Home care: two tier wages introduced in Hamilton

St. Joseph's Home Care in Hamilton (part of the same outfit that runs St Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton) is imposing two tier wages on home care workers. For new home care contracts, Personal Support Workers (PSWs) will earn about 15% less, the Hamilton Spectator reports.

The Spectator expects a new home care system to be introduced in the fall. St. Joseph's believes the new wages will "position" the organization for a wave of new home care contracts. (The current system of compulsory contracting has been under suspension in Ontario for years -- after multiple failures).

St. Joseph's Home Care boss, Kim Ciavarella claims “In the old contracts, we were bidding to be the lowest bidder. That's our decade past. I really see a fundamental shift coming.”

In fact in the old compulsory contracting system, the government also claimed that it wasn't about being the lowest bidder. Despite abundant evidence to the contrary, 'quality,' they kept saying, was paramount.

Now and then, however, one result seems constant: the workers get ....

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