Jeff Bromley

Last Thursday, Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu headed to Victoria to announce $70.4 million over three years intended to help tariff-affected workers retrain, upskill and get new jobs. The funding is part of the federal government’s strategy to help workers respond to US President Trump’s trade war. Here in B.C., that’s largely workers in the forestry sector and steel. …But United Steelworkers Wood Council chair Jeff Bromley said Canada needs to bolster employment insurance even more to keep workers from falling through the cracks. He added that while the investment into skills training is welcome, it’s presently unclear exactly how the money will help United Steelworkers’ 14,000 members. …Bromley pointed to the workers at the sawmill in Chemainus, who were expecting to resume work this year until finding out in January that their mill would stay inactive. Many will start running out of employment insurance this week.