Montague EI centre union to demonstrate
Hopes to put pressure on federal government to keep centre open
CBC News
Posted: Feb 11, 2012 6:01 PM AT
Last Updated: Feb 11, 2012 6:42 PM AT
The union representing workers at the EI centre in Montague hopes to put pressure on Diane Finley to keep the centre open. (CBC)The union representing workers at the EI processing centre in Montague has launched a campaign to convince the federal government to keep the centre open.
The centre is currently slated to close in March of 2014, but the Canada Employment and Immigration Union believes public pressure could change that and it is planning an EI rally next weekend in Montague.
"We are trying to generate some public support, let [the public] know what's going on," said local union spokeswoman Donna MacDonald. She said that she hopes the rally will result in a change of the government's plans.
"Hopefully put some pressure on the politicians to leave it open. We are going to have some postcards to send to [Human Resources and Skills Development] Minister Finley," she said.
MacDonald said that the public supports the centre, but that more education is needed. "We are at the point where it is not going to hurt. We felt that the public is behind us ... but we don't think that they know enough yet."
Twenty-eight people work in claims processing at the Montague EI centre. The rally will be held in the parking lot of the Down East Mall in Montague at 10:30 on Feb. 18.
Service Canada announced the move to consolidate its Employment Insurance processing and call centres in August 2011 as part of an effort to streamline an automate the process.
That means more online filing and less manual processing. The work will be centralized at 22 locations, down from the current 120 sites.
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