August 10th, 2021
Ford excludes frontline PSWs from pandemic pay
Horwath and the NDP advocate for pandemic pay, plus a permanent wage increase
HAMILTON — A new letter from the Ombudsman confirms that Doug Ford is denying personal support workers (PSWs) in residential care facilities pandemic pay, despite his promises to PSWs.
“Personal support workers in residential care homes have been on the frontlines of the pandemic, putting their own health at risk to support the wellbeing of others,” said Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath. “Ford’s temporary pay top-up for PSWs was already less than the bare minimum. His choice to save money by excluding thousands of PSWs and other healthcare workers across the province is deeply concerning, and seriously unfair to those COVID heroes.”
The letter from the Ombudsman was sent to a personal support worker at Victoria Manor, a publicly funded residential care facility in Hamilton, where an outbreak infected 24 residents and 19 staff. In response to a PSW’s concern that she didn’t receive her pandemic pay, the Ombudsman investigated, and found that many PSW’s were cut off of pandemic pay in August 2020 — before the second or third waves of COVID-19 — and that Ford’s pandemic pay program now “only applies to certain workplaces where PSWs are employed…”
“For decades, Liberal and Conservative governments failed to provide PSWs and other frontline workers fair working conditions and adequate pay that reflects the importance of the incredibly difficult work they do. New Democrats would start to fix this injustice on day one,” said Horwath. “I’ve committed to raise personal support worker wages by $5 per hour, and to turn notoriously part-time and temporary PSW gigs into full-time careers. We will also review all wages and benefits in the sector and ensure all workers a fairly compensated for the work they do.”
