RELEASE

A State of Emergency Isn’t Enough: Health providers and frontline workers call for paid sick days to protect their lives 

(Toronto, Jan 13, 2021) - Doctors, nurses, public health professionals and frontline workers gathered in front of Queen’s Park on Wednesday for a “die-in” calling on the Ford government to urgently implement paid sick days. Despite calls from health experts across the country, including Dr. Theresa Tam and Dr. Eileen de Villa, Premier Ford’s announcement Tuesday again failed to introduce paid sick days. 

“Paid sick days are a health imperative - I see that clearly in my practice,” said Carolina Jimenez, a registered nurse, public health professional, and coordinator of the Decent Work and Health Network. “Many of my patients are under immense pressure to continue working despite being sick. The medical community has been calling for paid sick days long before the pandemic -- because they are a proven way to curb the spread of all types of infectious diseases.”

“If this government really wants to protect the public and save lives,” continued Jimenez, “it needs to start listening to health experts.”

“For Premier Ford to suggest that the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit is a replacement for paid sick days is sorely out of touch with the reality of the workers who’ve kept our society running under lockdown,” said Deena Ladd, executive director of the Workers’ Action Centre. “What we hear everyday from workers is that they can’t afford to miss a single day’s pay. Workers are struggling to support their families, so if they start to notice symptoms they’re faced with this impossible choice between staying home and getting tested or going to work and getting paid.” 

A recent report on paid sick days by the Decent Work and Health Network shows that 58% of workers across Canada do not have a single paid sick day, and that number jumps to over 70% for workers making under $25,000 or less. “It’s absolutely an unfair situation that we are putting low-wage, mostly racialized workers in,” continued Ladd. “They’re most likely to contract the virus and least likely to have protections like paid sick days.”

“I am a former cleaner of 8 years, and I work now to support many people who work in cleaning who are undocumented,” said Veronica Zaragoza, “Many workers from my community are doing the jobs that no one wants to do, cleaning grocery stores and medical buildings at night, and being paid very low wage with absolutely no paid sick days. Most of these cleaners are like me, racialized, immigrant workers, and some are undocumented and extremely vulnerable to labour exploitation.”

“We need access to protections like paid sick days, regardless of our immigration status,” emphasized Zaragoza, “What we don’t need is to be harassed by police and bylaw officers when we are going to work late at night or coming home early in the morning. COVID-19 is spreading through our community not because we are irresponsible, but because we are being exposed at work and denied the protections that could save our lives.”

“Telling the public to “stay home when you’re sick” without providing them with adequate paid sick days is like giving patients a prescription they can’t afford to fill,” said Dr. Jesse McLaren, an emergency physician in Toronto. “Cases are at an all-time high with even more grim case projections coming in. We’re doing everything we can as health workers to protect our patients and the public, but our ERs are full and we need the provincial government to equip workers with paid sick days so they can protect themselves.” 

There is a growing consensus across sectors of the need for paid sick days, with calls coming from doctors, nurses, Ontario mayors, educators, parents, care workers, nonprofits, warehouse workers, and many more. 

“When a public institution like the University of Toronto fails to provide paid sick days for every single employee, it’s obvious we need legislation to force employers to comply,” said Nick Marchese, Casual Unit President, USW Local 1998 (University of Toronto). “The University of Toronto is perhaps the richest post secondary institution in Canada. The fact it still employs workers without paid sick days and benefits is a disgrace.”