NDP: Ford must raise PSW wages permanently

QUEEN’S PARK – Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath issued the following statement on the third round of temporary wage increases for some personal support workers (PSWs):

“By refusing to invest the money in a permanent increase in PSW wages Doug Ford continues to undermine the province’s long term care system and is disrespecting these valued and important workers.

Personal support workers are still on the frontlines of the pandemic putting their own health at risk to care for our parents and grandparents, all while battling their own burnout.

Instead of showing these workers that they are valued and permanently paying them a fair wage, Ford is again choosing to do the bare minimum. Ford is choosing to extend a pay top-up scheme that is both time-limited and not enough to raise notoriously low PSW wages.

New Democrats would make sure that personal support workers in all sectors are recognized for the critical work they do. I’ve committed to raising personal support worker wages by $5 per hour and turning precarious part-time and temporary PSW gigs into full-time careers.

Enough is enough – Ford must stop dangling temporary raises in front of these workers and permanently raise PSW wages now.”