A handful of seasonal workers occupied Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Montreal offices on Wednesday to demand changes in employment insurance.

“We did a lot of rallies, we did a lot of meetings but nobody wants to listen to us,” said Fernand Thibodeau, a spokesman for the Action Committee on Employment Insurance for Seasonal Workers.

Thibodeau says seasonal workers are living in an employment insurance “black hole,” referring to the gap between the end of employment insurance and the start of seasonal working.

Under a Liberal pilot project launched last year, seasonal workers in 13 targeted regions of the country — including Bas-Saint-Laurent–Côte-Nord, Central Quebec, Chicoutimi-Jonquiere, Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine and North Western Quebec — are entitled to an extra five weeks of employment insurance.

However, Thibodeau says that is not enough to cover the needs of seasonal workers, especially those who don’t reach the required 490 hours of work to be eligible for employment insurance for 23 weeks.

“Five weeks, that’s like icing on the cake, that’s not going to fix seasonal workers’ problems,” Thibodeau said.

Thibodeau says they would like the government to lower the hour requirement to 420 hours with a coverage of 35 weeks of employment insurance. He added the government should invest in a 10-year study to better understand the needs of seasonal workers.

READ: Feds announce pilot program to address ‘EI black hole’ for New Brunswick seasonal workers

“We met with the prime minister in Miramichi [New Brunswick]. He was very understanding and promised to work on it but there is no action. He only gave money to study a little bit and added five more weeks but it’s not enough. We need actions and decisions before the elections,” explained Thibodeau.

The challenges of seasonal work

Thibodeau says some people judge seasonal workers and call them lazy for demanding employment-insurance benefits.

“That’s not true,” Thibodeau said. “Those people work very hard hours, up to 17 hours a day. It equals to someone’s full-time job,” said Thibodeau.

Thibodeau says seasonal workers are usually only qualified in their field of work and have a hard time finding other jobs during the off-season.

Even if they find other temporary work, Thibodeau says, many are laid off or forced to hand in a resignation when they move on to their seasonal jobs, which disqualifies them to apply for seasonal work employment insurance. It’s something he says seasonal workers would like the government to take into consideration.

Global News requested a comment from the Prime Minister’s Office as well as Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos but didn’t hear back by publishing time.

— With files from The Canadian Press

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