VANCOUVER -- Many of British Columbia’s frontline workers, promised a pay bump of $4 an hour in May, are still waiting for their cheques, and the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union says they may not get it until the new year.
Then-finance minister Carole James said the temporary pandemic pay would benefit up to 250,000 workers across the province, for hours worked from March to July. It was funded by both the provincial and the federal governments, and intended for workers in hospitals, jails, long-term and assisted living facilities, safe injection sites and supportive housing – 1,500 employers overall.
“Their morale, when they heard about the program, increased,” says Stephanie Smith, president of the BCGEU, which represents some of the workers. “Because they felt seen, they felt heard – it was an acknowledgement of the risk that they were putting themselves in.”
Frontline workers who reached out to McLaughlin On Your Side said they had planned to use the money to pay off debt or secure housing. And while some of the cheques have gone out, many workers have not received the money.
“Here we are, seven months later, and now with the second wave of COVID and a long winter ahead of us, they’re feeling invisible. They’re feeling unheard,” Smith says.
What went wrong? The office of the new minister of finance, Selina Robinson, says the submission deadline for employers to submit hours worked during the March to July period wasn’t until Oct. 31 – just after the provincial election when her predecessor stepped down.
“Eligible employees who have not yet received the top-up will begin to see temporary pandemic pay reflected in their pay in the coming weeks,” the ministry said in a statement. “We appreciate the patience of both employees and employers throughout the program’s duration.”
But some are not so patient.
“We’re now hearing that some of our members may not see this money until January,” Smith says. “We’re coming very close now to Christmas, and it’s disappointing for them not to see this recognition of the work that they’re doing.”
According to the ministry, 134,000 of the 250,000 eligible workers have received their pay-outs so far, totalling $211 million.
