Please see the following link for an article by Coalition members Jonathan Hanvelt, David Fairey and Gurpreet Pabla. This piece, which was circulated to the media earlier this spring, describes the systemic exploitation of farm workers in BC, most of whom are temporary foreign workers or recent immigrants:
According to this recent publication from the Alberta Federation of Labour, recent scandals involving “guest” workers at the Royal Bank of Canada and HD mining “are just the tip of the iceberg.”
Through an Access to Information Request, the Alberta Federation of Labour obtained a list of all Temporary Foreign Worker applications that were rubberstamped in the first eight months of the new federal Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) process. The document suggests that abuse of the ALMO process is even more widespread than what might have been expected. Although guest-worker permits were intended to be reserved for highly-skilled employment positions, a large number of the guest-worker permits were granted to fast-food restaurants, and there appeared to be minimal review of the applications.
As Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan noted, “Workers who want to come to Canada should enjoy the same rights and privileges as other Canadian residents. We shouldn’t be paying them 15 per cent less than Canadians, and the government shouldn’t be whisking them in through an accelerated and duplicitous process.”
Weighing in on the filming of a federal raid on “undocumented” construction workers by the reality TV show Border Security, Coalition members Gil Aguilar and Gerardo Otero ask us to question to the broader issue of racial segregation in Canada’s workforce. Their op-ed, “Does Canada have unfree workers?” was recently published by both the Georgia Straight and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Two of of our Coalition members, Anelyse Weiler and Dr. Gerardo Otero, co-wrote an op-ed that was published in today’s Vancouver Sun. This issue is particularly pertinent in light of the Canadian Border Services Agency raids on construction workers in Vancouver this week.
The op-ed focuses on the need to enforce existing labour safety and health standards for precariously employed migrant workers in BC, and also on the need to provide opportunities for permanent citizenship for all “guest” workers. Citizenship certainly wouldn’t resolve all issues of inequality and labour safety for migrant workers. Nonetheless, it’s a practical step that would go a long way toward reducing the systemic exploitation of this group of workers, who contribute tremendously to our collective well-being (and pay taxes).
BC’s spring election is an opportunity to let provincial decision makers know that you want to see basic labour rights for all workers strongly integrated into our employment system. The BC Employment Standards Coalition just released a comprehensive set of proposals, including model legislation, to promote rights and protections for the province’s migrant workers. Please help us share these proposals with your MLA, and let decision makers know how the provincial government can help reverse a trend that would exacerbate economic inequality in Canada as a whole.
We were appalled to hear about the disrespectful manner in which “undocumented” and “migrant” workers were treated during this week’s Canadian Border Services Agency raid on a Vancouver construction site. The raid included TV crews who were filming for the reality TV show Border Security: Canada’s Front Line.
As Ian Mulgrew declared in today’s Vancouver Sun column, “Border Security makes Canada look like a Third World nation under siege. It portrays border guards as serving on the front-line of a non-existent war…. poor would-be immigrants, who whatever their story, deserve to be treated with respect.”
One of the family members of a worker who was arrested has launched a petition calling upon National Geographic Channel to cancel the Border Security reality TV show. Please sign and share this petition.
Yesterday, concerned groups and individuals gathered at Vancouver’s Citizenship and Immigration Office to rally against the CBSA raids on workers at local construction sites. In an interview with CBC news, Harsha Walia of No One is Illegal explained the context for the protest, remarking that we ought to question why, in the first place, there are so many individuals who must work “illegally” in Canada.
