The province’s COVID-19 Essential Worker Support Program is a disappointment to many NAPE members according to President Jerry Earle.

Premier Dwight Ball and Finance Minister Tom Osborne announced over $66-million yesterday to be paid out to essential workers who fall under certain criteria.

Earle says many of the workers who will receive this money are low-income workers but that leaves out a lot of other essential workers. He says many members believe that very few of them will see any recognition from the program.

Debbie Forward, president of the Registered Nurses Union, is also concerned that her members who are on the front lines every day will go unnoticed by the program.

She says it is unfair to see individuals who are on the frontlines of healthcare caring for COVID-19 patients not get the same payment as other essential workers.

Earle says employers that should already be compensating their employees properly are going to take a piece of this money for themselves—to the tune of about $6-million. The NAPE president says many employers are already doing pretty well.