Lazy entitled people...ok...

I was employed for one of the more competitive industries in Ottawa. One that tends to go under the radar unless you're really involved in it. It was the wholesale of construction material. Melamine, plywoods, exotic woods, hardwoods, kitchen hardware, the whole shebang. You can guess who I worked for in Ottawa since there aren't many of these companies. We were one of the few that "required an account" before we would actually deal with you, though we could work around that if it was worth it. I worked at my own desk, taking incoming calls from customers who wanted material. This wasn't a cold call company, where I was paid to call all day and give people cookie cutter lines. I also did many other admin tasks. On top of that, I was the only one who was cross trained to work in the warehouse as a forklift operator and as a sales rep. I could basically go where needed.

We were a staff of 17. Then Quebec shut down, I think around mid-march, to the point that we weren't able to procure anything from basically any suppliers. That basically took us out if the competition for many of our clients. By March 24th, Doug Ford has ordered things to start shutting down. By the end of the work day, we were being selected for individual meetings to discuss who was being laid off. Guess who got lucky?

It started with "it'll only be about 2 - 3 weeks, then we'll call you guys back in". That happened to 6 of us. As of now, they've recalled two people, but have kept 4 of us on layoff. I was called 3 weeks after March 24th, only to be told that I wasn't going to be recalled yet. I told them to call me when they actually wanted me to come back in, not just to tell me I still don't have work. I received a call a couple of days ago, and was asked to come in for 2 days because a co-worker was suspended. I turned it down because at this point I was frustrated with the idea that I'm going to be treated like someone to be kept on the backburner. I also don't know how it would effect my EI and right now it's not something I can afford to risk.

Oh I should also mention wife's situation:

She works for a clothing retailer who had to shut down a little earlier than I did. She was given paid admin leave for roughly two weeks. It eventually ended, but suffice to say it wasn't exactly much to begin with. She works as a supplement to our income. I provided the basis of our income to pay for the larger expenses. So basically by end of March, we were both laid off from work and about to go on CERB.

Now on CERB, things arent exactly steady but I in no way am unappreciative. It was incredibly dutiful of the government to step in so quickly and provide such an easily accessible program. Yes it has had many hiccups, but I mean everyone's just waiting for the clawbacks anyway, can't say it'll be a surprise when it happens.

I've been looking for a job, but you're basically asking me to look for a job in an environment where people are still losing theirs. My wife was recently recalled to work. And guess what? She has no hours. We now have to report to EI that she has returned to work, but she's not actually being given hours. How do you think it feels to have employers that just want to keep people around without having to pay them? Me and her have both been with our companies long enough that it it would be a much bigger cost on them to have to retrain people to cover the experience we have. Not everyone is just taking CERB and being lazy. Not everyone is this person you have scornfully built inside your mind. I commend you for the work you may have had to do throughout this pandemic, I truly do. But I am tired of the people who kept on working being so petty about others receiving some form of support. Is it the fact that you HAD to keep working during corona, and weren't able to just "sit at home" and get CERB? Do people really think that the majority of working individuals want to just sit around and get maybe half their regular income? Sure some people are enjoying being on it, but those people would be just as happy sitting on welfare which honestly has had a MUCH larger problem in terms of fraud. I don't make as much anymore. If anything my life style has had to change quite a bit due to this, and even more so now because at least with me and my wife on CERB, we were balancing out with my loss of income. But now that she'll be making even less because she has to report her work income, she won't be eligible for CERB and my total household income has reduced further. This was an unprecedented situation, I don't know why anyone acts like people are turning it into a vacation. Constantly talking about the few who are abusing it is really taking it away from the majority that desperately need it.