The sound is not very good in this room, but certainly one thing I did say is that the work-sharing program has been a very good initiative, as was the five-week extension and the moneys that have been flowing through training. There is no question about this.
However, as we've said, we feel this particular project is worrisome because of the discriminatory aspects it contains. The fact is that only 30% of all long-term unemployed reached the end of their.... It seems to me that under the circumstances of this recession that's somewhat unusual. It would have been the right move to give the benefit across the board.
One more thing, if you want to help long-tenured workers, the accounting of paid leave is a real issue for a number of our members. They accumulate this, and they expect to be able to use that money to retrain, move, whatever. When they go to the unemployment office, they're told this isn't compatible. This is something this government could do tomorrow to help a lot of people, long-tenured workers, who have been accumulating leave pay. That would be extremely worthwhile, and it would help people right now.