The National Council of Unemployed Workers (NCUW, Conseil national des chômeurs et chômeuses) is launching a campaign as a registered third party with Elections Canada, calling for a permanent and in-depth reform of the Employment Insurance (EI) program, in order to ensure better protections for workers.
The NCUW slogan, “WHEN THREATS LOOM, WE NEED BETTER EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE”, will be aimed at the federal parties, while seeking to raise public awareness, in order to make employment insurance an important issue in the election. The NCUW will have signs all across Québec, as well as digital and printed advertising material.
At a press conference, the co-spokespersons for the NCUW, Selma Lavoie and Milan Bernard, emphasized the need for a reformed social safety net, one that is fairer and better adapted to the new realities and the multiple crises facing our communities.
“We can’t stop at the new measures announced just before the campaign, and we certainly can’t afford any setbacks. The program must be improved, made simpler and more protective. This is fundamental, particularly in the current context where the decisions and threats of the President of the United States are raising fears of major job losses” – Milan Bernard, co-spokesperson
“We’re calling on the federal parties to commit to extending coverage and easing the overly severe penalties and sanctions for dismissal or resignation. They must also introduce measures that better protect workers in seasonal industries. Voters will have this in mind when they cast their ballots on April 28th” – Selma Lavoie, co-spokesperson
“One final thing: those who aspire to govern must in no way allow themselves to be influenced by the dismantling of the state operated south of our border by Trump and his gang” concluded the co-spokespersons.
What we are asking for…
With the major Quebec labor unions (FTQ, CSN, CSQ and CSD) and the Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (MASSE), the NCUW is calling for the following measures to deal with the crises of today and tomorrow:
- A universal eligibility standard of 420 hours;
- An increase in the amount of benefits and the establishment of a minimum threshold of $500;
- Exclusion for invalid termination of employment to be limited to the last job held ;
- An extension of the current measure enabling earlier receipt of benefits by simplifying the rules governing the treatment of severance pay and other amounts paid following termination of employment.