Eliminate two-week waiting period for EI: NDP (comment on this story)

Posted 15 hours ago

Industry Minister Tony Clement finally took stock of what they have been saying for the two months when, on Sunday, he expressed concern over Vale Inco’s announcement of an eight-week work shutdown in Greater Sudbury, the city's two NDP MPs said Monday.

“It's about time this government demanded answers and began to listen to the hundreds of workers who are worried about losing their jobs and their ability to get their families through this recession,” Sudbury MP Glenn Thibeault said in a release.

Vale Inco’s announcement Thursday follows months of bad news for the mining community. In February, nearly 700 workers in Greater Sudbury were laid off at by Xstrata Nickel, violating an agreement made with Industry Canada, Less than a month later, Vale Inco let go another 261 of its employees, the NDP said.

“It’s time the minister offered answers to Canadian families,” said Nickel Belt MP Claude Gravelle, the NDP's mining critic.

“It’s one thing to inform workers about EI options, and it’s another to actually do something to help these families through this crisis?like eliminating the two-week waiting period for EI and preventing families from being thrown out of their homes.”

In December, Gravelle introduced a private member’s bill, C-244, that would eliminate the twp-week waiting period for EI applications.