Unifor is calling on the provincial government to bump up the pay of all front line workers even after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Premier Doug Ford earlier in the week promised to maintain the $3 per hour wage increase that was first brought up in October.
“Look at all of these positions to ensure that there’s a pay increase that’s appropriate and fair for people across the board that are more front line than what I think the province ever thought they were,” says Unifor spokesperson Rob Moquin.
Moquin adds a wage increase promise is nice but worker safety is just as crucial going forward.
“It’s about worker protection and worker rights,” noted Moquin. “Those really boil down to making a better working environment for people, which in effect turns into better services for people that are utilizing the services that unionized workers are providing.”
Meanwhile ambulance workers in Thunder Bay are trying to keep up with increased demand for their services.
“The average utilization for an ambulance in our city is upwards of over 80 per cent,” says Moquin. “What that means is that crew and vehicle for their 12 hour shift, 80 per cent of that they are non-stop. They are going from call to call, one on one patient care during offload delays, very little downtime in between or on the way to calls.”
Moquin mentions just a week ago one ambulance was at 105 per cent utilization, which he calls unacceptable and dangerous.
