Sudbury Workers Need EI Reform, Supportive Government

The Sudbury economy continues to reel through a recession which has decimated the manufacturing and resource sectors in Ontario, and worldwide, leaving our city’s most important export, refined nickel, stockpiled and stagnant in price. The result has been a cascade of job loss and economic weakness rippling throughout Sudbury’s retail and service industries. Thousands of Sudbury citizens are now unemployed, and thousands more jobs are in question. Throughout this developing crisis MP Glenn Thibeault has continued to address the needs of these laid off and tenuously employed workers in Ottawa, the government has refused to enforce agreements, or to reform Employment Insurance. Fixing the broken EI system and fighting for jobs are the key goals which Glenn and the New Democrat caucus will be working on as the economy continues to slide.
 
Glenn continues to work with constituents with EI concerns, and speaking to groups of workers and students about problems with EI. A town hall meeting on Employment Insurance is being planned for mid June 2009, when many of the 686 Xstrata workers laid off in February will be submitting their applications.

UPDATE APRIL 16 2009

Vale Inco opts for an extended shutdown, sending 3500 workers home in hopes that the reduced production will result in increased Nickel prices. Many of the workers have vacation and other credits saved up, but for hundreds their pay will run out through the course of the shutdown. These workers will have to wait two weeks before they can access their EI benefits. Local Sudbury MPs are calling for the elimination of the waiting period. “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, “ said MP Glenn Thibeault. “Workers need more than tips on how to access EI, they need a government who will stand up to these foreign companies and fight for every worker’s job.”

UPDATE MARCH 4 2009

261 jobs were cut by Vale Inco, bringing the total job losses directly or indirectly tied to Nickel mining to approximately 3500.  “Once again, Sudbury families are victims of this Conservative government’s inaction and their laisser-faire attitude towards foreign takeovers,” said Sudbury MP Glenn Thibeault. “Just as they did with Xstrata, the Conservatives are more interested in mending fences with foreign businesses than helping laid off workers who have to face this economic recession without a pay check.”

UPDATE FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20

New Democrat Leader Jack Layton hosted a Town Hall meeting on Jobs in Sudbury Tuesday evening at the Quality Inn. The meeting room was standing room only and many people were crowded into the hallways to participate in the forum. In particular, newly laid off Xstrata workers came to express their frustration with government inaction.  Glenn Thibeault wants the agreement made public.  “Breaking this agreement could set a precedent for other companies.  If one company can break the rules that they've signed on to, then any company can," Thibeault said.



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