A return to CERB-level financial support needed for service sector, Hamilton restaurant worker says

A Hamilton restaurant worker believes a return to the level of funding offered previously by the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) would go a long way to help workers and business in the food industry, as the province grapples with record numbers of COVID-19 cases linked to the Omicron variant.

CERB ended in October, 2020, and was replaced by the Canada Recovery Benefit, which ended in October of this year. The government launched the newer Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit (CWLB) on Dec. 17. 

Like the programs before it, the program is designed to provide temporary income support during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it's only available to workers who cannot work due to a local lockdown designation.

There is no official lockdown in Ontario at the moment that requires restaurants to close, however in the wake of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19, some restaurants in Hamilton and the Niagara region have closed indoor dining, saying they lack customers and are concerned for the safety of their staff. 

Martello Restaurant on on James Street North in Hamilton did so last week, laying off all staff except for its manager, head chef and J.M. Turenne, the pizza chef. 

Turenne believes he'll recover if he gets infected with COVID-19, but he worries about losing his income should he get sick. 

"If I did get [COVID], the biggest fear would be like losing two weeks' of income, which for me it's not really a tenable option," he said. 

"And that's why I think a lot of people in this industry and a lot of people just overall, like minimum wage workers … you kind of get put into a situation where you kind of have to choose between your financial stability and doing something very reckless, like going into work when you might be sick."

We've already lost a lot of [servers and cooks] from the sector. Though we're just now returning, they never came back.​​​- Andrew Berry-Ashpole, Hamilton Hospitality Project

Turenne, 33, says he's been working in the sector for 16 years. He believes "some sort of full support system" is what's required, where "the government supports the businesses and the employees financially." 

"I know the government has lowered the requirements for their new program [the CWLB], but … it's supposed to be more of a supplement for a semi-loss of wages, as opposed to like CERB that was supposed to just be a complete coverage of those lost wages, or at least to the best of the government's ability. 

"The current program is, I believe, $300 a week, which is roughly $1,200 a month and, I mean, an average apartment in Hamilton is about $1,000 a month," Turenne added.

With the CWLB only available to workers who cannot work due to a local lockdown, no one in the country met the eligibility criteria at the time of its launch. As of this week, 10 regions were listed as eligible, all in Quebec and the Northwest Territories. 

Successful applicants would be eligible to receive $300 per week, and can apply for the benefit until May 7, 2022.

Some workers are 'desperately afraid'

Andrew Berry-Ashpole, an advocate at the Hamilton Hospitality Project, said even with the new CWLB, the uncertain nature of the pandemic has left some workers  "desperately afraid."

"We've already lost a lot of [servers and cooks] from the sector. Though we're just now returning, they never came back,"  Berry-Ashpole told CBC Hamilton.

"You have the ones who kind of like hung on and now they're really scared."

Berry-Ashpole, who is also a chef at Victoria's, said paid sick days should be the foundation to any worker-focused approach to helping workers and businesses through the pandemic.

"I think the program of the Ford government, the temporary one of three days, just isn't sufficient and it's not realistic given the current climate," he said of the province's COVID-19 Worker Income Protection Benefit, which has been extended until July 31, 2022 and requires employers to give employees up to three paid days off for reasons related to the pandemic. 

"Right now everyone's being advised that at the first sign of a sniffle they have to stay home. Great, so, they stay home and … now it's taking, you know, x number of days for them to even get a booking, you know, to get a PCR test. So, how is three days supposed to help? 

"Those three days are insufficient. You know, I think at least a week of paid sick days," he said. 

As for the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit, it will be available to employees in any region where there are more than 50 per cent capacity restrictions and who have lost more than half their income, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. A spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada told CBC News on Friday, applications will be possible starting in 2022. 

Employers who are subject to capacity restrictions of 50 per cent or more and face current-month declines in revenue of at least 25 per cent can apply for the newly expanded Local Lockdown Program, which grants wage subsidies from 25-75 per cent depending on revenue loss.

The expanded eligibility is expected to cost $4 billion, the government said in a release.