Share
Unifor members from across the country gathered in Port Elgin from June 18 to 21 for the union's annual EI/CPP Conference, meeting at a moment when tariff-driven layoffs are hitting auto plants, parts suppliers and whole communities. Over four days, delegates built the skills, solidarity and political muscle to make Employment Insurance and the Canada Pension Plan work for the workers who pay into them.
“Every worker who pays into Employment Insurance deserves a system that’s there for them when they need it, and a pension they can count on in retirement,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “When workers come together like they did at this conference, we build the knowledge and the power to win the reforms working people have earned.”
EI Workers Commissioner Chris Roberts opened the conference by tracing that worker power to its roots. Employment Insurance, he reminded delegates, was built by working people in the 1930s and is funded by workers and employers, not general tax revenue. That is why it remains unique: through the Employment Insurance Commission, workers help oversee a roughly $25-billion system. Roberts summed up his job in a single word: accountability.
“Temporary fixes are not good enough,” said Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi. “Workers have waited far too long for an EI system that works, and we will not stop until these measures are made permanent and every worker has a fair shot at the benefits they’ve paid for.”
Hashi pointed to a hard-won victory, the new EI Board of Appeal established this past April after years of Unifor lobbying, which puts workers back at the table on claims decisions, with nearly half of its representative positions held by Unifor members.
Much of the conference was about turning that power into results for members. Jody Brennan, Executive Head of the new EI Board of Appeal, walked delegates through how the appeals system now works, knowledge that matters when a member is wrongly denied benefits they have paid into.
On a panel about Unifor’s Regional Enquiry Unit, frontline reps showed how the union cuts through red tape, connecting members with experienced agents who can unstick claims tied up for weeks and, often, deliver answers within a day. Throughout, the message was the same: workers do better when they have someone in their corner who knows the system.
With many members nearing the end of their careers, the conference also looked ahead, with sessions on the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, wills and retirement planning drawn from Unifor’s most popular education offerings.
The room reflected the breadth of the union itself: delegates from auto and auto parts, aerospace, transportation, retail, food manufacturing, airport operations and oil and gas, from locals across Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec and British Columbia. Servicing reps, benefit reps, Power Centre coordinators, worker representatives on the new Board of Appeal and retired members all came to trade knowledge and bring it home.
The conference closed on National Indigenous Peoples Day, a reminder that the fight for income security is part of a broader fight for dignity and justice. Delegates left Port Elgin better equipped to help members navigate EI and the Canada Pension Plan, and more determined to win the permanent reforms workers have demanded for far too long.
