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March 26, 2018
TORONTO- The Ontario Liberals' last budget before the June 2018 provincial election must address inequality and the crisis in care, says Unifor.
“Workers are looking for a provincial budget that builds off the advances that we have won in recent years and refuses to shy away from universal public programs that will build a more equitable society,” said Naureen Rizvi, Unifor Ontario Regional Director. “We have lobbied for legislation that raises wages and protects the most vulnerable members of our society but we’re not done yet, and Unifor members are not ready to slow down.”
In a pre-budget submission, Unifor proposed solutions that would address Ontario’s health care crisis and improve conditions for working families including;
- Establishing a minimum standard of care in long-term-care including four hours of daily direct care,
- Restoring hospital funding with a multi-year increase of five per cent per year,
- Widening access to pharmaceuticals through a universal pharmacare program, and
- Ensuring that families have access to public child care and that no one is turned away because of cost.
Unifor also asks that the provincial government step up and act to address inequality and make gender equity a priority. The gender wage gap currently sits at approximately 30 per cent and is much higher for racialized and Indigenous women.
“Women face different barriers when pursuing safe, meaningful work and those barriers must be directly targeted. The government should act to confront the inequality that women experience through a strengthened Pay Transparency Act, universal and accessible public child care, increased funding for public services and by making it easier to join a union,” continued Rizvi.
Rizvi will be available for comment to the 2018 Ontario Budget at Queen’s Park on Wednesday, March 28. To see the progress that Unifor members in Ontario are fighting for in this coming election, visit uniforvotes.ca.
For further information please contact Unifor Communications National Representative Sarah McCue at @email or 416-458-3307 (cell)
