Many Nurses in Ontario May Be Unable To Get Paid Sick Days Because of Doug Ford’s Bill 124
PressProgress talks to Steven Barrett about Bill 124
Press Progress spoke to Steven Barrett about the potential effects of Bill 124, the so-called “Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act.” Bill 124 would limit public sector compensation increases to one per cent each year. Steven explained the impact this legislation is likely to have on nurses and other health care workers.
“Compensation” — as made explicit in the act — includes salaries, “discretionary non-discretionary payments”, and benefits — including paid sick days, experts warn.
Steven Barrett, a labour lawyer with Goldblatt Partners, estimates the cost of paid sick days would be about 0.4% of salaries.
Extending paid sick days to those workers “would invariably exceed the 1% compensation cap after the capped 1% salary increase,” Barrett told PressProgress. The result, he said, is that the current cap makes it effectively “impossible” for unions to bargain for increased sick leave coverage.