When Others Say No - Try the CUHC

When people lose their jobs for whatever reason, there are a number of places where they can turn to for help. One of those is the Community Unemployed Health Centre (CUHC). Most experienced union activists are well aware of the services provided by the Centre, but for first time delegates to the convention, some of the information provided by Neil Cohen, CUHC Executive Director, in his presentation to the convention, was undoubtedly new to them.

The CUHC is a non-profit organization that provides Employment Insurance assistance to unemployed workers including representation for those who have been denied EI benefits. The Centre also conducts workshops and presentations for local unions and non-profit organizations on EI, engages in public interest advocacy including test case litigation and various social policy activities.

The CUHC provides EI advice, information and advocacy services to more than 1,200 workers per year, approximately one-third of whom have been denied Employment Insurance benefits. The Centre wins over 80 per cent of its appeals and in a typical year recovers about $1,000,000 for workers in EI benefits.

Cohen said that one of the big problems with EI is that fewer than 40 per cent of unemployed workers qualify for EI benefits. A major reason for that is the difficulty part-time workers have in accumulating enough work hours to qualify for benefits. He said that the obvious way to address that problem is to reduce the number of hours required to qualify for benefits.