Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Increase Pay for Front-Line Healthcare Workers Now

Union warns Ontario government that a coordinated, uniform wage enhancement solution must be implemented immediately to ensure healthcare workers don’t leave when Ontarians need them most

Cambridge, ON—CLAC is calling on the Ontario government to implement a coordinated, uniform wage enhancement solution immediately to ensure that healthcare workers don’t leave when Ontarians need them most. It warns that the window to do something meaningful is closing fast.

Across Ontario, long term care homes are dealing with devastating outbreaks of COVID-19. Staffing shortages have increased stress and strain on workers and residents and possibly contributed to the spread of the disease.

“Most Ontarians are staying home, self-isolating, and practicing physical distancing,” says Michael Reid, Ontario healthcare coordinator and representative with CLAC. “Schools, daycares, and all nonessential businesses are closed. Yet every day, front-line healthcare workers are running toward the fire to care for the sick and the elderly, to test, treat, and support the growing number of Ontarians in our hospitals, nursing homes, and retirement facilities, and even caring for the sick in their homes. In doing so, they risk not only themselves but the well-being of their own families every day by going to work in the highest risk workplaces, while most everyone else is sheltering at home.”

Under Ontario’s emergency orders for long term care facilities, collective agreement rules for scheduling, time off, rest periods, and working hours have been suspended, putting even more pressure on healthcare workers and their families. They also face many additional personal costs to ensure that they themselves are not transmitting the virus to their communities. At the same time, schools, daycares, and other important services are not available to them to help care for their loved ones.

On top of this, the latest emergency order from the government requires healthcare workers to choose only one place of employment. Many of them work part-time because of the limited number of full-time positions available. To make ends meet, they must work at two or more facilities.

“This emergency order, while understandable to prevent the spread of the virus, has put thousands of healthcare workers in a terrible bind,” says Reid. “Their income is declining even as the government supports millions of Canadians through EI and CERB. The $2,000 per month CERB payment from the federal government is more than some healthcare workers will earn, even as they continue working under such extraordinary and dangerous circumstances.”

In Ontario, some long term care employers acting independently are already offering $3 to $4 more per hour to try to retain the workers they have. Several agencies that provide community living support for persons with disabilities are offering $2 more per hour until May 1, as well as reimbursement for taxi expenses and childcare costs.

“It won’t serve the public interest to have employers competing for healthcare workers in this time of crisis,” says Reid. “This is a sector that was already in crisis. CLAC has been ringing alarm bells about worker burnout and low compensation for years.”

Other provinces have stepped up and done the right thing. Quebec increased wages for 300,000 healthcare workers by as much as eight percent. BC has taken on the role of employer for all long term care employees, which has resulted in wage increases of up to $7 per hour. The federal government has indicated that some relief may be coming, but has not said when or what it will entail.

“Ontario long term care homes are being devastated with outbreaks, and still nothing has been done to help those working in them and putting themselves at risk,” says Reid. “If there isn’t an increase in pay now to encourage others to work, and to help those who are working, it will be too late to make much of a difference. The current crisis, which will affect the healthcare sector for many months to come, requires the financial supports necessary to ensure that workers don’t leave when Ontarians need them most.”

Increase Pay for Front-Line Healthcare Workers Now

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