B.C. LUMBER WORKER

B.C.’s 50,000 JOBLESS ASKING QUESTIONS

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Q—How long is benefit paid to a claimant who has paid con- tributions for several years? I am informed that it used to be paid for 12 months, but that the period has lately been reduced to six months.

AA claimant is entitled to benefit for one-fifth of the num- per of days for which he has paid contributions in the five years im- mediately preceding the date his benefit year commences, less one- third of the number of days’ bene- fit, if any, that he has drawn in the three years preceding the date his benefit year commences,

Therefore, if he has drawn no benefit and has paid contributions for five years or more he can be paid benefit for 12 months, less the nine waiting days for which no benefit is payable. ?

92

Q—1 am drawing a small pension. Recently I was laid off from my employment. Will the fact that I am drawing the pension stop me getting bene- fit?

A—No. Income from a pension is not wages and does not dis- qualify you for benefit when you

are unemployed.

Q—I have been making con- tributions to unemployment in- surance, but changed by job r cently. My new job is not in in- surable employment, and now I am not paying into unemploy- ment insurance. What should I do?

A—Bring or send your book to the nearest local office of the Commission for safekeeping, and ask for a receipt. Keep a record of your insurance number, so that if you return to insurable em- portent, your contributions can

continued under your own number.

2

If I am in receipt of a pen- sion, such as a war pension, am I eligible for unemployment bene- fit if unemployed?

_. A—Yes. A pension is not con- sidered to be earnings. Therefore, if you have lost your job the fact that you are receiving a pension from some other source does not disqualify you from receiving benefit so long as you are unem- ployed and so long as you fulfil all the other usual conditions to qualify for benefit.

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Q—How does a man with only one arm go about getting a job? Can the National Employment Service help» me?

A—The National Employment Service tries to help everyone who wants to work, Its facilities are open to every class .of worker, male and female, skilled and un- skilled. A special division at- tends to the needs of handicapped persons. Go to the nearest office of the Commission and tell them your problem.

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Q—Why is it that a man re- tiring from railroad work on a a good pension, draws his full benefit, but when one really needs help, as in the case of ill- ness and convalescence, this benefit is denied on the grounds -that this insurance does not cover sickness? In a case like this he is confronted with medi- cal and other expenses. This seems unfair and my question is, can this unfairness be rem- edied?

A—The distinction is not un- fair if it is remembered that the Unemployment Insurance Act specifically provides that benefit can only be paid to a person who is (a) unemployed, (b) available for work, and (c) capable of work, but unable to obtain em- ployment.

If the Act were intended to provide for payment of benefit during periods of sickness, the Act would say so, in the. first place, and it would call for a higher rate of contributions from insured persons, in the second

place, to cover the much greater |}

liability upon the fund.

The retired rairoad man met all three conditions, as to being unemployed, capable and_avail- able. The man who was sick, al- though no one denies that his need was just as great, perhaps greater, was for the time being neither available for work nor ca- pable of working.

The remedy is to be found in a separate scheme of sickness in- surance, with its own scale of contributions and benefit and with its own rules as to eligibility; or in a broadening of the Unemploy- ment Insurance Oct by Parlia- ment to include corresponding provisions for persons who be- come unemployed through sick- ness.

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Q—After a man has worked all his life and paid unemploy- ment insurance from the begin- ning without drawing any bene- fit, can he draw a full year’s benefit? This gentleman has served the School Board for 40 years and is retiring at a ripe old age near 80 and would be considered past the working age,

A—See the answer to the pre- ceding question regarding the three conditions for the receipt of benefit, namely, that one must be unemployed, capable and avail- able,

At the age of 80 a man might,

especially if no longer in good

@

BCLonsentWonven.

Representing the Orgenized Loggert end Mill Workers of B.C. PUBLISHED TWICE MONTHLY BY INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA (CIO-CCL) B.C, DISTRICT COUNCIL No, 1.

DISTRICT OFFICERS:

Addrexs all communteations to GEORGE H. MITCHELL, Secretary-Treanurer ‘Suite 7, 426 Main Street - Phone PActiic 4151 Vancouver, B.C.

Subseription Rates___.$1.00 per annum

George H. Mitchell ‘Tom G, MacKenzie

: Advertining Representative.___.G, A. Spencer Authorized ax Second Clans Mall, Post Office Dept, Ottawa

E 26,000 COPIES A mt

2S

The purpose of this col- unin is to provide a means whereby our readers who want information on Unem- ployment Insurance can ob- tain ‘it.

If you have a question respecting Unemployment Insurance, write it out and send it to the editor. For identification purposes it would be well to include your name and address.

‘We will send your ques- tion to the Unemployment Insurance Commission at its head office in Ottawa. The answer will be pub- lished as soon as possible after being received.

Do not hesitate to send in your question or questions. The Commission has ad- vised us that it will be glad to furnish answers as ra- pidly as possible.

SO SEND IN YOUR

QUESTIONS

FIGHTS FOR JOBLESS

health, be unable to show that he was capable of working, or he might indicate that he did not wish to work any longer, but this does not necessarily apply in every case.

Provided he is still able to do some kind of work and is ready to take such work if offered there is nothing to bar him from the receipt of benefit if no work can be found for him.

If he has made contributions for at least five years immedi- ately prior to being laid off by the School Board, and has drawn no benefit previously, he can draw benefit, if unemployed so long, up to a maximum of one year, less the nine statutory waiting davs for which benefit cannot be paid.

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Q—I applied for unemployment insurance benefit and my applica- tion was refused. I think I am entitled to benefit. What can I do about it?

A—If the Insurance Officer has disallowed your claim, and you are not satisfied with his decision, you may appeal to a Court of Referees within 21 days after you receive the decision. The Court of Referees is equally rep> resentative of employers and em- ployees, and none of its members are employees of the Commission. Your local office can tell you how to lodge an appeal.

Superstition and Safety In certain parts of the United States, people wear rings made from various articles (one of these is an Irish potato) in the belief that they will eventually cure rheumatism. Why not then be superstitious about’ wearing rings on the job for fear that they might eventually cause in- jury to the fingers or hands on which they are worn? C. N. Segars, Acipco- News,

SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS

CARL WINN:

Jan. 7.

“The results have vindicated! our action,” he added. “This Con- vention proves that the IWA in British Columbia is on a sound, | trade union basis and ready to meet its responsibilities toward the general labor movement.

“We poured everything we had into this District to defeat the LPP-Communists, and we’d do the same again.”

Safety Program

The International officer praised the program undertaken by the B.G. District as expressing pro- per trade union objectives. He singled out the Safety Council activities as giving cause for pride. “Saving and preserving life, and protecting innocent wo- men and children against misery and want is a notable endeavor,” he affirmed.

Finances

The speaker bluntly stated that funds allocated for the general administrative purposes of the District Council were inadequate.

It was unwise, in his opinion, that a large sum should be left dormant in the strike fund. The fund was not large enough to prove of any real value in a strike throughout the industry, and might create a feeling of false security.

The District Strike fund, the speaker asserted, had originally

“The attempted ‘breakaway’ October, 1948, cost the International Union over $200,000,” stated International Secretary-Treasurer Carl Winn, addressing the 13th Annual Convention of B.C. District No. 1 at Nanaimo,

“HARD-HITTING UNION GETS BEST RESULTS”

by renegade LPP officers in

funds out of the Union into Com-

munist projects. m

“A hard-hitting, well-knit dis- trict organization would prove of greater value in bargaining than a million dollar strike fund, and might in the end get results de- sired with the least resistance,” he contended.

The International Officer stressed the importance of re- paying obligations owing the CIO by energetic efforts to organize the unorganized. “A partially or- ganized lumber industry would be a handicap to all CIO-CCL Unions,” he urged.

been set up as a device to siphon

Free Labor Federation

Mr, Vincent Tewson, general secretary of Britain’s Trade Union Congress, was one of the speakers at the inaugural confer- ence of the Free World Labor

Confederation in London, last month. He stated that the British

Trade Unions sought to weld a labor movement together to op- erate in both the industrial and political fields in a common at- tack on the obstacles which lie in the way of the achievement of a true social democracy.

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