Hospital execs call on province to give all workers pandemic pay
Executives from eight local hospitals are calling on the province to extend pandemic pay to all hospital workers, saying uncertainty surrounding who gets it is affecting morale.
But it doesn’t appear the province will budge.
In an open letter dated May 27, Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand, Brant and Burlington hospital executives — including Rob MacIsaac, president and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences, and Melissa Farrell, president of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (HHS) — urge the province to give the $4 per hour pandemic pay raise to all hospital workers. The hospital brass say they want the change to come into effect before the government finalizes its plans for pandemic pay distribution.
“Unfortunately, the lack of clarity and uncertainty regarding pandemic pay eligibility is impacting the morale of our employees and undermining the recognition they are receiving from our communities,” the leaders write. “We value the efforts of all of our employees and we believe they all deserve recognition for their contributions.”
But a spokesperson for the provincial Treasury Board put a damper on any hopes they’ll all get a pay bump.
“As Premier Ford has said, we wish we could provide pandemic pay to every single front-line worker who has contributed to the fight against COVID-19,” said spokesperson Sebastian Skamski. “However, unfortunately, there is a limit to the amount of funding provided by the federal government through our shared agreement and we are not able to expand the pandemic pay program beyond the over 375,000 employees already deemed eligible.”
On April 25, Premier Doug Ford announced some frontline health-care workers would receive a temporary raise of $4 per hour during the pandemic. It was then to go to 350,000 staff working in environments such as hospitals, correctional facilities and long-term care homes and be in effect for four months.
Many praised Ford, but some workers left off the list of those eligible, such as paramedics, spoke out. Days after the initial announcement, the list was expanded. But some hospital workers are still not eligible. And that’s creating stress, tension and divisions in the workplace, says Dave Murphy, president of CUPE Local 7800, which represents more than 4,200 HHS staff.
“I’ve had a lot of people crying on the phone,” Murphy said. “I think it’s more the recognition and the self-worth that they’re feeling (they’re missing out on) than the money ... They’re just disheartened.”
He was disappointed to hear the province is holding firm.
“I think its unfair to take such a closed view,” he said. “It’s front-line workers who are going to pay the price of the ineptness of Premier Ford.”
Murphy said workers remain confused about two things; if they qualify for a raise and, if they don’t, why not?
He said the province’s guidelines for who gets the pay are vague, with broad categories, and it’s not clear who decides which workers get the pay or how they’ll decide.
Murphy wonders, for instance, about hospital staff who visit patients at their bedside to ask about insurance coverage. They’re called “preferred accommodation” workers. Does that meant they’re considered “client facing reception/administrative workers,” which means they’re included on list of eligible recipients, or not? So far, no money has been handed out.
“The thought was in the right place,” Murphy said of Ford’s initial decision to raise pay. “But it has caused so many problems and issues.”
Local hospital workers rallied two weeks ago outside Hamilton General Hospital to raise the profile of their cause.
Murphy said he was glad to see the hospital executives put their names to the letter asking for everyone to be included.
The leaders state in the letter they are grateful for the additional pay. They just want to see everyone recognized equally.
“Caring for patients in hospitals requires a team of dedicated health-care workers. Everyone plays a role,” said Farrell, president of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton in an email to The Spec. “Our team at St. Joe’s have been doing extraordinary work through this challenging time, and they should all be recognized with this pandemic pay.”