Tories pass Bill 47: Many worker protections scrapped
November 21, 2018
After months of public outcry to protect Bill 148 and the benefits it brought to working people in Ontario, today the Ford Government passed Bill 47.
This bill rolls back a number of progressive labour laws that protected Ontario’s most vulnerable workers. With this move, the Ford government has proven that his party is not “for the people.” Bill 47 will have a negative impact on millions of people in Ontario.
What does Bill 47 do?
- Eliminates required notification of schedule changes.
- Makes it more difficult to join a union.
- Removes protections for temp agency workers.
- Rolls back the requirement to pay full-time and part-time workers the same wage.
- Allows employers to misclassify workers as contractors, thereby undermining regular employees.
- Eliminates two paid sick days and eight unpaid emergency days.
- Allows employers to demand doctor’s notes for an absence causing more stress on an already strained health care system.
- Withholds the scheduled minimum wage increase to $15 per hour that was due in January 2019.
Bill 47 touches on almost all areas of employment and will cause unnecessary hardship to the working people of Ontario. Ontario workers deserve better from their government. Working people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. But, Bill 47 tramples on workers rights by attacking things that made life easier for the average working person and their family.
Polls have indicated that 60% of Ontarians support a $15 minimum wage. More than 75% support paid sick days and progressive labour laws.
So, who is the Ford government working for? It’s clear that Ford is only interested in taking care of big business while leaving Ontario’s working people out in the cold.
Toronto Star Work and Wealth Reporter, Sarah Mojtehedzadeh wrote a breakdown of how your rights as a worker will change under Bill 47. Read it here.
Read President Haggerty’s earlier statement on Bill 47.