Quebec and
New Brunswick Actions Demand
Thorough Reform of Employment
Insurance
All Out to Defend the Unemployed! 
From December 7 to December 11, actions were held across
Quebec and in New Brunswick to demand a thorough reform of Employment
Insurance (EI) to uphold the rights and dignity of unemployed workers.
Actions in Quebec were held as part of the campaign "We Must Improve
our Situation. Unemployment insurance reform is
needed!" of the Autonomous Movement in Solidarity
with the Unemployed (MASSE). The New Brunswick action was organized by
Assistance and Support for Workers in Seasonal Sectors (ASTS) which is
active mainly on the Acadian Peninsula in Northern New Brunswick.
Actions were held by defence organizations of the unemployed with the
support of
trade unions. They involved only some activists of the organizations in
order to adhere to health and safety protocols related to the pandemic.
The
actions were part of the long-standing struggle for an EI regime that
upholds the rights and dignity of all unemployed workers. It
highlighted the fact that millions of workers who lost their jobs
during the pandemic could only survive because of emergency temporary
benefits that were created by the federal government. This
shows
that
the EI regime does not protect the unemployed. Today, only 40 per cent
of the unemployed are eligible to receive EI benefits and those
benefits do not cover their basic needs. Furthermore, they do
not
last long enough to guarantee that unemployed workers will not face
periods in which they have no income at all between jobs. Unemployed
refer to this period without any income whatsoever as "the black hole."
It refers to the gap between when a seasonal worker's EI
benefits
run out and when the worker's job starts up again. The black hole has a
huge impact on seasonal workers who run out of benefits, if they
qualify for benefits in the first place.
The organizers of the actions put forward three main demands:
a universal qualifying period of 350 hours or 13 weeks worked; a
benefit rate of at least 70 per cent of the previous wage based on the
12 best weeks; a minimum of 35 weeks of benefits. This would eliminate
the different qualifying periods and duration of benefits
established
arbitrarily in different regions of the country on the basis of the
official rate of unemployment in the region. The aim is to increase
overall eligibility for EI, with special attention to part-time
workers, to guarantee unemployed workers a liveable income for as
long as they are unemployed, and to eliminate phenomena such as the
black hole. Workers'
Forum firmly
supports the demands of the unemployed workers and calls on all
Canadians to defend the dignity of labour by joining them. They reflect the
increased consciousness, which the pandemic has
highlighted in a dramatic way, of the need for profound changes that
favour the people and protect them from the crises that are
erupting. The demand for EI reform is
part and parcel of workers' fight for social programs that defend the
well-being of all and are under the control of the people.
Workers' Forum
also congratulates and
greets all the activists who face a heavy burden of work to make
sure that the unemployed are not left to fend for themselves because
the ruling elite and its system has wrecked the EI program and has
rendered the society unable to face crises.
This article was published in
Number 85 - December 17, 2020
Article Link:
Quebec and
New Brunswick Actions Demand : All Out to Defend the Unemployed!
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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