Wednesday, May 13, 2020

CLAC Asks Alberta Government to Extend Wage Top-up to All Front-line Workers

Edmonton—CLAC Local 301 represents thousands of Alberta workers in the retail, healthcare, and service sectors. Many of these workers continue to perform essential duties on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic in nursing, retirement homes, and seniors’ lodges.

It was both sensible and necessary to limit these healthcare workers to one facility to help prevent the spread of the virus. However, this has led to reduced earnings for affected employees. Many Alberta healthcare workers must work at more than one facility to make ends meet. Most are feeling financial pressure, in addition to the psychological pressure of having to work on the pandemic’s front lines.

Last month, the province announced wage top-ups for healthcare aides in Alberta of $2 per hour, with extra funding for long term and acute care facilities to hire additional staff. The government also committed to advance $24.5 million to care centre operators to help alleviate immediate cost pressures they have been facing.

CLAC has written to Health Minister Tyler Shandro requesting more details about this funding. We also asked that the plan for the release of the monies be made public before healthcare aides start receiving the wage top-up. Further, we ask the government to consider providing all employees in care facilities and seniors’ lodges with an increase of $2 per hour.

Healthcare aides are often seen as the face of these facilities, but they only operate with the help of housekeeping, laundry, maintenance, dietary, and kitchen employees. They all are restricted from working in more than one facility during this pandemic.

We suggest applying the topping up of wages to all workers in all care facilities and seniors’ lodges as a sensible, fair, and equitable approach.

CLAC Asks Alberta Government to Extend Wage Top-up to All Front-line Workers

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