Hamilton city workers awaiting overtime pay amid ongoing cyberattack: unions

The cyberattack that has plagued many services in Hamilton is now preventing some workers from receiving overtime pay, an issue the city says there is no timeline to remedy.

It’s an issue that is affecting all city workers, which amounts to around 7,000 full-time staff.

The city says it has been unable to access systems needed to provide overtime pay due to the cyberattack.

The president of OPSEU Local 256, which represents around 450 paramedics in Hamilton, is concerned that patient care may be compromised as a result.

Mario Posteraro says there have been staffing issues for a number of years and the city has had the advantage of many of them working overtime.

He is warning that if they begin to refuse working overtime hours, it would lead to parked ambulances and longer response times.

According to Posteraro, it’s been two weeks and two days with no resolve and the union hasn’t received any conclusive information from the city as to when they plan on paying their workers for the extra shifts they have worked.

“Significant, thousands of dollars, I’m getting calls from some paramedic members that are owed $2,500, close to $3,000, numerous shifts are worked and they’re not being paid,” Posteraro said in an interview.

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“A lot of our paramedics rely on the extra shifts to make ends meet, when that pay is not forthcoming they look at options. option one we’re not going to work overtime, option two I can go to a neighbouring municipality where I also work the same shifts there and get paid on time.”

While the staff have been receiving their regular salary, the union says there needs to be a solution reached at the corporate level, even if it means cutting manual cheques.

It’s an issue corroborated by the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, who says it’s not just overtime pay, it’s impacting all types of premium pay.

Eric Tuck adds that on average many of them work 50 to 60 hours which makes a significant difference in their pay cheques.

Tuck says his members have been patient, but some have threatened to stop working overtime if they aren’t getting paid.

City manager Marnie Cluckie says a team of experts is working “around the clock” to solve the issue.

“We are shifting a little bit in terms of moving from response to recovery and rebuild, which is good news. So I’d liken it to an attack on a castle where first thing you do is lift up the draw bridge to protect what’s inside and then you can start to restore systems so that’s where we’re at right now. Where we’re beginning to focus on bringing as many services up online as we can.

The cyberattack was initially discovered on Feb. 25 and has since been confirmed by the city as a ransomware attack.

However, it remains to be unclear when the issue will be resolved and services will return to normal.