Labour Federations Want Quick Action

Canada's Territorial and Provincial Federations of Labour, representing more than two million workers, have called on the premiers to act immediately to revamp the Canada Pension Plan, dramatically improve employment insurance benefits, and to jump start stimulus funding targeted to creating jobs.

"Now is the time to implement concrete solutions", said Darlene Dziewit, President of the Manitoba Federation of Labour. "With more than 1.5 million Canadians unemployed, and less than 50 per cent of them receiving employment insurance benefits, our premiers need to respond immediately to the crisis."

Meeting in Regina on August 5, the Federation Presidents also endorsed a new joint statement signed by over a dozen labour and civil society groups, including the Council of Canadians.

The statement calls on the Council of the Federation to reject any federal proposals that would eliminate or restrict their ability to ensure that public procurement policies maximize benefits to the local and Canadian economies.

"Canadians are tired of economic policies that move decent jobs offshore, and will only send our economy into a deeper recession", added Dziewit. We need policies that protect jobs in Canada, not export jobs from Canada. More NAFTA and more free trade will mean higher unemployment."

"Local procurement policies are what keep communities strong," said Dziewit. "They create greater local employment, increase tax revenues, encourage communities to buy locally and environmentally sustainable goods and services, and can be drivers of innovation and economic diversity. They also allow governments to set proactive policies that are best for their communities."

The Federation of Labour presidents will also be making concrete proposals on pension reform aimed at extending coverage to the 65 per cent of working Canadians who currently have no pension.