TORONTO – Steven Del Duca, Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, made the following statement:
Doug Ford’s actions over the last few months is signalling a pattern of how he will manage Ontario’s economy moving forward – repeatedly he makes decisions where part-time workers suffer and those at the top are protected. We need to pay closer attention to this pattern.
The Ford economy is one where workers are not protected, respected, or fairly compensated for the risk of working on the front lines. Their work is valued less. Some examples:
Paid sick days. Doug Ford says he doesn’t believe in them. This means Ford is putting workers in an impossible situation to choose between paying rent or protecting the health and safety of their workplace.
Migrant Workers. Doug Ford says he won’t mandate mandatory testing. Meanwhile, British Columbia is testing migrant workers. As a result, Mexico has stopped temporary foreign workers from working in Ontario following COVID-19 deaths but has allowed workers in British Columbia. Doug Ford says employers can choose to not have their workers tested – this is not acceptable.
Nurses. While Doug Ford has heaped praise on nurses, and rightly so, his actions have not matched his words. He kept them to a 1% pay increase, which proves that he’s all talk.
Pandemic pay. Within weeks the pandemic pay of health care care workers will expire – destabilizing Ontario’s frontline health care even further. Ultimately, Ford is not supporting our most vulnerable who have taken care of us and deserve decent pay and benefits. Plus – he has still not provided these workers with adequate safety equipment.
Ford has still not paid out the pandemic pay for healthcare workers. There are 375,000 healthcare workers on the frontlines who were promised extra pay but have not received one penny.
Doug Ford intends to dismantle class action lawsuits in Ontario, a move that could protect big corporations at the expense of Ontarians, and he has suddenly lost his voice on cuts to hero pay for front line workers in the private sector.
Doug Ford should be fighting for everyone. He should be making it easier for families and workers to get ahead.
If Doug Ford doesn’t change things, I will.