Proposed paid sick day plan is not enough during pandemic, critics say

When Nickel Belt NDP MPP France Glinas rose in the legislature Wednesday afternoon to read the names of Ontario health care workers who've died from COVID-19, the province was unveiling a first glimpse at a long-awaited plan for paid sick days.

The Doug Ford government says it willrequire employers to provide three days of sick pay if they are missing work due to COVID-19, and will reimburse the employer, up to $200.

The provincealso says it'sstill willing to top up the Canada recovery sickness benefit by an additional $500 per week something the federal government has already turned down.

For Glinas, Ontario's proposed plan is too little, too late.

"What happened to Mr. Ford, four days ago, telling us that this would be the best paid sick days program in North America? I mean, there's some pretty good ones out there that talkabout 14 paid sick days and that have sickness benefits for longer term because some people are sick longer than this with COVID," she told Up North CBC host Jonathan Pinto.

And some have died including 15 health care workers, whose names she read out in the legislature to mark yesterday's International Day of Mourning. The day is observed on April 28 each year to remember workers who have been killed, injured or suffer illness due to workplace-related hazards and incidents.

"Every single one of those health care workers' deaths could have been prevented, should have been prevented," Glinas told fellow politicians.

"Ontario has one of the best health care systemsin the world. We know infection prevention and control. We know how to don and doff PPE. But those workers did not have access to PPE. These workers did not have access to paid sick days.Today,we mourn for the dead and renew our commitment to the living."

That commitment to the living means more than three paid sick days during a pandemic, she says.

"The bill has not been tabled ... Sometimes there's an ocean between what Mr. Ford says and what Mr. Ford does. So we'll wait to see what the bill actually looks like. But three days, that's not very much.We need14 [in a pandemic], so you have time to book to your test, get your test results and do your 14 days isolation if you test positive."

As for the offer to top up the federal government's recovery sickness benefit, Glinassays that will help few workers.

"For the few people who qualify for this program, it's a good thing to have. But you have to have lost at least half of your wages. You have to have had at least $5,000in wages in the last year.There are so many criteria that very few workers qualify for."

'Not what workers need'

Over at the Sudbury Workers Education and Advocacy Center, executive director Scott Florence says the proposed program is not what they were hoping for.

"It's certainlynot whatworkers need," he said. "Andit's a very, very far cry from the 'best paid sickday plan in NorthAmerica', which is whatDoug Ford saidit would be."

He points out that the proposed program is only for COVID-related illnesses.

"So you feel some symptoms, youtell your boss, 'I've got to go off for COVID-relatedreasons.'You get the test, it comes back negative.Are they going to try and call those days back from you? Legally, they shouldn't be ableto, but it opens up thequestion aroundall of that."

Florence says that becauseit's tied to a particular disease, it doesn't deal with the reality that people get sick for other reasons.

"Low wage workers end up going to work sick with otherillnesses, such asthe commonflu,spreading that through their workforce,which ends up costing employers money when more thanone employeeis sick, unproductive or has to take that time away," he said.

"Paid sick daysactuallybenefitthe economyby increasingworker morale, increasing worker productivity and reducing the number of absenteeism in the workplace."

PSW says plan falls short

Cora Thomas,a part-time personal support worker at a nursing home in North Bay, says she doesn't think the province's plangoes far enough to stoppeople from going to work sick.

"If you're getting three paid sick days, that's not going to cover you for the 14 days that you're off," she said.

"You'llget a paycheck for three shifts, which is not going to pay for anything. You have to work, absolutely. I think it would be a tough decision."

Thomas is in aunion, but doesn't get any sick time under their collective agreement.

Glinassays her party has always advocated for a minimum of sevenpaid sick days for every worker in Ontario.

"But during this particular pandemic, where public health asks you to self isolate for 14 days, then 14 days of paid sick days is what people need. Make it easy for workers to decide to stay home, rather than make their workplace sick."