Besides bananas, you also need apples and oranges: Pay equity coalition reacts to Seniors’ Advocate report

The New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity welcomes the findings of the What We All Want report by the New Brunswick Seniors’ Advocate. The report argues that increasing wages in long-term care is key to improving worker retention and recruitment. However, the Coalition is concerned that the recommended wages ($22 to $24 per hour) are insufficient. Rather, it urges the government to ensure pay equity, i.e. $25.89 per hour.

Pay equity, equal pay for work of equal value, is like comparing apples to oranges—they’re different, but equally nutritious. With pay equity, we’re comparing women-dominated jobs with men-dominated jobs of the same value—they’re also different, but if their value is comparable, so should be the wages.

The Coalition for Pay Equity conducted job evaluations in 2020 and 2021, then indexed the calculated wages annually. These calculations reveal that in 2024, equitable wages for Personal Support Workers in special care homes and home care amount to $25.89 per hour. “These evaluations were based on the skills, responsibilities, working conditions and effort required for each job,” notes Johanne Perron, the Executive Director of the Coalition.

“The wages recommended in Mr. Lamrock’s report fall short of pay equity, and barely reach a living wage, which ranges from $21.65 to $24.50 per hour according to the Human Development Council,” adds Johanne Perron.

“Since wages are key to solving the sector’s labour crisis, they must be equitable. The government has a duty to respect the right to pay equity for the sector’s workforce, starting with the next provincial budget,” concludes the Coalition Executive Director.