Georgetti says budget fails on jobs, pensions: CLC president says middle class under attack

OTTAWA ... The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says the federal budget tabled on March 29 has failed Canadians by destroying valuable public services and jobs and attacking pensions.   

-The government could have used this budget to help struggling middle class and working Canadians," Georgetti says, -but it chose to not to do so."

Georgetti says the government has borrowed billions of dollars to spend on tax giveaways to big business who dont need the money and who are sitting on the cash rather than investing in creating jobs. -Now the government wants to pay for those tax breaks by making drastic spending cuts. This will destroy thousands of jobs and will result in the loss of important public services ... everything from food inspection, to environmental programs, to processing Employment Insurance claims."

The Budget makes some small good news announcements, but these are greatly outweighed by deep cuts to federal government programs, the details of which will not be clear for some time.

The CLC president also criticized cutbacks to Old Age Security eligibility to seniors. -Governments have a role to play in helping Canadians to meet their basic needs during retirement. This budget should have been used to improve the retirement security of Canadians, not to undermine it."

Georgetti says he is disappointed that the government has not moved to improve access to the Employment Insurance program. -Only 39.5% of unemployed Canadian workers are able to collect regular EI benefits. That is a scandal and it has to be fixed. These workers, who paid their premiums in good faith, need EI to tide them over until they find new jobs."

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.3 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada's national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils. Website: www.canadianlabour.ca. Follow us on Twitter: @CanadianLabour

Contact: Dennis Gruending, CLC Communications
Tel: 613-526-7431, Mobile and text: 613-878-6040.
Email: dgruending@clc-ctc.ca