate your union andworking lives and ensure that we continue to remain relevant to you. For example, we knowhow busy you are and so we combined our ONA Vision magazine and eight-page Front Linesnewsletter into one concise, easy-to-read publication – and early indications are that it’shitting the mark. We are placing more and more relevant material on our website so you havethe information you need exactly when you need it.We know how important education is to you, and so during the past year, we introducednew pertinent workshops and a more convenient and cost-efficient way to bring them straightto you – videoconferencing. And members are taking advantage of our education sessionslike never before! These are just a few examples of our service improvements; keep readingthis report and you will learn of many more.So, as we celebrate 35 years as an organization, it is my sincere hope that this productivepartnership of staff and members will continue to gain strength in the years to come becausethere is so much more that we can and must accomplish. I believe together we will realize ourgoals because we have a powerful future indeed!Happy anniversary to you all!A n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 83

BargainingOne of ONA’s core functions is negotiating collective agreementsfor our members in all sectors. Members entrust us tobargain diligently and in good faith on their behalf to obtainthe best agreements possible, ones that not only improvetheir salaries and working conditions, but include provisionsthat allow them to better the quality of care they are ableto provide to their patients/clients/residents. The collectiveagreements of choice are always those reached at the bargainingtable – something we were able to achieve duringthis round of hospital negotiations.HospitalsFollowing closely on the heels of our arbitration award in early2007, ONA returned to the bargaining table for another roundof talks with the Ontario Hospital Association in January 2008on behalf of approximately 50,000 nurses and allied health professionalsat 137 participating hospitals. Our bargaining objectiveswere based on hospital members’ responses to our Have aSay questionnaire, mailed in October 2007.After several days of talks in early January 2008 failed toyield a tentative agreement, conciliation took place on January25. Mediation was held on January 23-27 and January 30 withmediator Kevin Burkett. A deal was reached through this processon February 7 and reviewed by Bargaining Unit Presidentsat a special hospital sector meeting in Toronto on February 22.The result of the subsequent ratification vote was announcedto the media in late March. The deal was ratified by an overwhelming96 per cent of our members.The contract runs from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2011 andincludes wage gains of 3.25, 3 and 3 per cent in each year; vacation,benefit and premium improvements, including the newpremium for student supervision; contract language relating tothe improvement of workplace safety; commitments to addressviolence in the workplace, including disruptive physician behaviour;and dental benefits for early retirees. Lump sum paymentsof up to $3,250 per member were also negotiated.In the aftermath, ONA received many positive e-mails frommembers, congratulating the Hospital Central NegotiatingTeam on a job well done.Homes for the AgedAt the conclusion of the time span of this report, approximately48 of the 74 homes’ collective agreements have expiry dates ofMarch 31, 2008 and beyond.Two homes have been classified as nursing homes in theirfirst round of bargaining and are trying to reverse that categorizationin the renewal of those first collective agreements. Seventyhomes had achieved at least the then current hospital ratesby the expiry of their agreements.As per a recommendation from ONA’s All-Sector StrategicBargaining Project Team, bargaining for the Eastern OntarioHomes for the Aged Group was discontinued during the periodof this report.Nursing HomesAs we reached an impressive agreement through the centralprocess in 2006, it was quiet at the central bargaining tablethis year. Collective agreement assembly proceedings andmany agreements were signed and distributed in booklet formto membership. ONA staff met with nursing home operators todiscuss the issues with staffing, more specifically retention andrecruitment, to attempt to find solutions.As the time span of this report drew to a close, preparationswere underway for the next round of bargaining, which will commencein 2009. A bargaining questionnaire was prepared duringthe summer of 2008 for our members in the nursing homes sectorand the responses will determine our bargaining objectivesfor the upcoming round.For non-participating homes, first collective agreementswere ratified at Extendicare Tecumseh, Pinewood Court and St.Jacques Nursing Home.4Ontario Nurses’ Association

Making Negotiations Work for YouOur central nursing homes and the groups or individualhomes that follow the central model are now contributing to theNursing Homes and Related Industries Pension Plan. The officialchangeover date was the closest pay day to January 1, 2008.Elizabeth Durham, St. Joseph’s Health Care, VON Toronto YorkRegion and VON Perth-Huron. Four bargaining units are currentlyin various stages of bargaining. VON Porcupine now hasnurse practitioners in its bargaining unit.Community Care Access Centres (CCAC)Due to the amalgamation of CCACs to align with the 14 LocalHealth Integration Networks in January 2007, ONA continuedto engage in Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act(PSLRTA) votes to determine representation at the new CCACs.In November 2007, we concluded these votes on a positive notewith a win at the South East CCAC. After all was said and done,we maintained the bargaining rights in all but three CCACs, retaining1,760 members and gaining another 604.Following the PSLRTA campaigns, we began the process ofbargaining composite and first collective agreements at the 10CCACs we now represent in this sub-sector. The results of ourHave a Say bargaining questionnaire, mailed to CCAC membersin the summer of 2007, were tabulated and guided us in ourbargaining efforts. At the conclusion of this report, two CCACshad ratified their first collective agreements and the other eightwere either in negotiations or were to commence talks.Early in 2008, ONA developed a CCAC Network to supportour new bargaining units in this sub-sector and work with themas they move through the challenging restructuring process.This network replaced our CCAC Task Force.Home CareAt the conclusion of the period covered by this report, seven outof 27 bargaining units in this sub-sector remained without members.Settlements were reached in several units, including St.Public HealthThirty-two bargaining units make up this sub-sector, 31 of whichare nursing and one is allied. Settlements reached during 2007-2008 included Brant County Allied and the Chatham-KentHealth Unit. While there were no strikes in this right-to-strikesector this year, at the conclusion of this report, the public healthnurses at Grey Bruce Health Unit were preparing for conciliationtalks after three unsuccessful rounds of negotiations and astrong strike mandate.ONA continued to fight for 100 per cent funding of publichealth agencies by the province, which we believe will eliminatewage disparities among public health nurses and secure the financialresources of these providers.In early 2008, ONA developed a Public Health Unit Networkto get public health leaders talking to each other and sharingexperiences. The first meeting was June 24, 2008.Industry and ClinicsThere are 22 bargaining units in this sub-sector. Four bargainingunits were in various stages of bargaining as this report wrappedup, including the Community Health Centre in Guelph, whichwas seeking its first collective agreement. Settlements in thistime span included Sault Group Health, MCI Clinics, CanadianBlood Services (Ottawa and Hamilton) and Central TorontoCommunity Health Clinics. Our nurses at General Motors in Oshawaalso received a pay equity adjustment.A n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 85

2007-2008 Year in ReviewJuly 2007• ONA mourns the loss of past provincial president Lois Fairley,RN, who passed away on July 19 at the age of 76. Fairleyserved as ONA president from 1977 to 1978.• ONA’s censure of Bluewater Health is a main priority in aprovincial investigator’s report on the hospital’s positionsand policies. The report, which includes 41 recommendationsintended to overhaul operations at Bluewater Health, advisesthe hospital to seek external coaching on nursing issues froma hospital with strong ONA relations.August 2007• Years of lobbying pay off as ONA succeeds in getting thegovernment to mandate the use of safety-engineered needlesand stockpile N-95 respirators. Minister of Health andLong-Term Care George Smitherman announces that a newregulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Actwill make safety-engineered needles mandatory in all hospitalsas of September 1, 2008. As part of its 2007 OntarioHealth Plan for an Influenza Pandemic, the government willalso purchase 55-million N-95 respirators.• ONA calls on the Ministry of Labour to investigate the attackof three registered nurses by a psychiatric patient at Windsor’sHotel-Dieu Grace Hospital. ONA is concerned that healthand safety measures are still lacking at the hospital followingthe murder of member Lori Dupont in November 2005.• The government moves forward with its Long-Term CareHomes Act, 2007, appointing Shirlee Sharkey, President andCEO of Saint Elizabeth Health Care, as facilitator to solicitinput and provide advice on current research and practicesconcerning staffing standards. ONA lobbies to ensure a minimumstandard of 3.5-hours of hands-on care per residentper day is implemented as soon as possible.September 2007• ONA’s Board of Directors votes to lift the eight-year censureof the University Health Network (UHN). The Board decidesthat UHN, which consists of Toronto General Hospital,Toronto Western Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital,has worked to improve its practices and the working environmentfor nurses and medical radiation therapists. However,ONA continues to monitor the positive changes to ensurethey are maintained.October 2007• ONA launches the new Front Lines, a merger of ONA Visionmagazine and the former eight-page Front Lines newsletter.The new Front Lines is a concise, easy-to-read membermagazine published six times per year.• Across Ontario, ONA members march alongside other healthcare union workers in Labour Day parades to celebrate unionaccomplishments.• ONA members voice their concerns about an offensiveDentyne Ice chewing gum advertisement that negativelydepicts nurses. Cadbury Adams agrees to remove the advertisementfrom the airways after receiving an overwhelmingnumber of complaints from the nursing community, includinga letter from ONA.• ONA members at Hamilton Health Sciences win a precedent-settingruling that will assist in protecting them fromharassment for taking sick time. The arbitrator rules that theconsent form the nurses had to sign required the “releaseof private personal medical information in excess of whatthe hospital” is entitled to under the ONA collective agreement.The ruling affects 1,500 full-time nurses and we expectbroader application.• ONA members play a big part in CBC’s radio series and6Ontario Nurses’ Association

Highlighting our Key Activitiestelevision documentary, Beaten Down: Fear and Violencein Canada’s Nursing Homes. The CBC report highlights theneed for reform in Ontario nursing homes, where violent incidentsagainst staff have more than doubled in the past fouryears.• ONA initiates a class action against the Government ofOntario on behalf of members employed by communitycare access centres (CCAC). ONA claims the governmentpromised CCAC employees that they would suffer no lossin pension benefits when they started working for a CCACand had to switch their pensions to the Hospitals of OntarioPension Plan. ONA believes the government did not fulfillits promise and these employees have suffered a loss of pensionbenefits.• ONA calls on the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care torevisit the funding formula at Royal Ottawa Place, a mentalhealth facility, after learning that 96 residents are at risk ofbeing admitted to long-term care facilities because supplementaryfunding has stopped.November 2007• ONA members and other labour activists gather outsideHumber River Regional Hospital in Toronto to protest thehospital’s poor labour relations practices.• Following the attack of three RNs at the Centre for Addictionand Mental Health in Toronto, ONA holds a media conferenceto demand immediate legislation to protect registerednurses from on-the-job violence.• ONA members re-elect Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN, for a thirdtwo-year term as ONA President. Vicki McKenna, RN, is acclaimedfor a second two-year term as First Vice-President.• Members from ONA Local 8 wear black and clear ribbonsto recognize the second anniversary of the murder of ONAmember Lori Dupont. The black ribbon symbolizes those whodied tragically because of violence, while the clear ribbonrepresents those who may be invisible to us and are experiencingviolence.• ONA leaders from across the province gather in downtownToronto for the November Provincial Coordinators Meeting.Delegates hear reports on governance, operations, bargainingand finance, and also discuss the issues of front-linenurses at a reception with politicians. Guest speakers includeOntario Federation of Labour President Wayne Samuelson,Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions President Linda Silasand Mary Anna Beer from the Stephen Lewis Foundation.• With case managers and placement coordinators at the SouthEast Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) voting to makeONA their union, ONA concludes its CCAC campaign withthe bargaining rights to 10 CCACs. The Public Sector LabourRelations Transition Act representation votes were necessaryafter the province amalgamated CCACs to align with the 14Local Health Integration Networks in January 2007.• ONA leaders attend the Ontario Federation of Labour’s(OFL) 50 th Anniversary Convention in Toronto. ONA proposesthree resolutions, which pass overwhelmingly. Theresolutions call for the OFL Executive Board to develop astrategic plan to have the precautionary principle embeddedin the Occupational Health and Safety Act, for the OFL andits affiliates to urge the government to move swiftly to fundpublic home care, long-term care and hospitals to meet currentrealities of patient demographics, and for the OFL andits affiliates to lobby for amendments to the Ontario LabourRelations Act to provide for a card-based union certificationprocess for all workers in the province.• ONA’s Medical Radiation Technologists-Radiation Therapists(MRT(T)) join their colleagues in cancer treatment acrossCanada to celebrate national MRT(T) Week. MRT(T) Weekrecognizes the contributions of these highly skilled healthcare professionals who provide hands-on diagnostics therapyand technology to ensure quality cancer care for allCanadians.December 2007• The Coroner’s Jury examining the workplace murder of ONAmember Lori Dupont in November 2005 returns with 26recommendations aimed at preventing similar incidents inA n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 87

care per resident per day to bring Ontario in line with otherjurisdictions. We also call on the government to implementthe Casa Verde Coroner’s inquest recommendation for an evidence-basedstudy to determine appropriate staffing levelsfor long-term care homes in Ontario.• ONA members join others to mark the National Day ofRemembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. ONAnotes that nurses are the victims of workplace violence farmore than even police or firefighters.the future. The recommendations address all of ONA’s concerns,including a review of Ontario’s Public Hospitals Actand Occupational Health and Safety Act to consider includingemotional or psychological harm as a safety issue in theworkplace.• ONA’s Board of Directors releases a position statement onhallway nursing/overcapacity, which urges the Ontario governmentto take action to eliminate overcapacity protocolsthat result in this disturbing trend.• St. Joseph’s Home Care and the Victorian Order of Nurses(VON), two of the largest not-for-profit home care agenciesin the Hamilton region, learn they are not eligible to continuewith the request for proposals competitive bidding processto determine which agency will provide home care servicesfor the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant CommunityCare Access Centre (CCAC). Representatives from ONA, St.Joseph’s and the VON gather outside the Courtyard Hotel inHamilton, where the CCAC debriefed St. Joseph’s and VONofficials, to protest the competitive bidding process.• ONA Board members join other unions, injured workers’groups and injured workers themselves outside the Ministryof Labour building in downtown Toronto for the 16 th annualInjured Workers Demonstration. Participants protest the severeloss of income that injured workers have experiencedsince the inception of Bill 99 in 1997.• In a submission to the Long-Term Care Review, ONA saysOntario’s new Long-Term Care Act must include an immediatestaffing standard of 3.5-hours of nursing and personalJanuary 2008• ONA leaders and members join politicians, celebrities, alliesand Hamilton residents for a rally to “Save our Home Care.”More than 1,500 supporters call for the end of the competitivebidding process, prompting the government to halt biddingfor home care services across Ontario until the processis reviewed.• ONA Local Treasurers gather in Toronto for the annualTreasurers’ Workshop to discuss financial issues, receive trainingon accounting software and network with colleagues.• In a written submission to the Standing Committee onFinance and Economic Affairs, ONA says the provincial governmentmust be strategic in directing resources to areasin health care that are important to Ontarians. A renewedinvestment to address the shortage of registered nurses iscrucial to meeting the government’s commitment to improvethe health of Ontarians.• ONA achieves a RRSP settlement for registered nurseswho worked for the Royalcrest chain of nursing homes fromNovember 13, 2002 to May 2, 2005. The settlement is madein lieu of RRSP contributions during the insolvency period.February 2008• ONA Bargaining Unit Presidents gather in Toronto to reviewa tentative agreement between ONA and the OntarioHospital Association, affecting approximately 50,000 membersworking in 137 participating hospitals.• In an organizing campaign at Markham-Stouffville Hospital,ONA reaches out to RNs who have no union representation.8Ontario Nurses’ Association

ONA believes the nurses have the right to work in an environmentthat supports dignity, respect and provides the resourcesnecessary for safe patient care.• A joint release from ONA, the Canadian Federation ofNurses Unions, the British Columbia Nurses Union and theUnited Nurses of Alberta says the federal budget showsthat the Conservative government is refusing to make investmentsto relieve the shortage of health care providersand has thrown away its opportunity to invest in programsthat are vital to improving the health and well-being ofCanadians.• ONA is appalled that Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsorwill not endorse the coroner’s jury recommendations stemmingfrom the inquest into the workplace murder of memberLori Dupont. ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud says themessage this decision sends to registered nurses is that theirsafety does not matter.March 2008• ONA hospital members vote 96 per cent in favour of thethree-year agreement reached with the Ontario HospitalAssociation in early February. The agreement affects approximately50,000 ONA members at 137 participating hospitals.The settlement, which runs from April 1, 2008 to March 31,2011, includes salary increases, lump sum payments, vacationand benefit improvements, contract language relating to theimprovement of workplace safety, commitments to addressviolence in the workplace, including disruptive physician behaviour,and dental benefits for early retirees.• ONA plans to closely monitor the rollout of the provincialgovernment’s budget promise to spend more than $500-millionover the next four years to hire 9,000 more nurses, 2,000of whom will be placed in the long-term care sector.• ONA mourns the loss of past provincial president MonicaLeslie, RN, who passed away on March 16, 2008 at the age of71. Leslie served as Local 83 President before becoming ONAPresident in 1988.• ONA leaders from across Ontario meet in Toronto for theMarch Provincial Coordinators Meeting to discuss importantunion matters, network with colleagues and listen toinformative guest speakers, including Ontario Federationof Labour President Wayne Samuelson and Ontario ChiefNursing Officer Vanessa Burkoski.• ONA sends a letter to Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care George Smitherman urging him to stop the competitivebidding process in home care for good.• At an Ontario Health Coalition forum at Queen’s Park, ONAPresident Linda Haslam-Stroud speaks about the need tohalt competitive bidding for home care services.• The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) announcesa full review of its New Experimental Experience Rating(NEER) program, which annually rewards employers with rebatesor punishes them with surcharges, depending on thefirm’s WSIB claims and costs for the year. ONA, the OntarioFederation of Labour and worker advocates say there is littlepractical evidence of good safety performance among firmswho have been rewarded with hefty rebates.April 2008• After weeks of campaigning by ONA leaders, members, staffand hospital supporters, Markham-Stouffville Hospital nursesreject unionization by less than 100 votes.• ONA marks the first anniversary of the death of SARSCommissioner Justice Archie Campbell by again calling onthe government to implement his recommendations.• At the annual Day of Mourning services at Larry Sefton Parkin downtown Toronto, ONA leaders and members join otherunions and politicians to demand that the government andhealth care facilities take the steps needed to prevent needlessdeaths and injuries in the workplace.A n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 89

OrganizingSpeaking to Today’s NursesAs the average age of a registered nurse continues toincrease in Ontario, and 22,000 are estimated to retire inthe next four years alone, it is critical that ONA continuesto grow to maintain our membership base.The benefits of membership in ONA are enormous and wecontinue to do a very good job of disseminating that informationto potential members. Membership in ONA is not just aboutcollective agreements, which set out the terms and conditionsof employment under which the employer must adhere. It’salso access to invaluable benefits and services, such as theLegal Expense Assistance Plan, which covers the cost of legalservices for members when they encounter legal or regulatoryproblems connected to their work. It’s assistance by skilledstaff in many areas, from professional practice to health andsafety to public relations. It’s access to top-notch education inareas of relevance to members’ union and working lives. It’s aformal process for addressing improper workload. It’s belongingto an organization that fights for political changes to benefitmembers and the patients for whom they care. And, of course,it’s a process for making regular improvements to wages andbenefits.ONA’s focus is on organizing registered nurses and alliedhealth professionals, and during the period of this report, ourRetention and Recruitment Team continued to reach intothe province’s many unorganized workplaces. We remainedstrongly committed to student outreach, so we can informyoung university women and men who we are and what weoffer before they start searching for that first job. We wantthem to know that a workplace with ONA as the bargainingagent is the best place to secure employment. As well, wecontinued to field calls from organizations seeking the benefitsthat ONA offers.ONA continued to have organizing successes during theperiod covered by this report, including representation votesat VON Huntsville-North Bay, Springdale County Manor, AdultMental Services of Haldimand-Norfolk, Extendicare Bramptonand Sandfield Place Retirement and Long-Term Care Home. Intotal, we organized 10 workplaces, resulting in 137 members.That number doesn’t include the 604 members we gainedthrough the community care access centres representationvotes following the introduction of Local Health IntegrationNetworks in January 2007. We concluded this campaign witha successful win at the South East Community Care AccessCentre in November 2007. ONA members and staff workedaround the clock on these campaigns and deserve all the creditfor our success.Unfortunately, we did suffer a setback as we were unsuccessfulin our two-year hard-fought organizing campaignof Markham-Stouffville Hospital. ONA was faced with difficultiesthroughout the campaign in reaching out to the hospitalnurses to provide information on ONA and answer their questionsso they could make an informed decision, after beingrefused access to the facility by management. And while ourorganizing team pulled a high percentage of ONA supporters,some changed their minds at the polling station on April 30,2008. In fact, we lost the vote by less than 100 votes. ONA isundergoing a review of the campaign to see where improvementscan be made, and we are confident that when we comeback – and we will come back – that the outcome will be verydifferent.As this report wraps up, ONA has several organizingcampaigns underway in the hospital, long-term care andcommunity sectors. We know we will be able to report on thosesuccesses next year!A n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 811

Political CampaignsONA knows full-well that the health care improvements weare fighting for are not just those of concern to nurses andallied health professionals. Every single resident of thisprovince and country has a huge stake in the state of our healthcare system. We also know that we are more successful in ourbattles when we work alongside our allies and affiliates, suchas the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, the CanadianLabour Congress, the Ontario Federation of Labour and theOntario Health Coalition, and members of the public at large.The voice of 54,000 ONA members is hard to ignore, but thevoice of 54,000 members, plus their supporters is even harder.Safe Needles Save LivesAfter two years of exhaustive lobbying for health and safetyprotections in the workplace, ONA, and our union coalition(Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Canadian Union ofPublic Employees and the Service International EmployeesUnion) scored a significant win in our “Safe Needles SaveLives” campaign when Minister of Health and Long-Term CareGeorge Smitherman announced on August 23, 2007 that a newregulation under the Health and Safety Act will make safetyengineeredneedles mandatory in all hospitals as of September1, 2008.Following that announcement, in November 2007, the fourhealth care unions jointly launched an initiative sending resourcematerials to Local Coordinators and Bargaining Unit Presidentsto aid them in pushing health care employers to quickly implementthe new regulation and to press employers not yet coveredby it to adopt safety-engineered needles to comply with theirgeneral duties under the law.Because the government intends to mandate the use ofsafety-engineered needles in long-term care homes, psychiatricfacilities, laboratories and other special collection centres in2009 and other health care facilities, including home care, doctors’offices and ambulances by 2010, our coalition also wrote tothe Ministry of Labour Safety Regulatory Review in the summerof 2008 questioning the delay and requesting that protectionsbe available to all workers where there is a risk of exposure tobloodborne pathogens.Still Not Enough NursesONA’s most ambitious and far-reaching campaign to date, “StillNot Enough Nurses: Act Now! Patients Can’t Wait!” officiallywrapped up at the end of 2007 after a successful three-yearrun.The campaign, which followed closely on the heels of our“Not Enough Nurses: Your Tax Cuts at Work” 2001 campaign,was designed to draw the attention of the government, mediaand public to the disastrous nursing shortage plaguing our province.The campaign, which included rallies and other politicalaction, TV and print advertisements, and a plethora of campaignmaterials, received extensive media coverage and gained supportfrom many groups and individuals who understood that thekey to resolving the challenges of our health care system is toensure there are enough nurses and that the nursing workforceis stabilized.A website designed by ONA dedicated to the campaign alsowent offline on December 31, 2007, but members and the publiccontinued to express an interest by requesting campaign materials.And while the campaign is officially over, ONA continuedin 2008 to send letters to the editor and support Local leadersin keeping its important message in the forefront in the face offurther layoffs, mergers and transfers of services.Our hard work clearly paid off, as the government promisedan additional 8,000 new nursing jobs in its first mandate anddelivered on 5,870 nursing positions from 2003 to 2007. In itssecond mandate, the government promised 9,000 new nursingjobs for 2007-2011.12Ontario Nurses’ Association

Pushing for ChangeViolence Against NursesFollowing a string of on-the-job violence directed at our membersduring the past year – and in light of the recommendationsstemming from the Lori Dupont Inquest – ONA turned its attentionto the serious issue of violence in the workplace.And with good reason. Statistics show that registered nursesare three to 12 times more likely to be assaulted and injured onthe job – more than any other profession, including police officersand firefighters. Incidents of violence account for eight per cent oflost time injuries in health care and in this past year alone, three in10 nurses reported being physically assaulted by patients. Underthe Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers are requiredto take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for theprotection of workers from all hazards, but employers are not livingup to their obligations. The legislation to protect workers isinadequate and that, along with cuts to security jobs in the healthcare sector, are real contributing factors to workplace violence.On November 28, 2007, ONA staged a media conference indowntown Toronto to bring attention to this serious issue and todemand the precautionary principle, or erring on the side of caution,be embedded in health and safety legislation and adoptedin all employer policies, government directives and regulations– a critical recommendation by the late Justice Archie Campbellin his 2007 SARS report.We continued this message publicly on May Day 2008 (May1), when we, along with other unions, politicians and allies, convergedon Queen’s Park under the slogan, “Workplace Violence:Not Part of the Job.” We reiterated our demands that the governmenttreat workplace violence like any other workplace hazardand employers take every reasonable precaution to protectworkers’ health and safety.We will not give up our demands until nurses are no longerfearful of being assaulted – or worse – by the simple act of goingto work each day.Competitive Bidding ProcessONA has campaigned against the government’s harmful competitivebidding process, which forces non-profit agencies tocompete against for-profit organizations for contracts to providehome care services, ever since it came to be in 1998. Thissystem results in a lack of job security for our members and nocontinuity of care for their clients, so important for their wellbeing.Our efforts came to fruition this year after two cherishednon-profit agencies that have provided home care in Hamiltonand area for decades – St. Joseph’s Home Care and the VictorianOrder of Nurses – were deemed “not eligible” to continue withthe request for proposal competitive bidding process in theirarea.Refusing to take this lying down, ONA and our allies convergedat a Hamilton hotel on December 20, 2007, where thetwo agencies were being briefed on the decision by their communitycare access centre, and for a “Save our Home Care” rallyin the same city on January 16, 2008, which drew more than1,500 supporters.Thanks largely in part to these events, the government announcedin January 2008 that it will halt bidding for home careservices in the province until the competitive bidding processis reviewed. The contracts of St. Joseph’s Home Care and VONwere extended until that review is completed.While this was good news for ONA and our home care clients,we continued to keep up the pressure on the governmentin the subsequent months, speaking out at the Ontario HealthCoalition’s cross-province hearings into home care and sendinga letter to Minister of Health and Long-Term Care GeorgeSmitherman, to ensure that the competitive bidding process isscrapped once and for all.A n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 813

EducationComplementing our Core ObjectivesEducation is one of the key services that ONA provides toits members, and our membership statistics indicate strongsupport for our vast array of offerings. Our Provincial EducationCoordinating Team (PECT) strongly believes that education –particularly education that promotes an understanding of ourmembers’ rights under the collective agreement and how toexercise those rights efficiently and effectively – should be acontinued investment for our organization.To that end, PECT worked closely with ONA leaders over thepast year to update and develop a strong program of workshopscatered to the needs of members. For example, we introduced sixHuman Rights and Equity workshops to glowing reviews. They,along with the Professional Responsibility Clause and ONA UnitRepresentative education, were the most requested training for2008. To simplify the process, PECT prepared a new, single andless complicated registration form for education.The latest statistics show an increase in the number ofworkshops delivered this year over last. The total in 2007 was209. From January 1, 2008 to the end of this report, PECT hadalready delivered almost the same number of workshops: 208.The shift of executive members versus members participatingin workshops has also changed dramatically. One year ago,the ratio was about 46 per cent executive and 54 per centmembers. Between April and June of 2008, the ratio was 25 percent executive and 75 per cent members. That’s good news. Itmeans education is reaching more and more of our grassrootsmembers.Facilitating the process has been our trek into the world ofvideoconferencing, which was piloted this year and was wellreceived. PECT designated one prime to collect and synthesizerequests from all regions for workshops of five or fewerparticipants, with the intention of videoconferencing to meetthe members’ needs in an efficient manner. With a few bugs toiron out, the process for creating these videoconferences wasrevamped. In April 2008, PECT also began exploring distanteducation options with outside organizations such as RyersonUniversity. At the conclusion of this report, the team wassoliciting several requests for proposal.PECT determined that teleconferencing is the least desiredformat for learning and has, therefore, set a maximum of twohours for each one, with the proviso that they should be usedmainly for coaching.Another successful Treasurers’ Workshop was held inJanuary 2008. This time, we moved away from the “one-sizefits all” training approach of previous years based on memberfeedback. Newer Treasurers of fewer than four years took part inlecturettes, discussion groups and exercises. Seasoned treasurersparticipated in a “self-directed learning environment,” withexperts on deck to answer questions. Both days received anoverall rating of 4.2 out of five.The Leadership Development Program wrapped up inNovember 2007. The program provided leadership skills tounderrepresented women members of ONA, as designatedgroups have traditionally not been reflected in leadership roles.Participants are already utilizing the leadership skills theydeveloped. A Leadership Development Program in May/June2010 for broader inclusion is already in development.ONA launched education on “hot topics” at ProvincialCoordinators Meetings (PCM). This past year, PCM educationfocused on how to be a professional and a union member, howto hold meticulous meetings, and advice on addictions from anaddict. Meanwhile, at all-staff meetings, employees receivedtraining on relevant issues to enable them to provide betterservices to members, such as advanced negotiation skills,interactive styles, note taking, safe return to work principles,family status and discrimination, difficult phone calls and conflictresolution.14Ontario Nurses’ Association

Professional IssuesProtecting Members’ PracticeProfessional PracticeProfessional Practice issues often occur when employers attemptto change the way health care is delivered in an effort tomeet their budgets. This is particularly true in the hospital sectorsince the government passed legislation forbidding hospitals torun deficits.This past year, professional practice issues, including excessiveworkload, were identified in a number of facilities across allsectors and staff continued to work with membersand their employers to resolve workload andprofessional responsibility complaints.A Professional Practice Roundtable wasformed consisting of First-Vice President VickiMcKenna, Region 5 Vice-President Jeanne Soden,the Provincial Education Coordinating Team, thestaff of Professional Practice and two LabourRelations Officers. This initiative is intended toprovide increased support to our members andleaders using the Professional ResponsibilityClause in their collective agreement. This projectnot only includes a revamped educational workshop,but enhancements to the ONA website sothat members have access to more resource materialat their fingertips.In December 2007, ONA also issued a position statement on“hallway” nursing/overcapacity, which calls on the governmentto implement appropriate solutions and take action to eliminateovercapacity protocols that result in patients literally beingcared for in hallways.Legal Expense Assistance PlanONA’s Legal Expense Assistance Plan (LEAP) was established toassist members with legal or regulatory body problems relatingto their work.This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the existenceof the LEAP Team, which oversees LEAP. While the majority ofCollege of Nurses of Ontario cases are handled in-house, theLEAP Team also maintains a roster of external counsel for referralsin College, criminal and coroner cases.In 2007, 269 files were opened. A further 208 files wereopened to date in 2008. Of that number, 87 are currently openinternal files.A n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 815

Awards and DecisionsCelebrating our SuccessesThe following are some notable ONA victories from the periodin review from the realm of rights and interest arbitration,Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and OntarioLabour Relations Board (OLRB) verdicts.• In a precedent-setting case, ONA members at HamiltonHealth Sciences (HHS) were handed a huge victory theysay will assist in protecting them from harassment for takingsick time. The nurses, members of Local 70, approachedONA because they felt they were being subject to harassmenttactics by Cowan Wright Beauchamp, the companycontracted by HHS to handle attendance-managementfunctions. This award focused on the Medical Certificate ofDisability, which was to be filled out by treating physiciansafter five days of absence and returned to Cowan. The arbitrator’sruling, which affects about 1,500 full-time nurses,states that the consent form nurses had to sign required the“release of private personal medical information in excess ofwhat the hospital is entitled to” under the ONA collectiveagreement. Specifically, he found several shortcomings: therights of the consultant can be no greater than the rights ofthe employer; he significantly narrowed the required “consents”to be signed; and the employer is entitled to a statementof the general nature of the illness, but not about thediagnosis, symptoms or medical history.• The Community Nursing Home in Port Perry laid off anumber of registered nurses, registered practical nurses andhealth care aids, all represented by ONA. Staffing protectionlanguage in the two collective agreements protectedsome, but not all of the bargaining unit members, sinceoverall staffing had been increased recently. ONA arguedthat the layoffs violated the Service Agreement between theMinistry of Health and Long-Term Care and the home, aswell as regulations under the Nursing Homes Act. However,the arbitrator focused on the employer’s process leadingup to the layoffs: both collective agreements required theemployer to meet with the union to discuss reasons for thelayoffs and the service to be provided following the layoffs.Although the meeting was held, the employer failed to provideONA with the materials we had requested, such as financialdocumentation, Ministry of Health and Long-TermCare inspection reports and facility specific reports. The arbitratorruled that providing such documentation was necessaryfor ONA to participate in the meeting in a meaningfulmanner. Because the employer had not, the arbitrator ruledthe layoffs void and directed the employer to restore staffinglevels to those in effect prior to the layoffs. The employersubsequently indicated it will apply for judicial review of thissuccessful award.• The grievor, an operating room nurse at University HealthNetwork (UHN) since 1988, was denied accommodationin the operating room (OR) once her restrictions becamepermanent. She was given a number of temporary positionsoutside of her unit. The recommendation of an independentmedical examination was that she could not perform theessential duties of a scrub nurse if required to wear a leadapron for extended periods of time or if required to maintaina stooped position, but that she could perform the essentialduties of a circulating nurse. UHN continued to take the positionthat she could not be accommodated in the OR. Sincethe parties had agreed to give the arbitrator powers underSection 50 of the Labour Relations Act, he issued an awardwithout hearing further evidence after the unsuccessful mediation.He concluded that the grievor could be accommodatedin her home unit to a point well below the threshold ofundue hardship – and issued an order to that effect.• The expired collective agreement at Huron Lodge, Windsorprovided for benefits for retirees with no age cut-off, but theemployer’s proposal to eliminate such benefits for new hiresupon reaching age 65 was rejected. The previous collectiveagreement for the period to March 31, 2006 was reachedprior to the award for the hospital sector for the same expirydate. The settlement provided for a 3 per cent annualincrease with a “me too” if the hospitals received a higherincrease. The “me too” was capped at 0.5 per cent annually.Upon the release of the Keller Hospital award, nurses at thishome with 25 years experience received an additional increment,which was limited to 0.5 per cent. The Jolliffe decisionbrought the nurses in this bargaining unit back up to hospitalparity by awarding the remainder of the 25-year 2 per16Ontario Nurses’ Association

cent increment and the complete Albertyne wage increases,including the higher increases at the Start, Year 1 and Year8 levels. Weekend and night premiums, vision benefits, massagetherapy and dental reimbursements, and vacations wereimproved. Employer proposals to extend seniority accumulationwhile out of the bargaining unit, extend the part-timeone-year seniority equivalency from 200 tours to 260 tours,prevent part-timers from taking vacation around Christmas,reduce the rate of sick leave credit accumulation, and eliminateearly retiree benefits for new hires were all rejected.• ONA represented fertility clinic nurses as part of its largeOttawa Hospital bargaining unit. At the end of 2005, thedoctors who ran the clinic closed it and opened the OttawaFertility Centre Inc. in a new, larger location, offering thesame mix of insured and uninsured reproductive medicalservices. Ottawa Hospital employees, including ONA members,were laid off, some being hired as “new” employeesby the “new” clinic. ONA applied to the Ontario LabourRelations Board (OLRB), claiming that bargaining and collectiveagreement rights should continue under the PublicSector Labour Relations Transition Act (PSLRTA). The OLRBfound that the transaction was covered under the Act, statingthat, “it is not accurate to characterize the movement ofthe clinic from the hospital to the Ottawa Fertility CentreInc. as merely a set of doctors closing up shop in one location,and moving to another…The move had a significantimpact on people: patients, existing staff and future professionals.”The Board exercised its discretion to apply PSLRTA,which was designed specifically to address the impact ofsuch changes on the employment of existing staff and unionbargaining rights.the nurse clerical duties two hours, twice a week, with a bedto lie on, as a starting point in a graduated return to workproposal. In response to the nurse’s protest that the drive andwork would cause more harm to her, the mediator said WSIBhas “quadriplegics working 40 hours per week.” The nurserefused the work and in January 2005, WSIB substantiallyreduced her benefits because they deemed that she shouldbe able to return to clerical, RN or RN supervisor work. ONAwon the appeal at hearing and on April 8, 2008, the appealsofficer ruled that the worker was, in fact, not competitivelyemployable. “The occupational positions of working in a clericalposition, a registered nurse and a registered nurse supervisorare not physically suitable and beyond the worker’smedical precautions,” the appeals officer confirmed. “Theevidence supports the worker is only capable of working 11/2 hours per day and is not competitively employable.” Thenurse will be paid full loss of earnings benefits retroactive toJanuary 2005, and ongoing to the age of 65.WSIBSince the 2006 Biennial Convention, ONA’s Workplace Safetyand Insurance Board (WSIB) Team has opened 241 ONA WSIBappeal files and 47 employer WSIB Appeal files. In the sameperiod, the team closed 216 ONA appeal files and 24 employerappeal files. In the last year especially there is a noticeableincrease in the number of files closed relative to those opened.• In this case, WSIB pressed all workplace parties to bring aninjured worker from a hospital in the north back to worktoo soon. The worker injured her back in 2002, had a murkydiagnosis, but substantial impairment, and WSIB paid benefitsuntil deciding that the nurse was taking too long toheal. Presented with clear medical evidence that the nursewas able only to function up to two hours per day, two daysper week, the WSIB said, “If she can work two hours, she canwork eight.” Under pressure from WSIB, the employer offeredThe WSIB Team had 65 wins and three losses since the 2006Biennial Convention, maintaining our overall success rate of 95per cent. The 65 wins represent monetary awards to the ONAmembership as follows:Loss of Earnings Benefits: $ 1,737,469.67Non-Economic Loss (NEL) Awards: $ 448,266.54TOTAL: $ 2,185,736.21A n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 817

Long-Service EmployeesAcknowledging Staff LoyaltyLong-serving ONA staff members for 2008, pictured here with ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud and CEO Lesley Bell, are (back row, leftto right): Colin Johnston, John Vance, Bell, Haslam-Stroud, Suresh Velauthapillai, Linda Bullock. Middle row (left to right): Jamie Tataryn,Diana Kutchaw, Helen Ma, Ruth Featherstone, Nancy Johnson, Ginette Bosse, Pat Ciccone, Rob Rupert. Front row (left to right): Gloria Lynn,Gisella Falls, Peter Uscimiuk, Hedy-Anne Hurter, Rosemary Gillan, Noelle Andrews. Not pictured: Raymonde Boileau, Julie Daxon, BibiHamid, Anita Henson, Donna Hicks, Cindy Forster, Helen Fragis, Garry Gifford, Helle Little, David Nicholson, Rob Veinott, Zirka Medwid.5 YearsGinette Bosse, East District Service TeamAnita Henson, East District Service TeamColin Johnston, West District Service TeamDiana Kutchaw, North District Service TeamHelle Little, West District Service TeamHelen Ma, Provincial Organizational Services TeamSuresh Velauthapillai, Provincial Organizational Services Team10 YearsJulie Daxon, East District Service TeamRuth Featherstone, Public Relations TeamGarry Gifford, East District Service TeamBibi Hamid, Provincial Organizational Services TeamNancy Johnson, Provincial Services TeamRob Rupert, North District Service TeamJamie Tataryn, North District Service TeamRob Veinott, Provincial Organizational Services Team15 YearsLinda Bullock, Strategy TeamCindy Forster, West District Service TeamHelen Fragis, Provincial Organizational Services Team20 YearsNoelle Andrews, Strategy TeamRaymonde Boileau, Provincial Services TeamPat Ciccone, North District Service TeamGisella Falls, Provincial Organizational Services TeamDonna Hicks, West District Service TeamGloria Lynn, Strategy TeamDavid Nicholson, Provincial Services TeamPeter Uscimiuk, Provincial Organizational Services TeamJohn Vance, West District Service Team25 YearsZirka Medwid, West District Service Team30 YearsRosemary Gillan, North District Service TeamHedy-Anne Hurter, Provincial Organizational Services TeamRetireesFor their years of dedication to our organization, we also acknowledgePaula Joseph, Public Relations Team; Marsha Mazurk, West DistrictService Team; Rob Rupert, North District Service Team; and ClaudinePilgrim, South District Service Team, who retired during the time spanof this report.18Ontario Nurses’ Association

ONAOntario Nurses’ AssociationFinancial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2007Condensed Financial StatementsBalance SheetDecember 31 2007 2006AssetsOntario Nurses’ AssociationFinancial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2007CurrentBalance SheetCash and short-term investments (at market value) $ 2,954,945 $ 3,914,396Dues and other receivables 4,620,075 3,905,250December 31 2007 2006Prepaids 421,919 437,459Assets7,996,939 8,257,105CurrentCapital Cash assets and short-term (at net book investments value) (at market value) $ 4,876,006 2,954,945 $ 3,914,396 5,355,713Marketable Dues and investments other receivables (at market value) 6,262,793 4,620,075 3,905,250 5,357,229Investment Prepaids in ONA Liability Insurance Ltd. (equity method) 6,572,998 421,919 6,233,012 437,459$ 25,708,736 7,996,939 $ 25,203,059 8,257,105Liabilities Capital assets and (at Net net book Assets value) 4,876,006 5,355,713Current Marketable investments (at market value) 6,262,793 5,357,229Investment Accounts in payable ONA Liability and accrued Insurance liabilities Ltd. (equity method) $ 5,711,708 6,572,998 $ 6,139,917 6,233,012Accrued LEAP claims $ 25,708,736 676,316 $ 25,203,059 949,100Current portion of capital lease obligation 411,044 428,546Liabilities and Net Assets6,799,068 7,517,563CurrentCapital Accounts lease payable obligation and accrued liabilities $ 5,711,708 315,065 $ 6,139,917 729,479Accrued Accrued benefit LEAP liability claims 1,319,900 676,316 1,074,000 949,100Current portion of capital lease obligation 8,434,033 411,044 9,321,042 428,5466,799,068 7,517,563Net AssetsCapital Invested lease in obligation capital assets 4,149,897 315,065 4,197,688 729,479Accrued Invested benefit in ONA liability Liability Insurance Ltd. 6,572,998 1,319,900 6,233,012 1,074,000Internally restricted 4,535,913 4,944,068Unrestricted 2,015,895 8,434,033 9,321,042 507,249Net Assets17,274,703 15,882,017Invested in capital assets 4,149,897 4,197,688Invested in ONA Liability Insurance Ltd. $ 25,708,736 6,572,998 $ 25,203,059 6,233,012Internally restricted 4,535,913 4,944,068Unrestricted 2,015,895 507,24917,274,703 15,882,017$ 25,708,736 $ 25,203,059The above financial information is a condensed version of the Association’s audited financial statements for the years endedDecember 31, 2006 and December 31, 2007. The complete financial statements, including the Auditor's Report andaccompanying notes, are available at the Association’s office.Page 1 of 2A n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 8The above financial information is a condensed version of the Association’s audited financial statements for the years endedDecember 31, 2006 and December 31, 2007. The complete financial statements, including the Auditor's Report and19

ONAOntario Nurses’ AssociationCondensed Financial StatementsFinancial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2007Statement of OperationsFor the year ended December 31 2007 2006Ontario Nurses’ AssociationFinancial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2007RevenueStatement of OperationsMembership dues $ 36,043,330 $ 32,900,435Investment income 418,203 1,175,616For Other year ended December 31 467,348 2007 440,160 2006Revenue36,928,881 34,516,211Expense Membership dues $ 36,043,330 $ 32,900,435Investment income 418,203 1,175,616Other Governance / External vision 1,744,339 467,348 1,907,463 440,160Membership services 1,174,678 1,178,584Service teams 13,715,350 36,928,881 13,339,32634,516,211Support teams 9,632,041 9,496,737Fixed expenses 4,553,320 4,576,280ExpenseBuilding operations 730,238 734,787Governance Local funding / External vision 1,744,339 - 1,907,463 655,082Membership Program costs services (Security/LEAP/AIDS/LTD/Supplementary) 1,174,678 4,427,488 1,178,584 5,544,051Service teams 13,715,350 13,339,326Support teams 35,977,454 9,632,041 37,432,310 9,496,737Fixed expenses 4,553,320 4,576,280Excess Building of revenue operations over expenses (expenses over revenue) 730,238 734,787before Local amortization funding and earnings of- 655,082ONA Program Liability costs Insurance (Security/LEAP/AIDS/LTD/Supplementary) Ltd. 4,427,488 951,427 (2,916,099) 5,544,051Amortization35,977,454(684,343)37,432,310(909,520)Earnings of ONA Liability Insurance Ltd. 339,986 379,939Excess of revenue over expenses (expenses over revenue)before amortization and earnings ofExcess ONA Liability of revenue Insurance over expenses Ltd. (expenses over revenue) $ 607,070 951,427 $ (2,916,099)(3,445,680)Amortization (684,343) (909,520)Earnings of ONA Liability Insurance Ltd. 339,986 379,939Excess of revenue over expenses (expenses over revenue) $ 607,070 $ (3,445,680)The above financial information is a condensed version of the Association’s audited financial statements for the years endedDecember 31, 2006 and December 31, 2007. The complete financial statements, including the Auditor's Report andaccompanying notes, are available at the Association’s office.Page 2 of 220Ontario Nurses’ AssociationThe above financial information is a condensed version of the Association’s audited financial statements for the years endedDecember 31, 2006 and December 31, 2007. The complete financial statements, including the Auditor's Report and

2007 2008

The Ontario Nurses’ Association85 Grenville St., Ste. 400Toronto ON M5S 3A2Toll-free: 1-800-387-5580In Toronto: (416) 964-8833Fax: (416) 964-8864E-mail: onamail@ona.orgwww.ona.org