Members of Unifor Local 127 held a rally in front of Riverview Gardens long-term care home on May 28 asking that the province increase pay to all front-line workers in the industry.
Unifor Local 127 president Jeff McFadden said the local protest was one of many rallies held across Ontario advocating that all long-term care workers receive the same $3-an-hour pay hike that personal support workers received during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the pandemic started, he said all front-line workers were called heroes, so “we’re trying to get the province to recognize that.”
McFadden said there are several front-line workers in long-term homes, including laundry, housekeeping, dietary staff and building services, who haven’t received that recognition.
“If they’re not here, our seniors are not getting taken care of,” McFadden said.
Personal support work Lisa McDougall, the Unifor unit chair at Riverview Gardens, said she’s hoping the government will recognize that it takes a team effort to provide such care.
Everyone working in long-term care deserves the same pay increase, she said.
“At the end of the day, some of our dietary staff feed mom and dad, some of our housekeepers feed mom and dad or porter them, or take them to activities,” she said. “They’re just as much a front-line worker as we are.”
McDougall said it is common for long-term care homes to be short staffed, requiring workers to shoulder extra shifts or additional duties, “but we all step up to the place.”
McDougall also argued that a $3-per-hour wage increase would help retain staff in an industry that has been hemorrhaging workers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.