Health care workers who may not be on the frontline say they still deserve the provincial pandemic pay increase as well as better protective gear.
Dieticians, maintenance staff, clerical staff ward clerks and office staff, cleaners and most technologists are among those not receiving the extra pandemic pay from the province.
They are also often not receiving the PPE that nurses and doctors are getting, even though they are putting themselves at risk, says their union.
On Thursday, staff represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) at both St. Joseph’s Health Centre and Guelph General Hospital held rallies outside their facilities, joining others across the province in letting the public know that they feel they are being ignored by the province.
“We all are essential workers,” said Lisa MacLellan, president of CUPE 1033 that represents about 400 non-nursing workers at St. Joseph’s.
“Hospitals, long-term care, community health care … we’re all essential workers and we all deserve pandemic pay.
“It’s important for us to know that we’re essential and we’re noticed because we put everything into what we do here.”
MacLellan said all staff, including the non-frontline staff CUPE represents, deserve N-95 masks, which many aren’t getting.
She said they are waiting for offshore shipment of masks that sometimes don’t arrive.
MacLellan said non-frontline workers have been “forgotten” by the provincial government.
“The government’s decision to call some hospital staff “frontline” and to single them out for the pandemic pay while others are excluded means cooks are considered essential, but dietary aides, who deliver meals to COVID-19 patients, are not, CUPE said CUPE President Michael Hurley in a news release.
“The list of those excluded from pandemic pay includes half the hospital workforce,” Hurley said. “We hope that once the Premier is aware that tens of thousands of hospital staff weren’t included in recognition pay, this will change. Hospitals only run well on teamwork when all staff are doing their part. Everyone should be included in the pandemic pay.”
