The most pressing challenge is the hours and the divisor. Our hours are 630. They don't go below that, and they will go to 700 off and on. It depends on the EI rate, which is posted every month. It's reviewed.
We don't make $25,000. I don't make $25,000 juggling working at two lobster plants. You don't work eight to five. I go in at 2:00 in the morning to one. At 8:00 I might drive a half an hour to another, trying so hard to make sure that I get enough hours to make my EI last.
To get max EI, I need to make around $26,000 dollars. Max EI is a dream; it's not reality. People who make $26,000 and above get more money. The person who really needs the money will get less. It's no fault of their own. Because of the weather or different things, you don't get work every day. It's frustrating. It's hard to explain, but it's just difficult.
On the hours, the divisor, they call it the “best weeks”. Ours is 20, and we're getting 55% of our earnings divided by 20. That's a high divisor. The people who get less money like me really need it to run my their homes. I'm not ever going to get max no matter how hard I try.
I'm a volunteer advocate for seasonal workers, and I'm in with groups from New Brunswick, Quebec and across Canada. We do Zoom meetings and stuff and compare notes about what's going on, and we just keep fighting and keep hoping that someday this reform that was promised years ago, which I was in on the consultations for, isn't a pipe dream and becomes a reality.
Thank you.