And Speaking Of Labour

All kinds of abuses continue under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. As reported by the CBC, an Italian company, Saipem, contracted by Husky Sunrise to build a multi-billion dollar plant 60 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, is employing 344 foreign tradespersons and others who are either unqualified, uncertified or cannot understand English, thereby putting lives at risk.

Despite complaints by supervisors and a surfeit of qualified Canadians who are being ignored in the company's hiring practices, almost nothing is being done about this dangerous situation:

The House That Ronald Built

... seems to be undergoing some serious perturbations these days. Earlier in the month came the story of three McDonald's outlets in British Columbia abusing the Harper regime's TFWP (Temporary Foreign Workers Program) by hiring temporary workers instead of available local people and reducing the hours of Canadian employees.

Now comes word from Edmonton of more abuse by the hamburger giant, this time of its temporary workers. CBC News reports the following:

Foreign workers recruited from Belize are accusing McDonald’s Canada of treating them like "slaves," by effectively forcing them to share an expensive apartment – then deducting almost half their take-home pay as rent.

Records from three employees show they made $11 an hour working at various McDonald’s locations and the company took $280 from their pay for rent, bi-weekly. Their remaining take-home pay for the same pay periods was roughly $350.

“[The apartment lease] contracts are signed by McDonald’s. All of our bills – utility bills – were billed [to us] under the name of McDonald’s,” said Montero.

“They brought us here and they are this big huge corporation. We felt that we didn’t have a chance to even voice our opinion to them because they had brought us here so they could ship us back whenever they wanted to," said Montero. "It was like modern day slavery."


You can read the full tawdry tale of corporate malfeasance here, and watch a video report below:

Kind of takes away your appetite for when the next 'Mac attack' happens, doesn't it?

More Lies From Harper Inc.

By now, most Canadians are probably aware that truth and the Harper regime are total strangers. Whether talking about the cost estimates of F-35 jets, knowledge about the Wright-Duffy-Wallin Senate scandal, reasons for taking rides from military helicopters to return from the cottage, spending $50 million on gazebos, everything the government says is suspect. People become used to such dishonesty, deceit and contempt, but I hope they never become inured to these egregious signs of overweening pride and arrogance from the people who 'serve' us.

Recent claims of revisions to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program that would ensure employers offer jobs to Canadians first appear to be yet just another lie issued by the government to quell widespread discontent. A story in today's Edmonton Journal reports the following:

Hundreds of Alberta employers are being allowed to bring temporary foreign workers into the province at minimum wage despite a federal government requirement they be paid at or near market rates.

Internal documents reveal officials at Human Resources and Skill Development Canada are letting businesses like big restaurant chains and large nurseries pay imported employees as little as $9.75 an hour.

The Alberta Federation of Labour, which gained the truth through a federal access to information request, says of the foreign workers,

“They’re being used as pawns by employers who don’t want to respond to the market signals that are telling them they need to raise wages”.

And the implication of this deceitful practice has implications far beyond the temporary workers directly affected:

Don Drummond, a former chief economist with TD Bank and deputy minister with the federal finance department, worries the documents show the TFW program is being used to artificially suppress wages in the province’s labour market despite a robust economy.

“If this program is creating a substantial number of positions at minimum wage,” said Drummond, “it’s dragging down wages throughout the province’s entire economy.”

Predictably, Dr. Kellie Leitch, the federal labour minister, did not respond to written questions about why this is being allowed.

Slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865 with the 13th Amendment to the Consitution. Apparently it continues under another name in our own country today.

Guest Commentary On The Temporary Foreign Workers Program

We just returned from a visit to our son out West, where the use of temporary foreign workers appears to be ubiquitous. It seemed that every Tim Hortons, every Subway Sandwich, and many hospitality sites were employing temporary workers, many of whom were trainees (which suggests the high turnover rate in these low-paying positions.)

As I said to my son, since things are quite prosperous in Alberta, and restaurants are always well-patronized, even during the week, it would seem incumbent upon those enterprises to pay living wages rather than exploit the loopholes in the program, especially the one that permits wages 15% lower than that paid to Canadians. If that were done, the business claim that they can't find Canadians for the jobs would be exposed for the canard it truly is.

Last year I wrote a post on the subject; this morning Anonymous offered a comment on the program in response that is both succinct and insightful. I am taking the liberty of posting it below:

The temporary foreign worker program is simply a guise to acquire cheap labor at the expense of Canadian citizens.

Let's review the evidence shall we?

1. Bringing in cheap foreign labor erodes competitive labor markets that are needed in order to drive up Canadian worker's wages so that they might enjoy a decent standard of living.

2. Temporary foreign workers are in theory born from neoliberalism capitalist ideology that states and i quote " the only responsibility of businesses is to maximize profits"

3. Temporary foreign worker programs deprive Canadian youth of the transitory jobs that they need in order to transition into higher paying work. People who go months on end being unemployed are almost considered unemployable by business. This sets our youth up for future failure and a society that relies on government handouts for their survival.

4. Temporary foreign worker program deviates from free capitalist ideology and moves into socialistic capitalist theory and essentially props up businesses that should otherwise fail with cheap labor.

5. Temporary foreign workers are abused verbally, emotionally and sometimes put in harms way physically so that inefficient businesses can stay afloat.

6. Temporary foreign worker programs add to the growing socioeconomic inequality that is destroying western industrialized countries by crushing labor sectors.

We could go on and on all day long. Believe the propaganda of business or believe the academics? Who do you truly think has the average Canadian's best interests at heart?

Vote out the conservatives and elect the party that acts on the demands of Canadian citizens.

The Royal Bank's Abasement of Its Employees

It may be helpful to remember the following video the next time you see an RBC ad portraying the bank as the solution to everyone's problems. Forty-five soon-to-be-former employees (after they have trained their replacements) would beg to differ with the characterization. I suspect if I had an account with RBC, I would be closing it very soon in protest.

H/t Kev