Help us win paid sick days for all

Help us win PAID SICK DAYS for all!

Paid sick days save lives. Public health officers, big-city mayors, community and labour organizations are all calling for urgent action to legislate paid sick days.

The evidence shows paid sick days are effective at curbing transmission of infectious disease, including COVID-19.

Yet, 58% of workers across Canada have no paid sick days, and that jumps to over 70% of low-income workers
Even 75% of workers in the service sector, including food services, and 50% in health & social services sectors where the risk of exposure is highest, have no paid sick days
No one should have to choose between staying home sick & paying the bills
Black, Indigenous, and workers of colour are over-represented in low-wage, frontline work & are most at risk of becoming infected
We hear a lot about thanking essential workers, but why is the government not protecting them with paid sick days?

Who to call

Let’s call our elected representatives to demand paid sick days now!

Health Minister Christine Elliott: 416-327-4300
Long-term care Minister Merrilee Fullerton: 613-599-3000
Education Minister Stephen Lecce: 416-325-2600
Premier Doug Ford: 416-325-1941 or 416-745-2859
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton: 416-326-7600
Premier Doug Ford: 416-325-1941 (Premier's office) and/or 416-745-2859 (Constituency office)
Your OWN Conservative MPP: click here, scroll down, and enter your postal code: https://www.ola.org/en/members

Suggested script

(Feel free to change it up and make it your own!)

Hello, my name is _______. I am calling from ________.

I am outraged your party voted against Bill 239 that would have extended paid sick days to all workers. You and Premier Ford are ignoring recommendations from medical officers of health. Any claim your party has listened to and acted on expert advice is false. Your failure has contributed to the 3rd wave of COVID infections, resulting in preventable deaths, harm to our health and the health of the economy.

The very people who don’t have paid sick days at work are also least likely to access the federal sickness benefit. Far from getting both - as Ford suggests when he uses the term “double-dipping” - these workers get nothing.

Because of racism in the labour market, Black, Indigenous, and workers of colour are over-represented in jobs where paid sick days are not provided. By refusing to legislate paid sick days for all workers, you are reinforcing structural racism.

Bill 247 is coming up for a vote this week and would provide 10 employer-paid sick days for all of us. I am calling on you to vote in favour of Bill 247. The vast majority of Ontarians support paid sick days and if you vote against this bill, you will ensure that more workers in this province will die from COVID 19 and its more contagious variants.

Rest assured, if you do not vote for paid sick days in 2021, I and all my friends and neighbours, will be voting for paid sick days in the next election.

Thank you.

Ask a friend to do the same!

After you make your calls, consider phoning 5 of your friends or co-workers, to ask them to make similar calls. Share the url to this page with them, so they know what to do!

Additional Resources

For more information:

Campaign Update