Implement Paid Sick Days Now

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Jerry Dias appears via zoom on a screen at federal paid sick days announcement.
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To Unifor local union leadership and staff in the federally regulated private sector,

Greetings,

Most of you will have heard by now that the federal government passed Bill C-3 late last year, which provides 10 paid days of sick leave per year for workers in the federal sector. Workers will accumulate sick days at the rate of one day per month up to the maximum each year.

While there are some issues with the bill as it currently stands, the introduction of paid sick leave at the federal level is a promising development and something our union has demanded for years. The absence of proper paid sick leave during the pandemic has been especially difficult for workers who have been forced to choose between losing out on wages or coming into work sick. 

However, before workers in the federally regulated sector can start earning their paid sick days, the new provisions have to come into force. The government has said that it needs time to engage with employers to make sure that they are able to implement paid sick leave and to determine if the rules need to be changed for specific classes of workers. 

That’s simply not good enough.

In the middle of the worst wave of COVID-19 so far, the government has a duty and obligation to make sure the implementation of paid sick leave is top of the agenda. 

As part of the package, the government also promised to convene the provinces and territories to make 10 days of paid sick leave universal across the country. Well, that needs to happen fast. Mandatory paid sick leave is absent in most provinces and territories and B.C. leads the way at a paltry 5 paid sick days. 

I recently wrote a letter to the Federal Minister of Labour, Seamus O’Regan, calling on his office to implement paid sick days at the federal level immediately and without exceptions. Employers cannot use regulatory consultations as an opportunity to drag out the implementation of these provisions or to insert so many loopholes that paid sick days are effectively absent for some workers and not others.

Unifor will continue to monitor the developments on this file and we will join our members in keeping up the pressure on the federal government.

Workers cannot afford to wait. We need paid sick days now. 

In solidarity,

Jerry Dias
Unifor National President