While Atlantic Provinces Have Taken Harper Tories To Task On EI Changes – BC’s Christy Clark Is Doing Nothing!
By Charan Gill
Drastic changes to Employment Insurance have been announced. Atlantic Premiers have risen to protect their seasonal workers and have opposed the Federal government’s changes. Many Atlantic Provinces employ seasonal workers in the fishing industry and in the winter months there are no jobs available and workers have no choice but to go on EI. Under the new EI system seasonal workers will be considered frequent claimants and will be required to accept any work they are qualified for after collecting EI for seven weeks.
Farm workers from BC and other provinces are the backbone of the agricultural industry. They are seasonal workers that rely on EI benefits when there are no jobs available in the agricultural industry in winter months. Harvest workers who earn below minimum wage are taking EI benefits to survive during the winter months and these new regulations will significantly impact them in a negative manner.
Many farm workers do not have a driver’s license to drive to their work place creating a dependency on labor contractors for transportation to work. They are unable to relocate and move because of their lack of skills and a majority of them live in a joint family system to survive amongst rising house prices and rental costs. A majority of farm workers are female workers who even take their children to work with them in the summer to make some extra money. These workers are barely needed by the growers to hand-pick berries, apples, and other farm produce during summer months and as it is, are finding it hard to survive on low-wages.
Out of 10,000 harvest workers, approximately 6,000 live on EI. Harvest workers are very vulnerable and for the last 30 years since I began to work to improve farm workers’ working conditions these workers have been exploited. If these workers are forced to move to find jobs they won’t survive and it’s difficult to imagine that anyone would offer them a job outside of farm work and on a minimum wage scale.
Immigrant agricultural workers will suffer if EI regulations are implemented. These new regulations are a direct attack on immigrant workers with tougher conditions placed on people with three or more EI claims or those who have collected EI for more than 60 weeks in the past five years. It is a reality that immigrant farm workers must collect EI in off-season times due to their inability to find suitable employment that they are able and trained to do.
Premier Clark has not spoken out against these new regulations in support and protection of poor working immigrants. I urge the Premier to protect this vulnerable group of people that add to the multiculturalism and diversity of British Columbia.
Charan Gill is Secretary Treasurer, Canadian Farm workers Union and CEO of PICS
