Editor:
I want to say how much I admire Marlene Geirsdorf for taking this employment insurance problem to the public.
Too often single women are abused in this manner and no one hears about it. The people who are having the hardest times in life are the first to be hurt by government systems. These systems are operated by administrators who know nothing about the people who require the help and most administrators would not last a day walking in the shoes of a single mother. No wonder Marlene was out on stress leave.
Sometimes single mothers are bullied by employers and feel helpless because they need the job. Then they are bullied by a system that was meant to help them, but does not. Many single mothers are overwhelmed with being poor, with stress, depression, sleepless nights, never making ends meet and then having to work outside the home for minimum wages. They become mother, father and the worker who brings home the day-old bread.
At home, with a child, there are endless chores, four to five hours preparing for the next day, school work and social activities for the child. Even with more than minimum wages there are so many necessities and costs that are not covered: dental care, child care, eye care, frames and lens, and then the cost of transportation to and from. Without a car, the worries double and with an old car the worries triple.
Marlene Geirsdorf is not the first to have this problem with EI and anyone who works could be next.
Flora (Jean) Thompson,
Charlottetown
