The systematic exploitation of foreign and migrant workers takes place with the full participation of the Canadian state.
migrant workers
Migrant farm workers in Ontario strike against working conditions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Migrant farm workers stage wildcat strike to demand thousands of dollars in unpaid wages: Employer responds with deportation
November 23, 2010
(Simcoe, Ontario) Over 100 migrant farm workers employed at Ghesquiere Plants Ltd. are facing imminent repatriation (deportation) after staging a wildcat strike to demanding thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.
The migrant workers from Mexico, Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados came together across racial, linguistic and ethnic lines to organize this wildcat strike and strengthen their collective power. The workers employed by this farm described numerous rights violations and complaints about their living conditions including the following:
Immigrant workers fight back
Fight Back: Workplace Justice for Immigrants
(Fernwood Publishing,
2009;
$17.02)
"A lot of Filipinos and others are silent in their jobs....They are scared that if they do something for change, they will be deported....They feel held at the blade between life and death."
Kwentong Bayan: Labour of Love - A Community Comic Book about Filipina Migrant Workers
Date: Sunday, May 12, 2013 - 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Location
Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas Street West Seminar Room 1
Toronto, ON
Canada
43° 39' 13.2372" N, 79° 23' 32.4204" W
See map: Google Maps
Toronto-based artists, Althea Balmes and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo are creating a community comic book in collaboration with Filipina migrant workers in the Live-in Caregiver Program.
The artists will present work in-progress and caregivers will share real-life stories as a part of the Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts:
Sunday May 12, 2013
Free event
Artist Talk & Community Sharing
1-3 PM
Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas Street West
Seminar Room 1
Doors open at 12:30 pm
Fully accessible space
Free childcare provided
How the Conservatives built the temporary worker pipeline, and why you should care
When IT worker Dave Moreau went public about the fact that the largest bank in Canada was firing him and 44 of his RBC colleagues while bringing in temporary workers from another country to learn their jobs, he blew the lid off a program hidden in plain sight.
Since coming to office in 2006, the Conservatives have massively expanded the pipeline that brings workers from around the world who often toil for less money and endure little to no meaningful workplace protections or human rights.
RBC apologizes, but replacement and underpayment of workers remains widespread problem
The Royal Bank of Canada has now apologized for displacing Canadian workers following the whistle blowing by an IT specialist which revealed the plan to replace some 50 Canada-based RBC workers with outsourced work via temporary migrant workers. But the issue is ongoing and beyond RBC. Canadian banks and other employers have been importing temporary migrant IT workers for various projects for some time, and they will continue to do so -- likely with ample support of governments.
I first learned of the use of temporary migrant IT workers in Canadian banks from a Toronto-based bank IT worker back in October 2012, when I was presenting on temporary labour migration at the Academics Stand Against Poverty Conference at Ryerson University.
Capitalism as usual: Why RBC's outsourcing isn't really a surprise
Sunday's revelation that the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) will be bringing in "temporary guest workers" to replace some of its Canadian employees captured headlines, sparking outrage and surprise, and leading many to threaten a bank boycott and move their accounts elsewhere.
The outrage is certainly understandable -- as one would think that RBC, with its more than $2 billion in first quarter profits, could afford to retain these workers -- but the surprise isn't.