She fought for a raise 26 years ago. 'Absurd' delays mean practical nurses at Niagara Health are still waiting

When Sandra Commerford asked for a raise from a St. Catharines, Ont., hospital in 1998, the registered practical nurse (RPN) was confident she had a strong, open and shut case.

Commerford and upwards of 100 other RPNs had started administering medication to patients — a new responsibility that required months of additional training, transformed the job and should have translated to higher wages, Commerford said.

Over a quarter of a century later, she's among dozens of other practical nurses who are still waiting for compensation. 

"I was an excellent nurse and I loved my job," Commerford told CBC Hamilton. 

"But it was very difficult knowing every day we were being denied equal pay." 

At age 71 and retired, Commerford said she could be owed tens of thousands of dollars in back pay from her former employer, Niagara Health. 

Her case hinges on the fact Niagara Health and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare have yet to reach a pay equity agreement, as required under Ontario law. 

Public-sector employers like hospitals must follow the province's Pay Equity Act, which came into force in 1988, to avoid gender discrimination when setting wages for employees. Private-sector employers with more than 10 workers are also required to follow the act.

The wages of as many as 1,000 SEIU members working for Niagara Health are likely impacted, including practical nurses, personal support workers, and housekeeping, hospitality and clerical staff, said RPN Christine Peacock, 60, who used to sit on the union's pay equity steering committee and works for the hospital system. 

After a pay equity agreement is set, an employer reviews the wages of workers in jobs dominated by women — like practical nursing — to the wages of workers in jobs dominated by men with similar qualifications and responsibilities. If the female-dominated sector earns less, the employer is required to increase those workers' compensation. 

"The Pay Equity Act is intended to eliminate the wage gap that exists due to the undervaluation of what is typically thought of as 'women's work,'" says the province's interpretation of the act.

Employers are also required to retroactively compensate current and former workers, and may be ordered to pay interest, says the pay equity office's website. 

A gender pay gap persists across all jobs in the country, with women earning 29 per cent less than men annually, according to Statistics Canada.

For decades, the jobs of SEIU members haven't been reviewed to ensure RPNs are being paid fairly — a delay the Pay Equity Tribunal described in 2023 as "unacceptable and inexcusable," but that still persists.