On that issue, I'm not a very popular labour leader, because I ask my membership if they would still want a part-time job if the overtime wasn't there. We spend 18 million hours in overtime--that's 10,000 full-time jobs. One in five nurses works at more than one job, so they have more than one part-time job.
Different provinces have done different work. Manitoba, for example, looked at the 70% recommended for full-time--and that's management's 70%; that's to have a stable workforce. Health care doesn't have it. In your province, for example, it's down to a 36% full-time rate. Can you imagine your office with 36% full-time workers? And you in Alberta have one of the highest levels of overtime, both paid and unpaid. So it is quite scary.
To come back to Manitoba, they've realized from their surveys of nurses and employers that they need 67%. They're gearing up for a 67% full-time ratio. New Brunswick, my home province, is now up to 72%, because they needed to attract young nurses. Young nurses said they needed full-time jobs, and if they didn't get them, they would move to Nova Scotia to get them. So they're up to 72%. They have no casual workers, only full-time and part-time.
Ask them the question: if there were no overtime tomorrow, would you live on half your salary?