Laval, QC, June 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teamsters Canada is calling on Ottawa to support women who give birth during the pandemic and cannot receive maternity or parental benefits.
Over the course of the present crisis, a large number of pregnant women lost their jobs or were furloughed before they could work the minimum number of hours to qualify for employment insurance (EI), which is how maternity leave benefits are delivered outside of Québec.
“We can’t have new moms worrying about putting food on the table on top of dealing with having a baby in the middle of a pandemic. Ottawa urgently needs to find a solution to help these women through this,” commented the president of Teamsters Canada, François Laporte.
Most women who stopped working after giving birth are technically ineligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).
Possible solutions to the problem include allowing women in this situation to apply for the CERB, slashing the minimum required working hours for maternity and parental benefits, or creating a new government program altogether.
Teamsters Canada represents close to 125,000 workers across the country. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, with which Teamsters Canada is affiliated, has 1.4 million members in North America. Visit teamsters.ca for more information. Follow us on Twitter @TeamstersCanada and “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamstersCanada
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Emergency Aid Should Extend to New Moms
Some new moms unexpectedly lost their EI maternity and parental benefits due to lockdowns. Ottawa needs to fix this.
| Source: Teamsters Canada