PSWs deserve a permanent raise, and full-time jobs: Horwath

Months late, Ford delivers just six months of discounted pandemic pay

QUEEN’S PARK — Personal Support Worker (PSW) jobs should be full-time, and permanently far-better paid, said Official Opposition leader Andrea Horwath following an incredibly disappointing announcement Thursday that Doug Ford will not give PSWs a long-promised raise.

PSWs will receive either $2 or $3 per hour, temporarily, during the second wave. Other health care workers they work side-by-side with will get nothing. During the first wave, most essential workers — but not all — received a $4 hourly pandemic pay bump. Meanwhile, because Ford was trying to save money, the province failed to recruit PSWs over the summer, leaving long-term care dramatically understaffed even as a second wave grows in Ontario.

“How dare Doug Ford call PSWs heroes, then deny them even a decent wage for their work,” said Horwath. “How dare he call them heroes, then force them to keep working three jobs to make ends meet.

“PSWs are run off their feet, doing incredibly challenging work. Their jobs take a massive physical, mental and emotional toll. They deserve a permanent wage increase, full-time jobs, and benefits. And the people they care for deserve for them to have that stability, too. All essential workers deserve pandemic pay during the second wave – no exceptions — and for the sake of our loved ones in care and for generations to come, all PSWs should have decent, well-paying jobs.”

Thousands of PSWs have left their jobs, and long-term care homes are understaffed even more than when the COVID-19 crisis began.

“Because Ford was trying to save some money, the province is now scrambling again,” said Horwath. “A massive staff-up in long-term care, home care and hospitals should have been done months ago.”