Liberals must act on precarious work for millenials

NDP is calling on Liberals to act on precarious work for young Canadians instead of continue to shrug it off as if there is nothing to be done.

OTTAWA – Today in Question Period, NDP Jobs Critic Niki Ashton (Churchill-Keewatinook Aski) invited Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to hear directly from young people at a national forum organized by Ashton on the rise of precarious work in the millennial generation.

“Precarious work is not a fact of life. New Democrats do not accept that temporary jobs, involuntary part-time or freelance work, continuous contract positions, unpaid internships, or jobs with no benefits, workplace pension, or jobs security is a reality that we need to resign ourselves to,” stated Ashton. “What I heard loud and clear is the reality for young people is becoming increasingly grim. We can and must do better for Canadian youth.”

This Forum, titled The Precarious Generation: Millennials Fight Back, is the culmination of a national tour. Over the last six months, Ashton traveled across the country holding stakeholder meetings and public consultations in 14 cities in 9 of the 10 provinces and 1 territory.

“Millennials know what they need to make their work and their lives less precarious. They live it every day,” said Ashton. “Given the Prime Minister’s comments this morning and his Finance Minister’s comments this weekend, I hope the Prime Minister will take this opportunity to hear directly from Millennials and Millennial allies as they outline the struggles they are currently facing and the vision they have for the future.”

This will be the first forum of its kind on Parliament Hill where Millennial leaders and their allies will be coming together from across the country to identify what action they need to federal government to take to have a more secure future.