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"The McGuinty government could protect more laid-off workers in Ontario with the stroke of a pen," says Bob Huget, CEP Ontario Region Vice-President. "Companies like H.J. Jones-Sons in London, Ontario can get away with packing up and leaving workers who have 30 and 40 years' service without any severance pay at all, because the company just misses the minimum requirement of 50 employees. Here we have a U.S. company with deep pockets and a plant in the U.S. buying up and shutting down a Canadian company that has been in the community for almost a century, and it takes no legal or social responsibility for the long-time Ontario workers left behind."

The NDP Private Member's Bill would amend the Employment Standards Act so that displaced workers would now be entitled to severance pay in businesses of 25 employees or more, instead of the present requirement of 50; or payrolls of $1 million or more a year, instead of $2.5 million. Employees would receive two weeks' severance pay per year of service, instead of one week's pay. The amendments would also increase notice requirements in mass terminations.

"The intent of the Employment Standards Act is to provide some protection to Ontario workers in the event of a downsizing. But the massive loss of manufacturing jobs over the last four years in Ontario has meant many workers are now in workplaces too small to be protected by the severance pay entitlements in the present Employment Standards Act. The government has to stop talking about how they are 'feeling the pain' of displaced workers, and start giving them some pain relief. Giving more displaced workers the right to severance pay would be a good start."

For more information: Bob Huget, CEP Ontario Region Vice-President - 613-299-9839; Kim Ginter, Administrative Vice-President - 416-931-2379; Josephine Petcher, National Representative - 647-988-4248.