Villa Colombo Personal Care Workers Strike for Paid Sick Days and Benefits

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Personal Care Workers at Villa Colombo Homes for the Aged Inc. are on strike as of Wednesday, May 28. CUPE 5525 members in the Supportive Housing Unit have been negotiating with Villa Colombo for over a year and have reached an impasse with the employer.

"Throughout the pandemic, Villa Colombo staff worked tirelessly to keep residents healthy and safe,” said CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn. “Now the employer is proposing to keep part time workers excluded from existing health benefits and reducing paid sick days for full-timers. Sick employees should not be forced to work with vulnerable residents."

Proper health benefits and paid sick days are crucial to protecting vulnerable residents from infection.

Despite full awareness of the risks of having staff work while sick, Villa Colombo is pushing to reduce paid sick days for full-time workers and keep part-time workers’ sick days at zero. As it stands, workers would be penalized with lost wages by making the responsible decision to stay home when they are ill.

Further, the employer wants to keep part-time workers excluded from existing health and benefits plans and make significant and disruptive changes to the existing scheduling system.

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