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May 30, 2012 - No. 80
Employment Insurance Reforms
Reject Sweeping Anti-Social Reforms! No
to Harper Government's Forced Labour Regime!
- Workers' Centre of CPC(M-L) -
Employment
Insurance
Reforms
• Reject Sweeping Anti-Social Reforms! No to
Harper Government's Forced Labour Regime! - Workers' Centre
of CPC(M-L)
• Criminalizing Unemployed Workers to Enslave
the Working Class - Jim Nugent
• New Discretionary Powers for Human Resources
Minister - Peggy Askin
• Canada's Employment Insurance -- Low Coverage
and Low Benefits
Canadians Take a Stand
• Quebec Organizations Denounce Employment
Insurance Measures
• Picket at Diane Finley's Office
• Alberta Federation of Labour Opposes Harper
Government's New Rules for Hiring Temporary Foreign Workers
• Actions Held at Conservative MPs' Offices
Protest Wage Decrease for Migrant Workers
For Your Information
• Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
News Release -- Extract
Employment Insurance Reforms
Reject Sweeping Anti-Social Reforms!
No to Harper
Government's Forced Labour Regime!
- Workers' Centre of CPC(M-L) -
On May 24, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley held a
press conference in which she revealed more about the Harper
dictatorship's sweeping changes to Employment Insurance (EI). With each
announcement the full extent of the despicable slave labour agenda is
further revealed, and the necessity to oppose it.
 Bill C-38, the omnibus
budget bill which is expected to
pass before Parliament's summer recess, gives the Human Resources
Minister new discretionary powers. It repeals the sections of the Employment
Insurance
Act that define the terms "suitable employment" and a
"reasonable job search." The
precise regulations will not be revealed until after the legislation
has passed, but Finley has now revealed the main features. Unemployed
workers will be divided into three categories defined as long-tenured
workers, frequent claimants, and occasional claimants. The category in
which a worker is placed will determine
what kind of job search they are required to carry out and how low the
bar will be set in determining the wages they must accept or be cut off
EI benefits.
During the first six weeks of EI benefits, frequent
claimants must accept work in a similar occupation at 20 per cent less
than they were earning when laid off. Then they will have to accept any
job with wages up to 30 per cent lower than they were earning.
Occasional claimants have six weeks to find a job in
their own occupation and must accept a wage reduction of up to 10 per
cent. After six weeks they must look for work in a similar occupation
with a 20 per cent wage cut, and after 18 weeks they have to take any
job at up to 30 per cent less.
Long-tenured workers have 18 weeks to find work in their
own occupation at 90 per cent of previous earnings, and then must look
for work in a similar occupation at 80 per cent of previous
earnings.
Six criteria will be used to determine what is "suitable
employment" -- personal circumstances, working conditions, commuting
time, hours of work, type of work and hourly wage, all defined under
regulations. (See FYI below).
All of this can be changed at any time without going
through Parliament, making it crystal clear that the Harper
dictatorship is setting no limits on its agenda to dismantle the EI
system. Yet another crucial aspect of Canadians' lives is now subject
to the arbitrary powers of the executive acting in the service of
monopoly "right."
When this announcement is linked to the announced
changes to the temporary foreign workers' program which will allow
employers to hire at wages 15 per cent below the industry rate, the
full extent of the assault and its intent emerges. It shows a
government hell-bent on lowering everyone's standard of living
and imposing forced labour on Canadian workers.
When an employer applies for a Labour Market Opinion
(LMO) or Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO), they must show that
they have made efforts to hire a Canadian worker. In the past, this was
treated as a mere formality requiring only a token effort at
advertising. Now the government will actually
link the LMO request with EI recipients. In other words, employers can
post a job at 15 per cent below the industry standard, and EI
recipients will be directed to apply or lose their EI, even if the job
pays up to 30 per cent less than they were earning before being laid
off.
Minister Finley did not even say that already less than
40 per cent of unemployed workers are eligible for EI, so stringent and
arbitrary are the criteria. New more stringent and arbitrary criteria
will only make things worse. To enforce these measures to deprive
Canadians of income when they are unemployed
and institute what amounts to a forced labour regime, the Harper
dictatorship has also abolished the existing EI appeals board.
 In the press conference,
Minister Finley repeated the
preferred lie of the Harper government according to which the problem
in the Canadian economy is the so-called unprecedented labour shortage
in the country. There are tons of jobs just waiting to be filled by
people who don`t want to take them, she said.
Recent Statistics Canada data show that there are six unemployed
workers in Canada for every job vacancy. Neither Finley nor Finance
Minister Jim Flaherty who says that every job is a "good job" want to
discuss the real world. In this real world, the government has given
the monopolies a free hand to wreck
manufacturing, shut down whole sectors of the economy and crater
productive enterprises if it suits their global strategy to grab more
wealth at the expense of the workers and their communities. It is not
the workers who decided to shut down factories, mines, mills and other
enterprises or move them out of Canada.
At the same time the Harper dictatorship is directly destroying public
enterprise, including eliminating more than 19,000 jobs in the federal
public service alone. But no, instead of holding these monopolies to
account, standing up for workers and their communities, and doing its
duty to develop public enterprise to
provide the services that Canadians need, the Harper dictatorship has
launched yet another vicious attack on workers' rights.
Seventy-five per cent of all temporary foreign workers
work in low-paid jobs in the service sector. Another important sector
is in seasonal work especially in agriculture, fish canneries etc. One
intent of the EI changes is to force workers off EI and into these jobs
which pay far less than a living wage, much less
a Canadian standard.
 Another important aim is to meet the demands of
owners
of capital in the oil sands, Plan Nord and the Ring of Fire and other
resource-extraction projects across Canada. They see opportunity in the
plight of unemployed workers. They do not want to pay a Canadian
standard wage and provide benefits and pensions
to provide security in retirement. They do not want workers organized
in their collectives and able to defend themselves and fight for wages,
benefits, pensions and working conditions which they decide are
acceptable. The announced changes to EI are intended as union-busting
measures to force these workers to
work non-union or company union or lose their EI benefits.
Reducing the standard of living of the workers further
contributes to the crisis in the economy, but this is no concern of the
owners of capital either. These owners of capital claim monopoly
"right" to make all the decisions. They want the state to come to their
aid to provide not just cheap labour but slave labour.
The Harper government is complying, "helping" workers to find work --
an
offer in the style of a mafia Godfather.
This is an attack on all Canadians with the aim of
lowering the standard of living and working conditions of all. Forced
labour and modern-day slavery are not acceptable. Further, these
measures will only deepen the crisis. The situation requires new ways
of thinking and organizing so that Canadians stand as
one in defence of the rights of the unemployed workers, against forced
labour and modern-day slavery and in defence of the rights of all.
Criminalizing Unemployed Workers to
Enslave the Working Class
- Jim Nugent -
Some of the content of new regulations and
administrative measures
on Employment Insurance (EI) announced by the Harper government on May
24 amount to wholesale degradation of this social security program that
millions of workers rely on when they are laid off or lose their jobs
through no fault of their
own. The changes will impose destitution on unemployed workers by
denial of EI benefits and in this way give employers unfettered tyranny
in dictating terms of employment to unemployed workers. This
enslavement of unemployed workers puts increased downward pressure on
the standard of living of the working
class, increased pressure for workers to submit to monopoly dictate and
serves the government's aggressive global ambitions.
 In an exercise of shameless
political trickery, Human Resources and
Skills Development (HRSDC) Minister Diane Finley in making the
announcement said changes in EI are necessary because of "labour
shortages." This is an astounding claim when there is a severe shortage
of jobs in the economy. There are
1.4 million unemployed workers in Canada. Among young workers joining
the work force the unemployment rate is 14 per cent, with 400,000
looking for work. There are also three million more part-time workers
many of whom want full-time jobs. Finley is not only providing a
fraudulent excuse for dismantling
EI, she is covering up the Harper government's failure to ensure the
livelihoods of the people.
The HRSDC Minister also suggested that the Canadian EI
system is
somehow too generous. This too is a completely ridiculous claim.
Canada's support for unemployed workers is far below the standards in
other modern industrialized countries and far below what is required by
Canadian workers to maintain
themselves and their households while looking for work. Sixty per cent
of unemployed workers are receiving no benefits at all from EI.
In its 2012 Budget Implementation Bill C-38 the Harper
government
gave itself a blank cheque to write up regulations regarding a wide
range of issues affecting daily life for Canadians without having to
come back to Parliament for approval. This includes increased executive
power for the HRSDC Minister
to write up regulations and to create administrative functions for the
EI system, which HRSDC is now rolling out.
The Harperites' attack on unemployed workers takes two
forms:
changes in the eligibility requirements to receive EI benefits and
changes in the administrative apparatus for policing EI claims and
appealing decisions. The strategy of the government is emerging
clearly. The government is creating a wall of totally
unacceptable rules that unemployed workers have to climb over to
qualify for benefits. Along with these rule changes a new
administrative regime is being put in place to aggressively police and
enforce the multitude of new rules with the aim of criminalizing
unemployed workers and unjustly disqualifying them
from benefits. The apparatus for workers appealing arbitrary or
incorrect decisions on claims is also being dismantled.
Among the eligibility requirements being changed is a
redefinition
of what HRSDC deems to be "suitable work" unemployed workers have to
make themselves available for in order to qualify for benefits.
According to HRSDC it is suitable for workers to accept wages between
10 and 30 per cent below previous
wages (depending on work history and length of claim) and wages below
prevailing wages, to commute up to two hours a day (and even longer for
some cities), to accept any shift or schedule demanded by employers and
to accept any kind of job available. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty
clarified the government's
anti-worker definition of "suitable work" in press interviews when he
said "any job is a good job."
HRSDC has also unveiled a broad range of administrative
measures
that will be connected to existing and new eligibility requirements.
Several administrative measures will establish rigid definitions of
what is an acceptable job search, including criteria for "intensity of
job search efforts, type of work being sought
and evidence of job search efforts." Linkage will be made by HRSDC
between EI and the applications of employers for Temporary Foreign
Worker (TFW) program permits, requiring EI claimants to apply for jobs
listed by TFW employers in their labour market opinion process. EI will
communicate 3 job postings
per day to workers receiving EI benefits. Workers will also be harassed
with commands to attend job search workshops, job fairs, job search
training and other farcical "job search" activities. Frequent EI
interviews will also be imposed on the unemployed.
Each redefined eligibility requirement and
administrative measure is
an opportunity for the enforcement wing of EI to trip up, criminalize
and disqualify unemployed workers. EI enforcement will have an almost
infinite array of opportunities to deem that an unemployed worker has
refused suitable work or has
not carried out an adequate job search. A worker without a late model
car, for example, could be deemed to have refused suitable work by not
being able to commute 10 hours a week. Each job posting, EI email, or
job fair invitation received by a claimant will be another opportunity
for EI enforcement to deem
a worker as having an inadequate job search. In a media interview on
May 20, HRSDC Minister Diane Finley said that the EI Integrity Unit (EI
police) will be significantly beefed up to carry out aggressive
enforcement of the eligibility and administrative criteria being rolled
out.
While the opportunity for criminalizing and
disqualifying workers
from receiving benefits is being expanded, the possibility for
unemployed workers to appeal arbitrary or incorrect decisions by EI
administration will be severely choked off. There are two levels of
appeal currently available to unemployed workers
who disagree with EI administrative decisions regarding their claims,
An appeal can be made to the Employment Insurance Board of Referees, a
tripartite board with 1,000 members available to hear cases in informal
sessions where workers usually represent themselves and where decisions
are usually made within
a month. Referee board decisions can also be appealed to a claims
appeal umpire.
This system, which currently hears 26,000 appeals a
year, will be
abolished and replaced by a newly created Social Security Tribunal
which will have only 37 officers to hear cases for the whole country.
The hearings will be formal judicial proceedings where workers
appealing decisions will usually require a
lawyer. It is expected that long wait times, need of a lawyer and other
barriers in the appeals procedure will result in many unemployed
workers abandoning their claims following unjust administrative
decisions, leaving them destitute.
 The Harper government's attacks on unemployed workers'
right to a
decent livelihood while searching for work will result in a sharp
reduction of federal government social program spending, making more
government revenue available to hand over in pay-the-rich schemes and
for its military spending programs.
When the Chretien-Martin government slashed EI benefits in 1993, this
quickly resulted in a $54 billion surplus in the EI fund which Martin
seized to create his deficit reduction "miracle". Harper's attack on
the unemployed will yield a similar windfall for the rich, but there is
more on Harper's agenda. He has set
his sights on delivering workers bound and gagged to where they are
required by the international monopolies operating in Canada.
The HRSDC press release on the changes to EI states:
"While
Canadians receiving EI benefits would not be required to accept
available work outside a reasonable [sic] commuting distance, job
postings from different regions will be sent to them each day so they
were aware of all available work in their chosen
(or related) occupation across Canada." Here is the intent, the same
intent that several Harper cabinet ministers have expressed in recent
months - workers, go to where you are needed by the international
monopolies. HRSDC will make workers destitute with its EI strategy and
having no means of surviving between
jobs, workers will have no choice but to leave their homes and
communities and follow the government's advice.
The attack on unemployed workers is part of the scheme
of the
Harperites to totally enslave the working class and make workers submit
to the dictate of the international monopolies operating in Canada and
of other employers -- to force workers to go where they are required,
when they are required and to accept
any terms of work offered. These attacks on unemployed workers are part
of the overall anti-worker offensive of the government that includes
criminalizing workers' struggles and organizations, criminalizing all
forms of resistance and dissent and eliminating every form of social
security for working people.
The Harperites have no commitment to the public interest
represented
by such programs as old age security, health services and support for
unemployed workers. Instead they are deeply committed to strengthening
the so-called competitive position of the monopolies they serve and to
scrambling for their global
dominance within the U.S. imperialist sphere of interest. As has
already been shown in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Haiti and Libya, the
Harper government, like the Chretien and Martin governments before it,
have put Canada on the path of conflict, war and occupation.
The Harperites' attempts to subjugate the working class
are to
further put Canada on a war footing where the needs of the monopolies
involved in war production, including the provision of strategic
resources, will require an enslaved workforce. The HRSDC plan for
creating a nightmare of insecurity for laid
off and unemployed workers lays the groundwork for a forced labour
program which is a key element in this. The time to oppose and stop
this is now.
New Discretionary Powers for
Human Resources Minister
- Peggy Askin -
 The sweeping changes
announced by Human Resources
Minister Diane Finley to the Employment Insurance (EI) program are
expected to be implemented through regulations that take effect at the
beginning of 2013. Bill 38, the omnibus "budget" bill repeals the
sections of the Employment Insurance Act that define the
terms "suitable employment" and what
constitutes a "reasonable effort" to find work. These two criteria are
critical in determining if EI recipients keep their benefits or are cut
off. They will now be defined by the Minister via regulations and
changed at will according to whatever justifications
the Harper government says will serve the economy.
On the basis of her new arbitrary powers to define
"suitable employment" and "reasonable effort," Minister Finley
announced measures to increase state harassment of unemployed workers,
including forcing them to prove that they are looking for a new job on
a daily basis and spying on them. From now on,
EI recipients are to be assessed to see if they can keep their benefits
based on criteria such as personal circumstances and commuting time.
Personal circumstances include the recipient's health and family
obligations. Who will determine if the health of an EI recipient allows
him or her to take a job? Such determinations
will require apparatus additional to what is currently in place to
assess health, family obligations and other personal circumstances and
whether workers are to be cut off their EI benefits. Commute time is
included as a criteria. Minister Finley stated that this would normally
be one hour, but could be more. In other
words, it is whatever the Minister of Human Resources decrees. Forcing
EI recipients to move is on the agenda because as part of regulations,
what constitutes a reasonable commute can be changed at will by the
Minister within the overall stated aim of "connecting Canadians to the
available jobs."
Other criteria introduced to contribute to the new
definition of suitable employment are the type of work and wages, and
will take into account claimants' EI history and the duration of their
benefits. These can also be changed at any time by decree of the Human
Resources Minister.
The arbitrary use of the executive power is further
strengthened by the fact that the current appeals mechanisms and the
existing tribunals which hear appeals when a worker's EI claim is
denied or cut off will be abolished and replaced with a tribunal, which
will no doubt consist of hand-picked political hacks
who will defend monopoly right.
All of these measures which increase the arbitrary
powers of the executive and render the Parliament and political
institutions even more dysfunctional are being carried out in the
service of private interest which are being politicized, while the
public interest is depoliticized. This subservience to the dictate of
the
most powerful monopolies shows the need for political renewal and a new
direction for the economy that does not put all the assets of the
country at the disposal of the cartels of giant monopolies. Their plans
to turn the working class into a dehumanized slave labour force must
not pass!
Canada's Employment Insurance --
Low Coverage and Low Benefits
Canada's unemployment insurance system lagged far behind
those in other industrialized countries until it was modernized in
1971. Since then successive governments have steadily eroded benefits
and increased restrictions on claims, including major cuts to benefits
by the Mulroney government and the Chretien-Martin
government. Benefits require longer qualifying periods, are available
for shorter periods and the benefits are smaller. At any given time,
only 40 per cent of unemployed workers are receiving EI benefits,
compared to 86 per cent coverage in 1976. Only 12 per cent of wages
lost by unemployed workers are replaced
by EI benefits, the lowest of any of the industrialized countries. (See
graphs below)
As well as changes to the EI system, deterioration of
the economy has also resulted in fewer and fewer workers being covered
by benefits when they are unemployed. Unemployed workers run out of
benefits during long periods of unemployment resulting from the
destruction of manufacturing and other sectors
(especially in single industry towns) and because the long periods of
jobless recovery that now follow recessions. The increase in short term
precarious work, the increase in part-time work and long EI qualifying
periods for immigrant workers are also factors in the low coverage of
unemployed workers by EI. The
changes to EI being imposed by Harper will make the situation much
worse. The Harper government is turning the clock back to even lower
levels of support for unemployed workers than the totally inadequate
levels of the '50s and '60s.
Canadians Take a Stand
Quebec Organizations Denounce
Employment Insurance Measures
 On May 11, Quebec trade
union centrals -- the Quebec
Federation of Labour (FTQ), the Confederation of National Trade Unions
(CSN), Quebec House of Labour (CSQ), and the Congress of Democratic
Trade Unions (CSD) -- issued a joint statement in concert with the Bloc
Quebecois and NDP that denounced
the undemocratic way in which Bill C-38, the omnibus budget bill, is
being forced through Parliament. In particular, the statement
highlights the groups' denunciation of the proposed changes to the
Employment Insurance program.
The statement points out that under a pretext of
cost-cutting, the government plans to abolish the current appeals
mechanisms and the existing tribunals, and replace them with a Social
Security Tribunal. Calling into question its pretext of cost savings,
the groups point out that not only has the government not
shown why such changes are necessary but the system is entirely funded
by workers and their employers -- the federal government has not paid a
cent into the system since 1990.
Regarding the effect of the
proposed changes, the groups stated that the change to a Social
Security Tribunal will restrict the ability of EI recipients to appeal
decisions of the EI Commission and thus limit access to justice. They
state that the present system of tribunals and appeal mechanisms is
working and
should not be replaced, noting that every year, 27,000 cases are dealt
with by appeal boards and 2,300 are dealt with at the second level of
appeal by judge-arbitrators.
While the bill contains no information on the criteria
by which members of the proposed tribunal would be chosen, because of
the government's preoccupation with cost-savings, the groups expect
that any new tribunal and appeals system will be much more restrictive.
In addition to restricting access to the appeal process,
the new mechanisms would specifically discourage workers who represent
themselves in the appeal process, which constitutes about 85 to 90 per
cent of appeals.
Similarly, all indications are the new tribunal would
have fewer locations than at present for hearings, requiring EI
claimants to travel further at greater expense or for greater use of
video conferences."From our experience we know that all cases requiring
an assessment of the credibility of witnesses are not amenable
to this mode of communication," said the organizations.
Section 605 of Bill C-38 repeals the definition of
"unsuitable employment" under the Employment Insurance Act.
Similarly, Section 608 adds to the regulatory powers of the Commission
to determine what constitutes suitable employment according to
different categories of EI recipients, and what
constitutes a reasonable effort for a job search. "It seems clear that
the government intends to require recipients to take jobs that were
previously unsuitable for employment under penalty of exclusion of
benefits, regardless of their abilities, training and experience. This
could constitute a loss of productivity in economic
terms," said the groups.
They also note Bill C-38 violates the concept of
suitable employment set out in international law under Article 21 of
the ILO Convention on Employment Promotion and Protection against
Unemployment. Instead, Bill C-38 imposes its definition of suitable
employment with respect to considerations of training,
experience and qualifications of the EI recipients. It is
counterproductive for someone to accept a job that does not meet their
training and skills, they point out.
"The Conservative government must not only maintain the
current appeal mechanisms, but also the concept of suitable employment.
It cannot continue to restrict the rights of unemployed workers,"
concluded the joint statement.
Picket at Diane Finley's Office
On May 28, a lively picket was held by Hamilton
steelworkers and others at the constituency office of federal Human
Resources Minister Diane Finley (Haldimand-Norfolk) in Simcoe, Ontario.
The action expressed the workers' utter rejection of the changes being
made by the Minister on behalf of the Harper government to the
Employment Insurance system -- an attack on a vulnerable section of
workers and on all workers. Placards bearing slogans such as "Jobs for
All"; "Oppose the Attacks on the Unemployed!"; and "Manufacturing Yes!
Nation-Wrecking No!" made it clear that governments' foremost duty is
to provide for the well-being of the workers and people and defend the
public interest, not to service the private interests of the monopolies.
Alberta Federation of Labour Opposes
Harper
Government's New Rules for Hiring
Temporary Foreign Workers
The Alberta Federation of
Labour (AFL) issued a statement on May 15 condemning the changes to the
Temporary Foreign Workers program allowing employers to hire temporary
foreign workers (TFWs) at 15 per cent below the prevailing industry
wage. The AFL said these changes are intended to drive wages
down and pit workers against workers.
"With these changes, the federal government is allowing
employers to use TFWs as pawns to drive down wages and conditions of
work, even at a time when our hot economy here in Alberta suggests that
they should be going up," says Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta
Federation of Labour.
 McGowan says that Canadians
would probably be alarmed to
learn that 30 per cent of all the jobs created in Canada between 2007
and 2011 were filled by TFWs -- even as 1.4 million Canadians are
looking for work and the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high in
many regions of the country.
"Even before these new changes, the TFW program had
become a first choice rather than a tool of last resort for far too
many employers," says McGowan. "With fast-tracking and even lower wages
for TFWs, the situation is just going to get worse, much worse."
Taken together with punitive new changes to the
Employment Insurance (EI) system, McGowan says the Harper Conservatives
are clearly trying to "discipline" Canadians and force them into
accepting lower-wage jobs and jobs in locations far from their homes.
"The Harper crowd is using the mechanisms of the federal
government to assist employers who want workers but are not willing to
pay more or offer training to get them," says McGowan. "It's an
appalling and illegitimate misuse of government power. Government is
supposed to be by and for the people. But
this is an example of government against the people."
In another statement issued May 24, the AFL stated that
the changes to EI have laid bare Harper's low-wage agenda and will
inevitably hurt all working families in the country, including Alberta.
"To add insult to injury, rather than talking to Canadians about his
sweeping changes to EI, the government of Stephen
Harper buried the new measures in the omnibus budget bill," said AFL
President Gil McGowan. "The way these announcements were made shows the
depth of secrecy and anti-labour sentiment espoused by the Conservative
Government of Stephen Harper."
McGowan reiterated the AFL's call for the TFW Program to
be scrapped entirely. "The TFW program is NOT immigration. It's an
exploitative guest-worker program that flies in the face of Canadian
values and traditions," says McGowan.
"If we need workers from abroad -- and strong arguments
can be made that we do -- then we should bring them into the country as
citizens or potential citizens. As citizens they would not be as
vulnerable to exploitation and abuse as TFWs. And as citizens they
would strengthen the labour market, not undermine
it."
Actions Held at Conservative MPs' Offices Protest
Wage Decrease for Migrant Workers
Actions were held by migrant workers and their allies at
four Conservative Party MPs' offices in Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo,
London and Vancouver on May 25, to protest the Harper government's
recent announcement that would allow employers to pay skilled workers
15 per cent less wages than the local rate and five per cent less for
workers with lower skills. Similar actions are being planned for
Edmonton and Calgary
this week.
Protest at MP Joe
Oliver's office in Toronto, May 25, 2012.
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The actions were organized by Migrant Workers' Alliance
for Change, comprised of various advocacy and community groups, unions,
workers and community members, aimed at improving working conditions
and fighting for better protections for live-in caregivers, seasonal
agricultural workers and other temporary
Over 50 protesters held a rally at federal Natural
Resources Minister Joe Oliver's office in Toronto and handed a letter
demanding that the government withdraw this regressive measure that
targets the most vulnerable workers. Various speakers, pointed out that
migrant workers are already brutally exploited and
underpaid. They noted that the regressive measure by the Harper
government will not only allow employers to pay workers less, but that
the government is fast-tracking migrant workers in certain categories
in order to fill "labour-shortages", while at the same time there is no
systematic monitoring of the Temporary
Foreign Workers' Program which created conditions for these workers to
be treated as virtual slaves and vulnerable to arbitrary measures
imposed by the employers on their work and living conditions.
Protest at MP Wai
Young's office in Vancouver,
May 25, 2012.
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In 2011, Canada brought in some 191,000 temporary
workers. Of this number 67,000 come to Ontario. There are only 30
workplace inspectors to monitor the workplaces of migrant workers
making these workers extremely vulnerable to unsafe work, wage theft by
employers and other violations of their basic
rights.
The Migrant Workers' Alliance for Change will continue
to hold actions to demand that the Harper and have put forward the
following demands:
A RIGHT TO LANDING STATUS be granted upon arrival for
migrant workers. They must not be tied to one employer, be required to
live in their employer's home, or be subject to further medical
examination;
Protest at MP Peter
Braid's office in Kitchener-Waterloo,
May 25, 2012.
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A RIGHT TO EQUAL ACCESS for all social programs,
including Employment Insurance, health care, settlement services,
social services and Workers' Compensation;
A RIGHT TO A FAIR APPEAL PROCESS for migrant workers
prior to a pre-removal order, and a stop to deportations until this
process is in place;
A RIGHT TO FULL PROTECTION UNDER THE PROVINCIAL
EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS ACT AND REGULATIONS currently enjoyed by Canadian
Citizens and Permanent Residents, including NO FEES for any work
placement.
For Your Information
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada News
Release -- Extract
Through Economic Action Plan 2012 (EAP 2012), the
Government of Canada is making significant improvements to better
connect unemployed Canadians with job opportunities in their local
area.
Part of this plan includes clear expectations of
Canadians who are claiming EI while they search for work. This includes
clarifying the definition of suitable employment and what constitutes a
reasonable job search.
Under the existing EI
Act, Canadians who are collecting
EI are required to look for work.
The current legislation lacks clarity with respect to
what constitutes suitable employment and a reasonable job search. The Employment
Insurance
Act states that claimants are obligated to search for
and accept suitable employment but does not define the term. The
Act only defines what is "not suitable employment".
As indicated in Bill C-38 - Jobs, Growth and Long-term
Prosperity Act, it is the Government's intention to implement
clear
definitions for "suitable employment" and "reasonable job search."
Should the Jobs, Growth, and
Long-term Prosperity Act receive
Royal Assent, the Government will define both in new regulations as
outlined below.
PLEASE NOTE: These improvements only apply to Canadians
receiving regular and fishing EI benefits. They do not apply to
Canadians receiving EI special benefits (maternity, parental,
compassionate, and sick leave).
Suitable Employment
Several factors will determine the definition for
suitable employment. These factors include:
- Personal circumstances– the
personal
circumstances of a Canadian receiving EI benefits will be taken into
consideration when determining what is considered suitable
employment. A person receiving EI will not have to accept
work if:
- they have a health problem that prevents them
from
taking a particular job;
- they have family obligations that prevent them
from
working at certain times of the day;
- they have limited transportation options in
terms
of commuting to and from work; or
- they are not physically capable of performing
the
work.
- Working conditions (i.e.,
position
offered is not vacant due directly to a strike, lockout or other labour
dispute);
- Hours of work (i.e., all
available
hours of work, including hours per day and available outside the
previous work schedule, are deemed to be suitable for employment)
- Commuting time (i.e., workplace
is
within a one hour commute – could be higher taking into account
previous commuting history and community's average commuting time).
There are two additional criteria that will determine
the definition for suitable employment. These will vary based on
the claimant's EI history and the duration of the claim. They are:
- type of work (responsibilities, tasks,
qualifications, experience); and
- wages
In determining these criteria, EI claimants will be
placed in one of three categories:
- Long-tenured workers would be
those
who have paid into the EI system for the past 7 of 10 years and who,
over the last 5 years, have collected EI regular or fishing benefits
for 35 weeks or less.
- Frequent claimants would be
those
who have had three or more claims for regular or fishing benefits and
collected benefits for a total of more than 60 weeks in the past five
years.
- Occasional claimants would be
all
other claimants.
Long-tenured workers
The group of long-tenured workers would include
claimants who have paid into the EI system for the past 7 of 10 years
and over the last 5 years have received 35 or fewer weeks of EI
regular/fishing benefits.
Long-tenured workers would be required to expand the
scope of their job search the longer they receive EI benefits.
However, long-tenured workers would be provided with significantly more
time to search for a job within their usual occupation and at a similar
wage (starting at 90% of previous hourly wage). After 18 weeks on EI
benefits, long-tenured workers would be required to expand their job
search to jobs similar to the job they normal perform and to accept
wages starting at 80% of their previous hourly wage.
Frequent Claimants
The group of frequent claimants would include claimants
who had three or more regular and/or fishing claims and received over
60 weeks of regular and/or fishing benefits in the past 5 years.
Frequent claimants would be required to expand their job
search to jobs similar to the job they normal perform at the onset of
their EI claim (1-6 weeks) and accept wages starting at 80% of their
previous hourly wage. After receiving benefits for seven weeks, they
would be required to accept any work they are qualified to perform
(with on the job training, if required) and to accept wages starting at
70% of their previous hourly wage.
Occasional Claimants
The group of occasional claimants would include all
claimants not captured by the definitions of frequent and long-tenured
worker claimants. These claimants have limited experience of
being unemployed and looking for work.
Occasional claimants would be allowed to limit their job
search to their usual occupation and wage (at least 90% of previous
hourly wage) for the first 6 weeks of their claim. After
receiving benefits for seven weeks, they would be required to expand
their job search to jobs similar to the job they normally perform with
wages at 80% of previous earnings. After 18 weeks, they would be
required to further expand their job search to include any work that
they are qualified to perform (with on the job training, if required)
and to accept wages starting at 70% of their previous earnings but not
lower than the prevailing minimum wage.
Reasonable job search
The Government is providing clarity on what constitutes
a reasonable job search. EI claimants' job search efforts would
be assessed based on the following criteria:
Job search and employability activities – Canadians
receiving
EI
benefits
will
be
required
to
complete
the
following
job
search
activities
while
collecting
benefits:
- Researching and assessing job prospects;
- Preparing for job application (preparing resume);
- Searching for job vacancies;
- Applying for positions;
- Attending interviews; and
- Other efforts to improve employability
(workshops,
employment agencies, job fairs, networking, etc.).
Intensity of job search effort – Canadians
receiving
EI
benefits
will
be
required
to
look
for
a
job
every
day
they
receive
benefits.
The
frequency
of their job search and the
diversity of the search should be consistent with the opportunities
available. For example, in a city or community with few job
openings or opportunities, the job search should focus on identifying
opportunities (i.e., researching and searching) and not applying to the
same job or business every day. In comparison, a job search in an
area with numerous job opportunities should focus on both identifying
and applying for available positions.
Type of work being sought – when
looking for work, the work being sought by a Canadian receiving EI
benefits will have to align with the definition of suitable
employment.
Evidence of job search efforts – Canadians
receiving
EI
benefits
would
be
required
to
keep
a
record
of
their
job
search
activities
and
submit,
when
requested, evidence supporting all
job search activities undertaken.
EI claimants who do not comply with job search
requirements risk losing their benefits until such time as they comply.
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Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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