In today’s economy, more and more companies are seeking to leverage CCAA (Canadian Creditors Arrangement Act) – a Federal Canadian Act that protects companies from their creditors while they restructure their business in an effort to avoid bankruptcy. Under the CCAA, any employees laid off as part of the restructuring process are considered “creditors” and it is up to a company to determine whether it will pay or not pay severance or other employee benefits. Most companies choose not to pay. The employees rights are minimized. In other words, under CCAA, a company is allowed to disregard even the minimum legal requirements spelled out in various employment standards acts across the country while it continues to operate in “business as usual” mode. CCAA trumps all other laws. It’s time that CCAA was modernized to protect the rights of ALL Canadian employees and to ensure that employees laid off by a company during bankruptcy protection or receiving pension benefits be considered “secured” creditors. Why Employees are unlike any other creditor, they have a special relationship with the debtor, they have been largely responsible for creating value for all stakeholders, and – unlike suppliers, banks, and other business creditors – they cannot write off their losses. For information on how CCAA impacts people working in companies in CCAA or seeking CCAA bankruptcy protection, click on the links below. Nortel - http://tinyurl.com/NortelNetworksnews Air Canada - http://tinyurl.com/AirCanadanews Chrysler - http://tinyurl.com/Chryslernews GM - http://tinyurl.com/TorstarGMnews Abitibi - http://tinyurl.com/abitibiseveranceisue Sign this petition to help change CCAA to ensure a company’s employees are paid severance monies owed to them and that pension funds are topped up before other creditors are paid. Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/changeccaa

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