23 February 2009
Miller Grills Government on Worker Protection Inaction
Workers at Waterloo's Bauer Industries latest to lose severance, pensions

QUEEN'S PARK—NDP MPP Paul Miller today grilled the McGuinty government for its continued inaction on workers’ wage and severance protection.

“My bill to amend the Employment Standards Act to give workers greater protection passed Second Reading on December 6, 2007. It has languished in committee ever since,” said Miller.

“Despite efforts to bring the bill to public consultations and hearings, the McGuinty Liberals have stonewalled it,” he said.

Miller’s bill provides for the appointment of a Program Administrator to administer employees’ eligibility for compensation for certain types of unpaid wages. It also directs the Administrator to establish and maintain a program fund to pay compensation to eligible employees.

“If the bill is allowed to proceed, the workers at Bauer Industries in Waterloo, at Buchanan Forest Products in Thunder Bay and at many other workplaces throughout Ontario would have their hard-earned wages, severance and holiday pay,” said Miller.

“There is no excuse for the McGuinty government to keep the bill from public consultation, to keep it from helping the many workers across Ontario who are facing bleak futures because they’ve lost their jobs and there is no protection for the wages, severance and holiday pay that they have rightfully earned,” said Miller.

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Media Contact: Paul Miller (416) 325-0707

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