Clerical staff at Mount Sinai Hospital rally for a fair contract

Clerical staff at Mount Sinai held a rally on Tuesday morning, demanding a fair contract from their employer to address poor working conditions and their impact on patient care.

Fadumo Mohamed, president of CUPE 5492, and medical secretary, said that clerical staff are overworked, underpaid and undervalued by their employer, which has contributed to a staffing shortage.

“We have severe workload issues, which is affecting our ability to provide quality patient care,” said Mohamed, who was part of the original group of workers that formed CUPE 5492. “Mount Sinai needs to provide wages on par with other hospitals in the region, which would greatly help with recruitment and retention, and boost morale.”

The workers at Mount Sinai receive lower wages than staff at other hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area, which is an issue the union is trying to address through collective bargaining. But staff say that Mount Sinai hasn’t shown an urgency to negotiate a new contract after the last one expired in February 2023.

Fadumo highlighted two examples of wage disparity with other hospitals: the starting rate for health record clerks at Mount Sinai is 10% lower than at Unity Health Toronto; while medical secretaries earn 13% less at the hospital compared to University Health Network.

The CUPE 5492 president said that clerical staff are the first point of contact for patients, helping them navigate the system and access care quickly. Conversely, understaffing causes avoidable delays.

The current wait-time for admission from the emergency room at Mount Sinai is 23 hours, with only 11 per cent of patients admitted within the target time of eight hours. Mohamed said that the ER is one of several departments where clerical staff play an invaluable role in helping patients register and access care, and understaffing contributes to delays.

Fadumo said there are currently about 50 clerical job vacancies at Mount Sinai, which compounds workload issues and creates a highly stressful working environment.

“Mount Sinai needs to treat these workers with dignity and respect,” said Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions. “The crisis in health care can only be alleviated by ensuring staff have good working conditions and fair compensation. It’s time for Mount Sinai to play a constructive role.”