Temporary Foreign Workers

Temporary Foreign Workers A BC Labour Perspective

What happened in BC? • Abuse of Workers • Labour’s response • Governments’ Roles

Abuse of Workers • Job placements span occupations from live-in caregivers, service/retail workers, agricultural workers, construction workers • Employers range in size from small businesses including retail franchises and family farms to international conglomerates • Includes major public works projects funded by taxpayers

Abuse of Workers • Wages below local market levels • Contractual obligations ignored • Placement fees/Recruitment Fees • Accommodation - inadequate or high rent • Advocacy - workers lack of awareness of rights while in Canada

Abuse of Workers—Wages • Canada Line -$1.35 billion rapid transit project from Vancouver to Richmond/YVR • Tunnel construction - joint venture between SNC Lavalin and SELI Canada • Tunnel workers were being paid $1,000 (US net) per month, in compensation for 63 hour work weeks - equal to $3.73 Canadian per hour (net)

Abuse of Workers—Wages • It is illegal to include accommodation, food, transportation or any benefit in a wage calculation • BC ESA – Sec. 20 (a) “An employer must pay wages in Canadian currency.”

Abuse of Workers—Contracts & Promises Ignored Golden Ears Bridge Project • Serbian TFWs employed with Baulex as a sub-contract to Billfinger-Berger • Broken promises • Failed to receive credit for overtime and overtime pay • Forced to pay their own airfare • Garnished wages for recruitment fees

Abuse of Workers—Placement/Recruitment Fees • Federal regulations state that if a recruitment agency is used fees not be charged to the workers • Mexican Ironworkers - unable to successfully recoup $8,000 placement fee • Mexican Cement Finishers - Each paid $5,000 which was garnished off their cheques

Abuse of Workers—Placement/Recruitment Fees • Mexican carpenter/formers – Paid $8,000 – garnished off his cheque • JadCan – Filipinos paid approximately $2,500 each (Golden Ears Bridge) • Baulex – Each paid $1,200

Abuse of Workers—Placement/Recruitment Fees • Loan Sharks – Filipino TFWs had to take a loan from a bank to pay the recruitment fee ($2,500). (The bank was owned the labour broker) • Charged 50 percent interest on the loan. • Paid off the loan and interest in $400 installments garnished off each pay cheque.

Abuse of Workers—Placement/Recruitment Fees • Airfare – Federal guidelines stipulate that TFW should not pay for their return airfare. In half the cases we’ve dealt with the worker pays their own • TFW’s often advised by employer that they can not seek other employment • If fired they will forfeit return airfare

Abuse of Worker—Accomodation Metro Vancouver Water Diversion Project • Workers paid $900 each to employer. Housed in overcrowded basement suites (three to a suite). Suite rented out for less than $1,000 Jadcan - Golden Ears Bridge • Employees charged$800. After voting to become unionized, workers were given a choice to take the money and find their own accommodations

Abuse of Worker—Accomodation Baulex – GoldenEars Bridge • Up to six workers in a crowded apartment • Each had been pressured to authorize the employer to garnish $600 per month • Rent for the apartment was $1,200

Labour Movement’s Role • Canada is a country that must respect labour standards and human rights. • The Labour movement is embarrassed and outraged by these examples of exploitation. • Vulnerable workers who are used as a source of cheap labour drive down skills, wages and working conditions.

Labour Movement’s Role • Labour has a duty to represent and protect the rights and dignity of our members. • A moral and social responsibility to represent the unorganized.

How Labour Fights Back--Organize TFWs Organize • TFWs have been successfully unionized and recognized by the LRB. • Employers currently arguing TFWs don’t have the right to unionize in the agricultural sector.

How Labour Fights Back—Connections to the Community • Contacts to the ecumenical community • Working with other advocacy groups • Social connections (games, outings, translation services, medical needs, WCB advocacy, ESL classes) • UFCW centre for agricultural TFWs

How Labour Fights Back—Worker Advocacy Labour Relations Board • Unfair labour practices, collective bargaining, grievances against employer intimidations and other discipline, firing without cause Employment Standards Complaints • Third Party Authorizations allow us to file representative complaints • IROs must report to us on investigation progress and findings

How Labour Fights Back—Worker Advocacy Human Rights • SELI/SNC Lavalin Human Rights Complaint - won Tribunal ruling that employers can not discriminate based on the worker’s country of origin

How Labour Fights Back—Working with the civil service • Avoid embarrassing headlines • We have well-established relationships and stakeholder participation at the federal level • We have built relationships with local and national staff at HRSDC and CIC and the responsible provincial Ministries

How Labour Fights Back—Media • Facilitating media availability with TFWs who are often afraid and often need promise of anonymity • Press conferences, Rallies and protest demonstrations highlighting poor working conditions and treatment • Newsletters and magazines (Tradetalk is sent to 30,000)

How Labour Fights Back—Political Action Domestic Political Pressure • Meetings and submissions to Ministers and opposition M.P.s, MLAs. • Presentations to Standing Committees (CIC). • Presentations to Local Government.

How Labour Fights Back—Political Action International Pressure • Visits by international labour leaders (from the TFWs home countries). • Letters of support from international labour bodies to Canadian politicians. • Complaints to UN Special Rapporteur on Migrant Workers (under auspices of International Declaration on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families).

TFWs—Governments’ ResponseBC Provincial Government Employment Standards • Workers are asked to first try and resolve their complaint directly with their employer via self help kit. • Most workers have no idea who to complain to or are too intimidated to make a complaint. • Employers have made it clear they will be fired for complaining.

TFWs—Governments’ ResponseBC Provincial Government Labour Relations Board • In direct contradiction to CIC and HRSDC the BC LRB has ruled that the employers' ‘Letter of Assignment’ (a requirement of the permit application process that promises to pay workers a set wage) is not a contract • The BC LRB says an employer can use one document to convince federal government that they are paying ‘prevailing wages,’ then, after the worker arrives in Canada, the employer can pressure the worker to sign a new inferior contract

TFWs—Governments’ ResponseBC Provincial Government BC Human Rights Tribunal • Recognized that employers can not discriminate on wages, accommodation, meals, based on country of origin (BCHRT 436, 2008, MacNaughton, Humphreys, Lyster). • www.bchrt.bc.ca • The decision rules that workers originating from a poor country can not be paid less than workers originating from a rich country. This would constitute discrimination based on country of origin.

TFWs—Governments’ ResponseFederal Government HRSDC • At the Golden Ears Bridge, Canadian workers were laid-off due to a shortage of work before the same employer laid-off TFW employees. • Regional Office facilitated re-hire of Canadian immigrant employees. If the employer didn’t re-hire the Canadians, future LMOs would be assessed unfavourably given a non-compliance record.

TFWs—Governments’ ResponseFederal Government HRSDC • After Baulex declared bankruptcy on the Golden Ears Bridge Project (employer unable to pay wages owed), HRSDC changed policy to recognize TFWs as eligible for Employment Insurance.

Four Pillars • Orientation • Knowing your rights is a first step to dealing with vulnerability. • Monitoring • Enforcement • Advocacy • Independent safe havens means they can exercise their rights. • JU/sm1000-09rep-ju-TFWcope 15

Temporary Foreign Workers