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Migrant workers launch class action lawsuit against Mac’s Convenience Stores

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Hundreds of people hired through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program are launching a class action lawsuit against Mac’s Convenience Stores. They are reporting that they paid thousands of dollars for recruitment fees and signed employment contracts for jobs in Western Mac’s that did not exist. As reported in this CBC News article, three Surrey-based immigration firms are also being sued.

Lawyers at Allevato Quail & Worth have been working on behalf of the migrant workers in this lawsuit, and they are circulating the poster below about their case (pdf available here). Further information on the case, including information sheets in English, Hindi, Nepali, Tagalog, and Chinese (coming soon) are available on this page.

Mac's Convenience Stores Lawsuit Poster

Migrant workers demand the right to be with their families on Family Day

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As part of Justicia for Migrant Workers’ Harvesting Freedom campaign to mark the 50th anniversary of Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, migrant workers and allies recently visited Immigration Minister John McCallum’s office in Markham, Ontario. They are calling on the Liberal government to include the reunification of migrant workers and their families as part of its family reunification policy, and for permanent immigration status and associated rights upon migrant workers’ arrival in Canada.

Supporters can learn more and sign the Harvesting Freedom petition here.

On the eve of Ontario’s Family Day long weekend on February 12th, migrant workers assembled photos of their children on a large broken heart. They urged the Immigration Minister not to let another Family Day pass in which migrant workers could not be with their partners and children.

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March 18 Migrante BC Gala Fundraiser for Migrant Workers with Fay Faraday

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Migrante BC Gala Fundraiser

BC Employment Standards Coalition member-organization Migrante BC is hosting a Gala Fundraiser for migrant workers with respected social justice lawyer Fay Faraday as a keynote speaker.

MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER: BUILDING MIGRANT WORKER SECURITY

  • Friday, March 18, 2016, 6 pm -10 pm
  • Holiday Inn (711 W. Broadway, Vancouver)
  • Tickets at $60 each (with dinner); Table of 8 at $450. For tickets, contact 604.879.5850 or email us at migrante.bc@gmail.com
  • Facebook event: RSVP here (optional).
Fay Faraday, a respected social justice lawyer, will be the keynote speaker at Migrante BC's Gala Fundraiser

Fay Faraday, a respected social justice lawyer, will be the keynote speaker at Migrante BC’s Gala Fundraiser.

Keynote speaker: Fay Faraday, noted social justice lawyer; also a strategic adviser and policy consultant on human rights, labour, and constitutional law; litigator for unions, community organizations and coalitions for constitutional and human rights cases before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Pushing back at the normalization of worker precariousness globally and domestically, Faraday’s keynote will issue a call to action and solidarity to map a vision for reform that builds security for all migrant workers.

All proceeds will go towards our volunteer-run and non-profit organization, Migrante BC.

Migrante invites people to join in at the Gala Evening and consider becoming a sponsor:

SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION:

Gold Sponsor $1000 and comes with name recognition during the event, FP advertisement in the souvenir program, 4 tickets to the Gala fundraiser and invitation to private pre-Gala cocktail reception with Fay Faraday

Silver Sponsor $500 and comes with name recognition during the event, HP advertisement in the souvenir program, 2 tickets to the Gala fundraiser and invitation to private pre-Gala cocktail reception with Fay Faraday

Bronze $250 and comes with name recognition during the event, HP advertisement in the souvenir program, 1 ticket to the Gala fundraiser and invitation to private pre-Gala cocktail reception with Fay Faraday.

Critics argue BC’s minimum wage increase is too low

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David Fairey, Co-Chair of the BC Employment Standards Coalition, was quoted in an article in the Georgia Straight on BC’s proposed minimum wage increase. Jobs Minister Shirley Bond is expected to announce this month that in September, the province will raise the minimum wage to $10.65/hour. Fairey has argued that the increase is inadequate, and would still leave the baseline for future Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustments too low.

The province’s imminent minimum wage announcement comes on the heels of a Freedom of Information Request by the Georgia Straight revealing that the BC government had been aware of faulty information guiding its increase in minimum wage in September, 2015. The province had initially intended to move BC to the middle of minimum wages relative to other provinces last year, but ended up leaving it close to the bottom of the barrel. However, once the government became aware of its error, documents show that it failed to correct or reveal this mistake to the public.

Sponsoring “The Hand That Feeds” Feb 11 at Just Film Festival

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The BC Employment Standards Coalition, along with the BC Federation of Labour, is pleased to be co-sponsoring the screening of The Hand That Feeds as part of the Just Film Festival. It will be screened on Thursday, February 11th as the second film in a double-feature, with the first film beginning at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d6604tfm-k

At a popular bakery café, residents of New York’s Upper East Side get bagels and coffee served with a smile 24 hours a day. Behind the scenes, undocumented immigrant workers face sub-legal wages, dangerous machinery and abusive managers who will fire them for calling in sick.

Risking deportation and job loss, the workers team up with innovative young organizers and form their own independent union, launching themselves on a journey that will test the limits of their resolve. In one roller-coaster year, they must overcome a shocking betrayal and a two-month lockout. Lawyers battle in back rooms and workers walk the picket line with support from the “Occupy” crowd. If they can win a contract, it will set a historic precedent. But whatever happens, these workers will never be the same.

The BC Employment Standards Coalition will also be present for a Q&A after the film to share ideas about how the issues depicted in the film, which is situated in New York, relate to the local context in BC.