BRAMPTON — NDP Deputy Leader and Long-Term Care critic Sara Singh issued the following statement:
"The NDP has been fighting for PSWs. We believe pandemic pay should be paid to all PSWs — not just some. We’ve been fighting for pandemic pay to be permanent, and to be topped up to a $5 per hour increase. We’ve been fighting for PSW jobs to be permanent, full-time careers, instead of the part-time, and temp-agency gigs they often are now. And we’ve been fighting for many thousands of new PSWs to be hired and trained so that every resident in long-term care can have four dedicated hours of hands on care every day and home care can finally be fixed. This is urgent, and Doug Ford has been stalling and low-balling for years while long-term care residents, patients and home care clients have suffered.
Ford’s PCs voted against making PSW pay permanent in March 2021. If Doug Ford is backtracking on that, we’ll need to take a close look at any legislation that comes forward.”
Background
Bill 266, the Support Workers Pay Act, was tabled by NDP MPP Jamie West (Sudbury) and defeated by the Ford government on March 31, 2021.