A Case of Disposable Workers
The following is a part of a longer conversation we had with representatives from both the Alberta Federation of Labor and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP). This first part focuses mostly on the issue of Foreign Temporary Workers. The second part will be posted as soon as time permits.
“So you believe in the free market?” asks Aftab to our latest interview subject.
“Well, it’s not so much that I believe in the free market, it’s that I demand logical consistency out of those who demand the free market”, answers Jason Foster, Director of Policy Analysis for the Alberta Federation of Labor.
Although he acknowledges the existence of a labour crunch in places like Calgary and Fort McMurray, Jason remains critical of both the Alberta Government and the oil companies, citing their inconsistencies in dealing with the said problem. The AFL has gone so far as to accuse the government of causing the current shortages through its refusal to pace development in the oil sands. The glut in the construction market, they claim, has led to the current scarcity of skilled trades people.
According to AFL, wages in the Alberta’s oil industry have not been allowed to follow the basic laws of supply and demand. Companies have used various tactics to prevent the rise of wages. One such tactic, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFW), is of special concern to the AFL.
“We have a dual concern about TFWs. There are presently more TFWs entering the province each year than there are permanent immigrants. The entire strategy of the government has shifted away from bringing people to Alberta to allow them to have the full rights of citizenship and and become members of our communities. They’ve now shifted it to say we want a revolving door of cattle to do a bunch of work and ship them back home again. They [the oil companies] have found that if you increase supply by bringing in a pool of workers from outside the country who are prepared to work for less and without benefits – you artificially suppress wages”.
Jason goes on to explain how temporary foreign workers are basically indentured. The permit that allows them to work here in Canada has their employer’s name on it. If they leave their job, they are sent home. Although they are theoretically entitled to the same rights of health and safety, they don’t have the same freedom to act on those rights, since they can be sent home at any time, without question and at the discretion of the employer.
The AFL has hired a lawyer to act a TFW advocate, taking on cases for the workers to help them get their rights. What they have found is that the depth of the horror stories is often inhuman. TFWs usually get here by dealing with a broker in their home country. The broker offers promises of a job or even immigration status in exchange for a brokerage fee (anywhere between $500-5000). This practice is illegal in Alberta, but it is difficult to stop, since most of it is done from elsewhere, in places like California.
“They get placed with an employer and they think its going to be ok, but it tends not to be, if the job still exists, its often not the job they were promised or at the wages they expected”.
When an employer brings in a worker, it’s their responsibility to find them housing. According to Jason, this too is done with minimal concern or respect for the well being of the workers. He cites an example of twelve Indo-Italians, brought in by a trucking company, put up in 3 bedroom bungalow and charged $500 per month in rent.
“If you are an employer and you can hire a worker where you can get half of the wages back on rent, that’s a bonus [...] They find these ways to nickle and dime them. There are guys that come here work here for six month, then go home without having earned a penny”.
I ask Jason whether the TFWs encounter racism and whether they are successful at integrating into their new communities.
“They’re not and that’s by the design of the employers”.
He details how the TFW are picked up by a representative of the employer, driven to a camp exclusively for TFW and that’s the last that anyone sees of them. He continues by adding that immigrant service agencies are forbidden under their funding arrangements with the goverment to serve FTWs. So if they come looking for language classes or information on how to set up a bank account, the agencies have to turn them away or risk losing their funding.
I ask him about credentials. He explains that workers have six months to pass an exam, part of which is practical, the other part being written. Jason says that they usually fail the written part and excel at the practical component. Since the TFWs can work during the six months leading up to their test, employers generally do not concern themselves with helping them pass the test, since they can easily replace them with a new batch of workers.
“They don’t want to invest in training, they don’t want to increase their wages. It really is a case of disposable workers”.
Jason concedes that there exists a range in the manner in which companies treat their workers, and that not all companies resort to using TFWs. Still, the idea that labour should ever be viewed as a commodity to be shuffled around like a deck of cards is troubling. Asked whether the labor movement has been gaining or losing ground in the province, Jason offers the following closing remarks:
“I think we have stemmed the bleeding of basic employment standards. For temp workers, I’m not sure we’ve achieved much for them yet, but the government knows they can’t get away with this forever and hopefully we will see new legislation put in to place over the coming months protecting the rights of theses workers”.
So while the extent of the labor shortage is up for debate, it is clear after our conversation with Jason that advocacy for the rights of TWP is one profession in dire need of new recruits.
I wonder if TILMA, the Trade and Labour Mobility agreement signed by Alberta and BC has facilitated this practice.