Hi. Thank you for the invitation to address you today. I'm with UNITE HERE Canada, the hospitality workers' union.
I'd like to address the new Canada recovery hiring program and the extended wage subsidy proposed in the budget.
When launched, the government said the wage subsidy would keep workers attached to their jobs with a furlough until working. The proposed hiring subsidy is also supposed to make it easier for businesses to rehire laid-off workers or bring on new ones. The problem is that these programs aren't designed to help workers. Without tighter conditions, the new hiring subsidy could reward bad corporate behaviour and bypass the very workers it's intended to help. We've seen too many hotel employers in our industry use the wage subsidy and then fire most of their staff anyway.
While government is proposing a clawback for public company executives under the wage subsidy program, there's no clawback for private employers. For example, three companies tied to the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown have used the wage subsidy program but have terminated the majority of their staff in recent weeks. Other hotels that used the wage subsidy—Sheraton Ottawa, Pan Pacific Vancouver—also terminated much of their workforce rather than agree or commit to bringing them back when the pandemic crisis is over.