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Common Front for Social Justice |
Unemployment insurance was put in place to help out workers during the period between the loss of their job and the start of a new one. This insurance was not created by the Federal Government on a whim. It was the result of a lengthy struggle by workers who were getting discouraged at the conditions created by the Great Depression of the 1930s. The unemployment insurance program became law in the 1940s. At the beginning, the program was funded by both employers and workers. At the time, only four out of ten workers were covered.
Over the years there were a number of improvements, especially between 1960 and 1990. At one point, people in most regions of New Brunswick could work for ten weeks and receive unemployment for almost an entire year. But under Brian Mulroney (1990) and later Jean Chrétien (1996-1997), the unemployment insurance program, restyled as employment insurance, was severely cut back.
• The number of hours required to receive employment insurance was nearly tripled, going from 180 hours to 420 hours in most regions in New Brunswick. As a result, fewer workers were able to qualify for employment insurance.
• Benefit amounts were decreased. During the 1980s, benefits could reach 66 2/3% of wages. Now they are down to 55%. A divisor rule was also instituted that further reduced benefits if the period worked was shorter than 14 weeks. This is the case in most regions in New Brunswick. The result: less income (in the case of minimum wage earners, it's dreadfully low).
• There were cutbacks in the length of time unemployed men and women could receive employment insurance. In areas where work is mostly seasonal and few weeks of work are available, this creates periods where there are neither wages nor employment insurance benefits. This is what is called the “black hole”.
Proposition by the Common Front for Social Justice
We want our provincial MLAs to put pressure on the Federal Government to bring real improvements to the employment insurance program so that it meets the needs of workers in NB and Canada. Among other improvements, we are calling for the following:
• Enable workers everywhere in Canada to apply for employment insurance with 360 hours worked. Right now, NB is divided into three regions and in each one, a different number of hours is required before workers can apply for employment insurance. In January 2007, the requirement is 420 to 454 hours in Restigouche-Albert, 560 to 594 hours in Madawaska-Charlotte, and 700 to 734 hours in Fredericton-Moncton-St. John. We also want the number of hours worked to qualify to be set at 360 hours for people applying for the first time or who have just returned to the job market. This is now set at 910. We want the same conditions to apply to workers on sick leave, maternity leave or paternity leave, whose requirement is currently 600 hours.
• Provide two thirds of their wages (66 2/3%) to unemployed workers instead of the current 55%. An individual earning minimum wage, $7/hr, and working 40 hours a week earns $280. When unemployed, at the 55% rate, he or she receives $154 a week. If employment insurance paid 66 2/3 %, their benefits would rise to $184, a $30 difference weekly.
• Raise the number of weeks that workers are able to benefit from employment insurance to 52 weeks. The current maximum is 45 weeks. The number of weeks should be even greater in the case of elderly workers since they find it more difficult to find work.