It's hard to believe but @fordnation, @MonteMcNaughton, @celliottability have managed to design a #PaidSickDays scheme that leaves low-wage workers WORSE off. Here's why:

The new scheme does guarantee workers their regular pay for up to 3 consecutive days. BUT workers cannot receive both the WIPB and the CRSB in the same week, so those who must stay home for the whole week will still be forced to take unpaid days, while forgoing federal CRSB.

For minimum wage earners, this is devastating. Regular gross pay for an #ONpoli worker earning $14.25 for a 7-hour day amounts to $99.75. For 3 sick days, that same worker would receive their regular gross pay of $299.25 for the entire week, LESS than the gross $500 CRSB.

In other words, the worker who stays home, gets tested, learns they have COVID and must therefore continue to stay home, will LOSE more than $200 in gross weekly income under @fordnation, @MonteMcNaughton, @celliottability plan.

In fact, a worker would have to earn about $23 an hour and work a full 7-hour work day just to break even between the provincial WIPB scheme and the flawed federal CRSB.

Once again, low-wage racialized workers whose communities are being hardest hit by COVID-19 are being left behind. Far from "having our back" as Ford claims, low wage workers on the frontline are WORSE off.

While the program shortchanges the lowest paid workers who are least likely to have paid sick days, the WIPB represents a massive public subsidy to grossly profitable corporations like Loblaws, Amazon, and Walmart who don't offer permanent paid sick days.

We'll say it again: Workers need at least 10 legislated, employer-paid sick days NOW and always! How many more workers - and children - will die before @fordnation, @MonteMcNaughton, @celliottability just do their job and get it done?