Georgetti comments on Statistics Canada job numbers: Says government fails to consult labour on job plans
OTTAWA ― The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says that the federal government consistently fails to consult workers and their representatives when creating policies about jobs and training.
Georgetti was commenting on the release by Statistics Canada of its Labour Force Survey for May 2013. There were 1,347,600 unemployed Canadians in May, and the overall unemployment rate was 7.1%. In the 15-to-24 age group, unemployment stood at 13.6%, and 46.1% of young workers are employed only part-time. Of particular note, Canada has lost nearly 100,000 manufacturing jobs over the past twelve months.
“We continue to have well over one million unemployed Canadians, and there are real and enduring problems with youth unemployment,” Georgetti says. “The lives and futures of real people are at stake, and we should all be pulling together in the search for answers.”
Georgetti makes specific reference to consultations being held around the government’s recently announced Canada Jobs Grant and changes to the TFWP. “These meetings have been by invitation only, and there was either no labour representation or severely limited representation,” he says.
Georgetti adds, “The government’s failure to consult and listen to all stakeholders when developing policy and legislation has led to a deep mistrust and in some cases to a backlash. Regrettably the concerns we expressed and outcomes we predicted are coming to fruition. They are to be found in skills shortages, underemployment, continuing high unemployment, and fewer unemployed Canadians qualifying for EI benefits.”
Quick Analysis from CLC Senior Economist Angella MacEwen
The gain of 95,000 jobs in May was the largest one month gain since August 2002. These jobs were mainly private sector, full-time jobs, with half of the gains coming from the construction sector. This is certainly much needed good news for Canadian workers. However, there was an increase of 80,000 jobs seekers in May, which meant the unemployment rate barely moved despite the huge gain in jobs.
The manufacturing sector declined by another 14,200 positions in May, down nearly 100,000 positions from May 2012. And the proportion of the population that is employed remains at 62%, representing a gap of over 400,000 jobs compared to the pre-recession employment rate of 63.5%.
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.
