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May 27th, 2020

NDP calls on government to stop denying workers their benefits

OTTAWA - Yesterday, in the House of Commons, NDP Labour Critic, Scott Duvall (Hamilton Mountain), echoed​ workers and employers who have been calling on the federal government to stop blocking people from being able to get supports they’ve negotiated through Supplemental Unemployment Benefits (SUB).

"Thousands of laid off Canadian workers are being denied Supplemental Unemployment Benefits that they negotiated with their employers," said Duvall. "These are insurance policies people have worked hard to earn and the government won’t even say why they’re blocking them."

These SUBs are plans negotiated by workers and employers and agreed to by the government. They are meant to top up workers unemployment benefits when they are laid off to help keep them attached to their jobs. Now, because the government is pushing them onto CERB instead of EI, the government is claiming that they no longer qualify for the SUBs. Workers and employers are asking the federal government to fix the loophole that denies workers their much-needed income.

“Justin Trudeau shouldn't stand in the way of workers receiving a benefit that the government didn’t set up and doesn’t contribute to,” said NDP Critic for Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Daniel Blaikie. “If he we’re as concerned about workers as he is the wealthy and well-connected, this would have been fixed a long time ago. The government needs to get it done.”