Rally to Calls for fixing Employment Insurance 

Kelly Roche

Over two thousand workers spent the afternoon on June 13 marching from Metro Hall to the Delta Chelsea hotel, chanting, "Fix E-I now."

The unemployment rate in Toronto is 9.1 per cent.

Jessica Farias, a community worker from Scarborough, showed up with her husband and baby today -- her 32nd birthday.

"I'm a mother on maternity leave currently getting EI, and not really having enough money to pay for the bills," she said, adding it took almost six weeks for her first cheque to arrive.

Workers rallied for a reduction in the qualifying hours to 360 hours nationwide -right now it varies from province to province- and calculated pay based on the best 12 weeks worked during the previous six months.

The Human Resources and Social Development Canada website says they currently need 560 hours of work in the previous 25 weeks to qualify for regular benefits.

Farias also expresses concern about ineligibility for many workers.

"I really believe that there needs to be changes in the eligibility, guidelines that will make workers more accessible, make benefits longer, and get rid of the two-week waiting period," she said.

Those who are employed temporarily, part-time, self-employed, or under contract are primarily affected.

"People pay into the system, and it is there to protect workers when you need it, and workers need it now," said Farias.

Some were there to support old-age pension protection, and stronger public services. New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton addressed the crowd --mostly baby boomers-- many of whom are concerned about their pensions.

"The people who run that pension plan on Bay Street have lost 24 billion dollars gambling your money on the stock exchange...they should be ashamed of themselves," Layton said.

It wasn't all about the boomers. Retirees concerned about the recession, such as Dominic Amoroso, who spent 30 years on the assembly line at General Motors, showed up as well. "Everybody needs to be living with dignity," he said. "There's so many people, they suffer, they have empty stomachs. It's a shame."

The Harper government is promising improvements to the program this fall.

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Kelly Roche is a multi-media journalist living in the Greater Toronto Area. Her work can be viewed at rochekelly.wordpress.com