Détails du document

Impression et sauvegarde

Rapport/communiqué de presse

Temp Foreign Workers take the fall again for farmers and government

Date

2010

Auteurs

Agriculture Workers Alliance

Résumé

As nine workers arrested, Harper government and farm industry “are both complicit in a system ‎designed to exploit foreign workers and dispose of them,” says national leader of UFCW Canada

Titre de la série

AWA E-News

Institution responsable

Agriculture Workers Alliance

Notes

As nine workers arrested, Harper government and farm industry “are both complicit in a system ‎designed to exploit foreign workers and dispose of them,” says national leader of UFCW Canada

TORONTO - The Ontario arrest and detainment of nine temporary foreign workers "is the latest ‎example that both the Harper government and the farm industry are both complicit in a system ‎designed to exploit foreign workers and dispose of them," says Wayne Hanley, the National ‎President of UFCW Canada.‎

The workers are Thai nationals who were brought to Canada under the federal government’s ‎Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) program. They were arrested near the Sarnia agriculture ‎operation where they were employed.‎

TFWs are typically granted a two-year work permit, but an underground system of job brokers ‎tied into the farm industry directs these workers to continue to work "under the table" after ‎their visas expire. The nine TFWs arrested near Sarnia are being held in a Toronto detention ‎centre. The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirmed they were arrested "for ‎suspected violations of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act."‎

‎"What’s really being violated here is the human rights of these workers," says Hanley. "The ‎federal government encourages farmers to import TFWs, specifically because these workers are ‎granted next to no status and are under the radar when it comes to workplace protections."‎

‎"By deliberately shortchanging these workers of permanent status, what you have is a TFW ‎program that encourages human trafficking," says Hanley. "What confirms it is that while ‎dozens of workers have been arrested over the past year, not one agriculture operation or job ‎broker has yet to be convicted of breaking the rules when it comes to hiring these workers and ‎paying them under the table."‎

‎"The recent arrests have nothing to do with justice, and everything to do with politics," says ‎Hanley. "These are terror tactics to keep all TFWs afraid and vulnerable. And as soon as the ‎latest victims are shipped out, the federal government’s TFW program brings in a new batch of ‎workers to be exploited."‎

UFCW Canada is the country’s largest private-sector union. In association with the Agriculture ‎Workers Alliance, it operates ten agriculture worker support centers across Canada.‎

Liens

Secteurs économiques

Agriculture and horticulture workers, Occupations in services - Domestic work, Sales and service occupations - general, Trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations - general, Natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations - general, Labourers in food, beverage and associated products processing, Dancers et Autre

Types de contenu

Policy analysis et Cas d’abus documentés

Groupes cibles

Sensibilisation du public

Domaines de réglementation

Droit de changer d’employeur, Droit de choisir son lieu de résidence, Droit de se syndiquer, Normes du travail, Santé et sécurité au travail, Programmes d’intégration des nouveaux arrivants, Santé et services sociaux, Accès à un statut permanent, Services d’embauche gratuits, Réunification des familles, Aide juridique, Assurance-emploi, Aide sociale, Envois de fonds et programmes de co-développement, Voyages à l’étranger et retour au pays, Agences de recrutement et de placement, Normes de logement, Mécanismes de remboursement des dépenses de migration, Procès impartial avant déportation, Procédures de régularisation de statut, Détermination des salaires décents et des pénuries de main d’oeuvre, Critères de sélection des travailleurs (im)migrants, Droit à l’égalité (genre), Droit à l’égalité (origine nationale), Droit à l’égalité (statut social), Droit à la liberté, Droit à la dignité et Droit à la vie privé

Pertinence géographique

Ontario

Langues

Français, Anglais et Espagnol