Union Calls on Federal Government to Make EI Pilots Permanent Features of Program

9/2/2008

Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW/CAW) is calling on the federal government to ensure two highly successful piloted improvements to the Employment Insurance Program are not lost and instead are made permanent features of the legislation.

FFAW/CAW President Earle McCurdy said both measures – calculating a person’s EI benefit on their best 14 weeks worked and allowing workers’ to earn 40% of their weekly EI benefits before any monies are clawed back – improve the system so it is more reflective of today’s labour market.

"But more importantly, these measures improve the system so people are not penalized for working," said Mr. McCurdy. Under the 1996 EI Act, workers found themselves hurt financially for going to work for a shift or two a week. "We had many cases were workers were better off not going to work because by doing so their EI benefits were reduced as a result."

The Union has launched a campaign among it members to get the improvements made permanent. Members have been contacting and writing their MPs and federal ministers.

More and more Canadians are employed in non-standard work, such as seasonal, part-time, temporary or contract employment and the country’s Employment Insurance Program needs to reflect this reality, says the Union leader.

EI pilot project #7 is scheduled to end October 25 and deals with the best 14 weeks rate calculation, while #8 which is scheduled end date December 6 allows a person to earn 40% of their weekly EI before losing benefits.

The pilots help workers and employers in 23 EI regions across the country including regions in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, the Territories and the northern regions of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

In a letter to Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg and Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn in early August, the union outlined the importance of the EI pilot projects and how they should be made a permanent feature of the EI legislation or at the very least extended for another three years to allow time for a proper evaluation of the pilots to be conducted.

Both pilot projects are aimed at increasing a person’s labourforce attachment, encouraging the uptake of low-earning work weeks, and meeting the needs of our changing labour market.

Mr. McCurdy noted that the measures are as important to employers as they are to workers.

As HRSDC analysis of the pilot projects in 2005 pointed out that a growing number of "employers rely on variations of short-term and irregular temporary work arrangements. While this situation was once limited to resource-based industries that are often seasonal in nature, industries in all regions of Canada are increasingly adapting their labourforce needs to respond to international competition and the realities of the global economy."

Mr. McCurdy said the best 14 weeks rule for calculating EI makes the system easier to administer, is more transparent to clients, simplifies a complicated rate formula, and does a better job of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the labour market.

This has been among several campaigns by FFAW/CAW over the past decade to improve Canada’s Employment Insurance Program. Many of the Union’s efforts have been successful.

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