Interview, Line Sirois, Coordinator, Action Chômage Côte-NordWorkers' Forum: How is your work in defence of the unemployed workers going under the current conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic?
The federal government introduced the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) in early April, but people were unable to access the information needed to apply for it. In addition, the federal government had closed Service Canada offices at the end of March, causing a total blackout. People no longer knew where to go for help. The 1-800 number people had to call for information was impossible to reach. People spent hours and days trying to reach that number, but when they got through, they were cut off, the line did not work. Anxiety rose to a very high level. Many of these people did not have the Internet or had never applied for unemployment benefits before. We, the groups defending the unemployed, did not have the information we should have had to help people. Announcements were made, but the information did not reach people. It was hell. WF: Has the situation improved since then? LS: Yes, it's better in terms of access to CERB. But the problem now is that people are starting to go back to work and there is a lot of anxiety because COVID-19 is still very much present. On the North Shore we are lucky because there have been no new cases in the last two weeks. But for those who can return to work, we still do not know what will happen to our economic sectors such as tourism. People are asking us if the eligibility criteria for employment insurance will be lowered. If they are able to return to work, they will not work as many hours. Those are the questions we are being asked right now. About 80 per cent of the calls are about what will happen to employment insurance if people go back to work and work less hours, whether tourism is going to resume, etc. Even businesses call us. Owners tell us they will go out of business sooner or later. These are very small businesses, inns, restaurants, which are usually open six months a year, but now they may only open for two or three months, if they manage to open at all. On the Upper North Shore, 80 per cent of tourism comes from Europe, especially in Tadoussac, so both workers and small business owners are worried about their future. We are witnessing the corporate side speaking out right now, saying that CERB is too generous and that people do not want to go to work because they would rather get CERB. This is not true. People who don't want to go to work are afraid. Perhaps not here on the North Shore, but in Montreal, for example, where the pandemic is very serious. Large companies are saying about students and workers what they have been for years about seasonal workers. It is the prejudice that they do not want to work or that they will only work the hours they need to collect employment insurance. WF: What work is Action-Chômage Côte-Nord doing under these conditions to defend the rights of the unemployed? LS: We are currently working to build a coalition to put forward special demands to lower the eligibility criteria so that everyone can qualify, and for long enough to get through the year. As you know, the eligibility criteria on the North Shore are very high. We want to ensure that in 2021, when the pandemic is behind us, as we hope it will be, people will be able to have an income that will allow them to make it through the winter. We want drastic measures, and we are working on that at the moment. We want the unions to join us and we want other groups in defence of the unemployed to join us. WF: This must be a very difficult situation for activists like you and the members of committees such as yours. LS: Yes, but we are keeping pace. We have no choice because people need us. We respond as best we can. We respond as honestly and as quickly as we can. We do what we can with the small means we have, because as community groups we are not rich. WF: We wish you all the best in your work. We invite everyone to give you all the support they can. Congratulations on your new website. It is very lively. Everyone can access it here. LS: Thank you for your support.
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Line Sirois:
Since March 13, when the Quebec government ordered that people must
remain confined to their homes, there hasn't been a moment's respite.
It has been very difficult for groups that represent the unemployed.
Requests for help have multiplied a hundred times.