Thursday, May 24, 2012

Classifying the unemployed


Because we have do something, McDonalds is importing temporary workers and there are unemployed Canadians that could be flipping those burgers.
So to fix the problem, the Harper regime will reclassify the unemployed or so Kady reports from Diane Finley’s news conference this morning.

The new classifications set out the period of time that a claimant can refuse a job offer that pays less than they were making before and eventually I assume they will have to fill that job at McDonalds.

If you are lucky enough to be classified as a LTW (Long-tenured-worker) in the new plan, you are allowed to refuse jobs that are less than 95% of your lost rate of pay, at least for the first seventeen weeks or so. After that you have to accept job offers that are up to 80% of your former wage.

Now if you are considered an occasional claimant you only have 6 weeks at the 95% level, then 12 weeks at the 80% and finally 70%. in other words you have to take a job offer even if it is a 30% cut from what you were making before or loose your benefits.

Lastly if the database determines that you are a Frequent flyer, you can’t refuse a 20% cut from the start and after the first six weeks you fall to the 70% level.

And it will be a database that determines your classification and I assume some links if you disagree with the classification. Applying for your benefits is an online procedure. No more lining up in the EI office, now you register and report on line. The ministry will now send you two alerts each day for the available jobs in your area, that I assume meet your skill set and qualifications, based on the data of course that you entered when creating your claim.

Is this going to stop McDonalds or Tim Hortons from bringing in temporary workers from the Philippines or El Salvador? No, only reversing the changes that the Harper regime made to immigration laws would do that. They created a new category of temporary worker and the low wage employers have exploited it.

As an employer authorized to import workers you do not have to raise your salaries or improve employee benefits in order to hire employees, quite the opposite, you can lower them and bring in employees that will do anything to work. And the neat thing for the government, when the temporary worker is laid off, they cannot claim EI benefits. No they are either hired by another low pay employer or get sent back home.

The Harper regime has now finally started to explain the changes they are going to make to our EI payments which are sort of skimmed over in the omnibus Budget bill they will be passing. The budget bill basically states that the Harperites no longer need to pass laws in order to make changes to the EI or talk to Parliament. Now they can just make decrees and that is what they have done today.

5 comments:

sassy said...

Quite the pattern here. As most people who have had to look for work these past few years know, most of the time it takes longer that 12 weeks to find work - if at all.

Working on the 70% of past work, and finding contract/term work that runs less than two years (which the gov. does a lot these days).

2012
JOB 1 - Laid off from 60K job

2014
Job 2 - must take 70% work = 42K

2016
Laid off from 42K job
Job 3 - must take 70% work = 29,400

2018
Laid off from 29,400 job
Job 4 - must make work at 70% = 20, 580

Eat **** Harper, and oh, BTY, would you like fries with that?

WILLY said...

You're allowed to say shit around these parts Sassy.

This is all bull shit anyway, unless they are change the whole online reporting. Now all you do is check off whether you are available or not.

sassy said...

OK, I'll keep that in mind the next time I get fed up with Harper, which will probably to tomorrow at the latest.

Nice to see you back Willy/Al.

Beijing York said...

It seems that they are also overhauling the appeals process, which was working perfectly well. Experts predict that the new approach will be more onerous and require legal representation thus very costly for the unemployed schmuck who dares appeal an EI decision. While most governments try to advance some modicum of poverty reduction, the Harper regime is advancing poverty creation.

WILLY said...

Hi BY

I just read about that and this reduced tribunal (74 from 1,000+) will also handle CPP & OAS appeals.

Great everything gets back logged with this regime.

I guess Mound was right

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