[PEN-L:11250] UI "Surplus" Reaches $5 Billion (Canada)

["Shawgi A. Tell" <tell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Chretien Liberals have presided over a massive restructuring of
the unemployment insurance system which has made it more and more
difficult for workers to qualify to receive benefits. The latest
figures released by the Finance Department indicate that $5 billion
more were collected in premiums from employers and employees than was
paid out in the form of benefits. This is being called a "surplus."
The Finance Department predicts the accumulated "surplus" will grow to
$16 billion by the end of 1998.

Since 1988, when the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney
completely withdrew state funding for the UI program, it has been
solely financed by contributions from employers and workers. The
Liberal government has used some of the UI money to pay for various
"training" and "job creation" schemes, most of which are a means of
funnelling funds into the pockets of the rich. According to media
reports, the Chretien Liberals are now pushing to have the "surplus"
declared part of the general government revenue and having it entirely
removed from the separate UI fund.

This measure by the Chretien Liberals confirms that the anti-social
offensive, which has included the attacks on the unemployed and other
vulnerable sections of the society, does not have a "balanced budget"
and other such claims as its objective. It aims to withdraw the very
notion of a society which has responsibilities towards its members so
that more and more funds can be transferred to the rich. Once included
in the "general government revenue," the funds which were collected
for the purpose of paying workers when the capitalist system throws
them out of work will be further subjected to the Chretien Liberal
dictate that the first and only legitimate claims on the public
treasury are those laid by the financial oligarchy.

		CPC(M-L)

Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
tell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx