TODAY! Take Action to Fix EI
The clock is ticking on our Employment Insurance system. If you missed our pan-Canadian Fix EI Phone ZAP this week — or if you joined us and are ready to take more action — then today's the day! And if you can't join us today, our next big online organizing meeting is Tuesday at 7:00 pm. Read on for deets!
Fix Employment Insurance Now
All across the country, workers are stepping up the fight for an EI system that is there for us when we need it. Here's how you can plug in:
-
Spread the word on social media
Amplify this red-hot 90-second message from a hospitality worker who summarizes many of our shared experiences with EI.
-
Visit your local MP office
Drop by your local Member of Parliament’s office and ask for a meeting. While you’re at it, print this Fix EI poster to drop off or put up outside their office. If you can, snap a photo and post it on social media. Remember to tag your MP and use the hashtags: #Justice4Workers #FixEI so we can find your post and share it.
-
Let Prime Minister Trudeau know you're watching
Send a message to Prime Minister Trudeau, Employment Development Minister Carla Qualtrough, and other key members of the federal cabinet. (And if you’ve already sent an email, ask 3 of your friends to send an email as well). You can also call your elected representatives to demand they #FixEI now.
Don't miss our March 14 organizing meeting
After our fantastic Beat the Bosses Bootcamp in February (you can check out our fabulous video here), let's keep the momentum going in our fight for decent work.
We'll be meeting via Zoom next Tuesday at 7:00 pm and we need every decent work fighter to be there. Can you come?
Here’s what we’ll be discussing at the Tuesday meeting:
-
Paid Sick Days: Premier Doug Ford’s temporary and inadequate paid sick leave scheme is set to expire on March 31. This will make it harder for workers to protect themselves from illness and add more pressure to Ontario’s overburdened health system.
-
Solidarity with nurses: Bargaining has broken down for nurses, but the fight isn’t over. This is why we need to keep painting the province PINK and make sure the Ford government understands that decent work is central to publicly-funded and publicly-delivered healthcare.
-
Solidarity with education workers: School boards across the province are tabling austerity budgets that could result in thousands of job losses for the very education workers who led the successful fight against Bill 28.
- Enough is Enough: With the affordability crisis in full swing, we need to win real wage increases, starting with a $20 minimum wage and an end to wage-suppression laws (like Bill 124) that cap our wages below inflation. The Ontario Federation of Labour’s Enough is Enough campaign has the potential to link all our struggles together. From good jobs and decent wages to strong public services and healthy communities and from Ontario Works to Ontario Disability Support programs that should allow everyone to live with dignity, we stand united to say “Enough is Enough." And if we organize effectively, we have a chance to show our power in mass actions across the province on June 3.
- Status for All Rally on March 19: Premier Doug Ford and federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre fear our unity and solidarity. They want to deflect our legitimate anger at crumbling social services and low wages by blaming migrants for the crisis in healthcare and education and for the rising cost of living. But this is rubbish, designed to weaken our movement as Syed Hussan explains in this article published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. That's why we’ll be joining the Regularization and Status for All Day of Action on March 19 – and we hope you will, too!
With so much at stake and so many opportunities to build our movement, it's never been more urgent to organize – and win.
Hope to see you at the Justice for Workers organizing meeting on Tuesday.
