OPSEU/SEFPO Local 393 home care workers to picket ParaMed Head Office in Barrie

BARRIE, ON, Jan. 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Home care workers employed by Simcoe/Muskoka ParaMed Home Health Care will be picketing their employer's head office in Barrie to tell them that poverty pay won't cut it as they count down to a strike.

Rally date:          Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Time:                   3:00 p.m.
Location:            Outside ParaMed Head Office, 231 Bayview Avenue, Barrie, L4N 4Y8

Local 393 President Cheryl Bumstead and Staff Representative/Negotiator Greg McVeigh will be present at the rally and available for media comment.

ParaMed receives 99% of its funding from government contracts. It is owned by for-profit giant Extendicare, which made $1.2 billion in revenue in 2021. Their revenue increased in the third quarter of 2022 by 8.7%.

Quick facts:

• ParaMed home care workers are members of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 393. They are Personal Support Workers (PSWs) and Home Support Workers (HSWs).
• The home care workers will be in a legal strike position at 12:01 a.m., January 27, 2023.
• The workers currently earn between $16.67 and $19.70 per hour. They are asking for a 2.5% increase per year during a period of record inflation.
• The employer has offered an insulting 8 cents per hour in the first year to the lowest paid workers, and no increase at all for three years to those who earn $19.70 per hour.

January 12, 2023 News Release:

• Countdown to strike deadline for Simcoe/Muskoka ParaMed home care workers

SOURCE Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO)

Media contacts: Cheryl Bumstead, OPSEU/SEFPO Local 393 President and Bargaining Team Chair, 705-345-0858; Greg McVeigh, OPSEU/SEFPO Staff Representative/Negotiator, 705-238-0511, [email protected]