Starting the new year with some good news

As we reflect on the past year, we recognize that the ground has truly shifted in our fight for paid sick days. This is the first year that workers in federally regulated sectors have access to 10 paid sick days. Thanks to your advocacy, almost a million workers in airlines, banking, telecommunications, trucking, and other inter-provincial sectors are now able to stay home if sick. 

2022 was also the year with the highest COVID-19 death rates in Canada. A year when emergency rooms shut down while dealing with a preventable “tripledemic”. A year when children paid the price for the government’s policy failures. 

One of our members, Dr. Naheed Dosani, recently shared with CTV news the frustration health workers are collectively feeling about the government's negligence. Scientific evidence confirms that paid sick days are the best way to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases. Yet, Premier Ford voted against legislating paid sick days for the 28th time.

But here’s the deal - our advocacy efforts were successful in pushing governments across Canada. We successfully pressured British Columbia to legislate five permanent paid sick days. While this is not enough, this raised the confidence of workers across the country to demand better. This year, workers in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Yukon, Ontario, and BC are continuing to demand at least 10 permanent paid sick days. It took each of us sending emails, making phone calls, and tagging policy makers on social media, to move the dial this far. 

And our work is not over. Join Justice for Workers on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 7pm ET for a virtual organizing meeting.  We will share lessons learned from our fight for paid sick days and discuss next steps in advancing decent work in Ontario.

Paid sick days are closer to reality in more provinces and territories across Canada than before. None of this would have happened without your advocacy.