Canada - Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

Jun 20 2014

Suggested questions for Minister Jason Kenney & Chris Alexander’s announcement on TFWP today.

Ottawa — The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC), Canada’s largest migrant worker rights coalition, is gravely concerned by leaked reports of changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) that seem to continue to punish migrant workers’ for employer abuse and government failure. The decision to limit the time migrant workers can stay in Canada, increased LMO fees, and limits on migrant worker hiring by employer will result in making migrant workers’ more precarious, and less able to assert their rights. This continues the trend of laws that construct and determine migrant worker insecurity. MWAC suggests the following questions be raised at the press briefing on reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program today. A full statement will be issued following the formal announcement and MWAC members will be available for comment. On raising LMO fees There is no national framework to regulate recruiters and no national ban on charging migrant workers fees for work. In such a climate, how will you ensure that higher LMO fees aren’t simply downloaded to migrant workers themselves? On caps on workers that employers can hire There were 65,125 new LMOs issued for low-skilled workers just in the first half of 2013 (the 31,000 figure floated by ESDC does not include LMOs issued for workers already in Canada). It is already extremely difficult for migrant workers in Canada to change jobs. A limit on the number of available jobs would mean (as it already does in the food sector following the recent moratorium) that workers and their employers would know that switching jobs within the sector is harder if not impossible. How will you ensure that cap on workers an employer can hire does not simply result in further migrant worker abuse by employers and less willingness to complain by migrant workers? On time-limits that migrant workers can stay in Canada Isn’t a time-limit just a revolving door where the same employer can just bring a new set of workers with less awareness of their rights and who are easier to abuse? Many migrant workers and advocates have argued that limiting the number of years that a worker can stay in Canada to four as of April 2015 will result in mass detentions and deportations, and many workers will be forced to become undocumented. Would further reducing the number of years that migrant workers live here not exacerbate that? Why is there no program to grandfather the workers already in the country in to full immigration status? Does the existence of various temporary foreign workers program since the late 60s not prove that there is a need for immigrants in such jobs? Didn’t all of the groups that ESDC consulted with support access to permanent residency for migrant workers? On targeting employers who break the rules Labour law enforcement is the mandate of provinces. Under current federal laws, a migrant worker’s ability to stay in Canada is tied to their employer. The only way for workers to complain about employers that break the rules is by complaining to the provincial Ministry of Labour (MoL). How will you ensure that migrant workers will actually assert their rights, as complaining to MoL can lead to deportation and is therefore simply not an option? Will Ottawa actually be giving money for proactive labour law enforcement to the different provinces? On consultations that led to these decisions Though there was one meeting with advocacy and labour organizations, was there any consultation with migrant worker groups on these reforms? How do you think migrant workers will respond to these announcements? On exemptions for ‘seasonal’ workers and live-in caregivers Some of the worst allegations of abuses, including deaths, have taken place in seasonal industries like agriculture and hospitality. Why do the specific reforms aimed at curbing employer abuse exempt those migrant workers from protections? On access to benefits

Closed work permits exclude migrant workers from equal access to social entitlements such as healthcare. Many sick and injured migrants lose access to healthcare once their work permits expires thus denying them access to desperately needed medical help. How will the changes announced today ensure that migrant workers do not fall through the cracks?

### Media Contacts: Syed Hussan (416 453 3632, coordinator@migrantworkersalliance.org)

Migrant Workers Alliance for Change is Canada’s largest migrant worker rights coalition. It includes Alliance of South Asian Aid Prevention, Asian Community Aids Services, Caregivers Action Centre, Industrial Accident Victims’ Group of Ontario, Justicia for Migrant Workers,KAIROS, Legal Aid Windsor, Migrante Ontario, No One Is Illegal – Toronto, Parkdale Community Legal Services, Social Planning Toronto,UNIFOR, United Food and Commercial Workers and the Workers’ Action Centre. www.migrantworkersalliance.org

Apr 29 2014

Food Sector Ban Punishes Migrant Workers for Employer Abuse and Government Failure

Toronto – The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC), Canada’s largest coalition of migrant worker groups and allies, is calling for immediate changes to the moratorium imposed on temporary foreign workers (TFW) in the food industry. A moratorium is not the solution. Migrant workers need a just transition to a permanent immigration system in ‘low-skilled’ industries rather than being blamed for government mistakes. MWAC calls on the Federal government to:

Process pending and in-country Labour Market Opinions and Work Permit applications for migrant workers; and
Develop a just transition mechanism into permanent residency for migrants already in Canada, along with future immigrants in the low-wage, ‘low-skilled’ sectors

“The media is full of stories of migrant worker exploitation, but this moratorium won’t end the abuse it will just make workers more precarious,” insists Senthil Thevar, who came to Canada as a Temporary Foreign Worker in the food sector and was forced to switch jobs because of workers rights violations.

“A moratorium on TFWs is the wrong way to go. Migrant workers in Canada awaiting a decision on their LMOs and work permits will suffer immensely. Those trying to leave abusive employers will be locked in,” says migrant worker advocate Chris Ramsaroop from Justicia for Migrant Workers. “Those who have paid thousands of dollars to recruiters abroad to apply for jobs here risk losing their life savings. They should not have to pay the price of long-standing flaws in the immigration system. That’s basic fairness.”

Vinay Sharma, Human Rights Director for UNIFOR, Canada’s largest private sector labour union adds, “We can’t just get rid of workers that are already here. Migrant workers in Canada need full immigration status. That’s the critical step. Right now the moratorium should exclude in-country and pending applications.”

“Recent reports expose how provincial and federal laws exclude migrants from basic workplace protections. The solution is to change those two-tiered laws that create conditions of lowered wages and working conditions and that pit migrant workers against unemployed or under-employed citizens,” adds Syed Hussan of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. “In the long-run, we need to return to an immigration system that gives access to permanent status to migrants in low-skilled industries.”

“Workers across Canada are facing precarious, low-wage jobs and tough economic times,” added Deena Ladd from the Workers Action Centre. “Let’s not repeat history’s mistakes of blaming immigrants for unemployment in times of economic downturn. We need a decent job agenda that raises standards for all workers, not an arbitrary exclusion of migrant workers.”

Media Contact: Syed Hussan, Coordinator, 416 453 3632, coordinator@migrantworkersalliance.org

Key facts

44,000 migrant workers entered Canada in the food and accommodation sector in 2012.
The actual number of migrant workers in Canada in the food sector is not currently known – but all of those workers are now unable to switch jobs within the sector leaving them vulnerable to employer abuse.
Canada has no pathway for low-skilled immigrants to come here permanently. A moratorium on the TFWP should only happen after such a pathway has been developed – otherwise it will result in mass deportation.
There is no inter-provincial or Canada wide ban on charging migrant workers recruitment fees. Thus recruiters charge migrant workers upwards of two-years’ of salaries in home countries to find jobs in Canada. See http://metcalffoundation.com/publications-resources/view/profiting-from-the-precarious-how-recruitment-practices-exploit-migrant-workers/ for more.

Migrant Workers Alliance for Change includes Asian Community AIDS Services, Caregivers Action Centre, Justicia for Migrant Workers, Legal Assistance of Windsor, Migrante-Ontario, No One Is Illegal-Toronto, Parkdale Community Legal Services, Social Planning Toronto, South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario, UNIFOR, United Food and Commercial Workers, and Workers Action Centre. www.migrantworkersalliance.org

Mar 6 2014

Liberal TFWP plan not a solution to Tory mess

Toronto – The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC), Canada’s largest migrant worker coalition, believes that the 5-point demands issued by the Liberal Party of Canada on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) fail to respond to the needs of migrant workers or the Canadian labour market. Discussions on the TFWP must include the voices of migrant workers. MWAC calls for the following short, medium and long-term steps:

Short term: The Federal and provincial governments must ensure that migrant workers can exert their rights at work. This means: open work permits, TFW specific anti reprisal protections, equal access to social entitlements and strengthening labour legislation for all workers
Medium term: Full immigration status for migrant workers in Canada as we justly transition to a long term solution;
Long term: Permanent immigration status for all migrants coming into Canada, including workers in low-skilled occupations and the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program.

“The Liberal plan fails to recognize that it is provincial and federal laws together that work to make migrants a second-class category of workers that are then pitted against unemployed citizens and permanent residents,” explains Tzazna Miranda Leal, organizer with Justice for Migrant Workers, member organization of MWAC. “The solution is to simply remove those exclusions from labour protections for all workers, thus making migrant workers and unemployed citizens allies in the fight for better jobs and stronger communities.”

Vinay Sharma, Human Rights Director for UNIFOR, Canada’s largest private sector union and MWAC member adds, “Once the provinces and the feds have cleaned up their act, we need to account for migrants already here. We can’t just get rid of them. Migrant workers in Canada need full immigration status. That’s the next step.”

“The Liberal demands today fail to recognize the expansion of TFWP as part of a dangerous shift in Canadian immigration policy towards temporariness and exclusion,” explains Perry Sorio, member of Migrante Canada, an MWAC member. “Permanency and stability are necessary to build healthy communities. We need to overhaul the entire immigration system and re-institute access to permanent status for immigrants in low-skilled occupations.”

Syed Hussan, MWAC Coordinator agrees. “Our members are a fundamental part of the labour market and economy. To treat them as a separate entity as the Liberals do makes no economic sense, and continues the divisiveness drummed up over the last month. Migrants are our friends and family, not just a market-input brought in when needed. Workers need to be at the table, making joint decisions.”

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Media Contact: Syed Hussan, Coordinator, 416 453 3632, coordinator@migrantworkersalliance.org