Stop Temporary Foreign Workers

Discussion in 'Canadian Truckers Forum' started by Runawayscreaming, Apr 4, 2013.

  1. Runawayscreaming

    Runawayscreaming Medium Load Member

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    The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is being used as a weapon against truck drivers. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program must be stopped.

    While some Canadian transportation employees, such as airline pilots, are fighting back against Temporary Foreign replacement pilots, no one is representing truck drivers. The Federal Government is in the palm of the hands of trucking company owners who have created a big fat lie about a nonexistent "driver shortage" so they can access captive foreign truck drivers to drive down truck drivers wages in Canada. Tens of thousands of Temporary Foreign Workers are replacing Canadian truck drivers. This is not good for trucking and it is not good for Canada.

    Short of a general strike of union and non-union truck drivers, what can truck drivers do? We could march en masse with pitchforks and torches to Ottawa and burn down the Parliament buildings. We could write to the Federal Minister in charge of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program:

    The Honourable Diane Finley
    Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development
    House of Commons
    Confederation Building
    Room 707
    Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
    diane.finley@parl.gc.ca

    Snail-mail to Minister Finley does not require a stamp.

    You could cc your e-mail to your local Federal Member of Parliament and your local newspaper as well.

    Sample letter:

    Dear Minister Finley,

    Please stop the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. I am a truck driver and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is interfering with my ability to earn a living wage. Truck drivers wages have been falling for 20 years. Truck driver turnover is now unacceptably high because of low wages and abusive trucking company owners. The trucking industry is in a state of anarchy. Rule of Law is largely absent from trucking. Truck drivers are fired without cause and replaced by Temporary Foreign Workers. Constructive dismissal of truck drivers is endemic. Trucking companies often short drivers paycheques. Illegal threats and intimidation of truck drivers by trucking company managers are par for the course. To make matters worse, Canadian truck drivers are de facto exempt from overtime pay legislation and minimum-wage legislation.

    Truck drivers have no voice in Parliament. Truck drivers are largely non-union. Parliamentarians are acting on behalf of trucking company owners when trucking company owners request Temporary Foreign Workers. Trucking company owners are the last constituents that Members of Parliament should be taking advice from. Trucking company owners and managers are, by and large, adversarial ne'er-do-wells with no management skills. These liars, thieves, bullies and sociopaths handle every business issue by donning their dunce caps and declaring war on truck drivers. Temporary Foreign Workers are one more weapon that trucking company owners are using to inflict misery upon Canadian truck drivers.

    Low wages for truck drivers are a public safety issue. Poverty and despair amongst Canadian truck drivers have associated social costs to Canadian taxpayers. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is not a solution to problems in the trucking industry. It is exacerbating low wages. It is bad for Canada. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is preventing Canadian truck drivers from working in trucking. There are very large numbers of Canadian truck drivers who will never again work in trucking. Cases of trucking companies rejecting qualified Canadian truck driver job applications in favour of less-qualified Temporary Foreign Workers are common. So are cases of trucking companies forcing out Canadian truck drivers so they can hire Temporary Foreign Workers. Without representation in Parliament, the voiceless victims of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program are never heard from. Canadian truck drivers are not members of organized labour or professional organizations who speak on their behalf. They are worn-down, tired, abused and demoralized individual Canadian citizens with no energy left to fight the lawless chaos that has been inflicted upon them in their years in the trucking industry.

    As a Canadian I am not proud that millions of Canadians are out of work while the Government of Canada has approved the use of a growing number of foreign workers who do not have the legal rights and protections of Canadian citizens. I am disheartened that the rogues gallery of clueless and incompetent trucking company managers have been granted the power to determine whether would-be immigrants in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program should be made Canadian citizens or not.

    Yours truly,

    Exasperated Canadian Truck Driver
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2013
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  3. Down the road

    Down the road Light Load Member

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    Nov 19, 2012
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    Companies believe that wages need to be little more than minimum wage.

    Unless you want to live in a truck for next to nothing you will eventually have to shut down and demand driving be made a trade. No more quick licensing. All licenses will be aquired through community college along with an apprenticeship period with a graduated licensing process.

    As long as you can be replaced easily, wages will fall clear across the board regardless of what aspect of the driver spectrum you fall into. No driver will be exempt from having to make concessions.

    Time to create a real driver shortage. It will be the only way to hold the line on wages.
     
    6 Speed and Tam_Tam Thank this.
  4. Sarabeara

    Sarabeara Medium Load Member

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  5. CbarM

    CbarM Heavy Load Member

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    Yea...what a ceock that is...we have unemployed people wanting to work whi may be unskilled, so why not get em some education in these fields that they are overreaching for in foreign countries. If you are unemployed and on EI, they will pay for you to a class 1, so why teach em to run heavy equipment or weld stuff...
     
  6. TractorTrailer

    TractorTrailer Light Load Member

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    Gonna be some changes now that it's affecting white collar work.
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti.../05/bc-rbc-foreign-workers.html?autoplay=true

    Also in your letter's please ask for an independent audit of the companies that are using the TFW's ie Syndicate,Day and Ross,TransX etc, to ensure that no Canadian's were displaced.

    "The rules are very clear. You cannot displace Canadians to hire people from abroad," said Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
     
  7. nate980

    nate980 Road Train Member

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    Don't forget bison on the list lol.
     
  8. CbarM

    CbarM Heavy Load Member

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    H&R and WestCan come to mind....the majority of their drivers are from England...why so many...?? Makes ya wonder...
     
    Tam_Tam Thanks this.
  9. Sarabeara

    Sarabeara Medium Load Member

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    Problem is, I dont think i'm going to get somebody to come forward within a company to admit that this is a common practise.
     
  10. TractorTrailer

    TractorTrailer Light Load Member

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    Have to hope that a driver who was "replaced" comes forward. Don't count on any hr whistleblowers to come forward.
     
  11. Sarabeara

    Sarabeara Medium Load Member

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    I know. I'm not the type of individual who could keep quiet - and if I had the right, and brave individual who stepped forward, then my "job" is done. I'm very passionate about my industry. I love the job I do. I love to drive, and I even like the paperwork. OK - I dont like the tax part. I love the fact that this industry never stops teaching me something new. I like hanging out at a Tim Hortons with other drivers. I love getting new trucks. I love other drivers who love their jobs. There is, of course so much to complain about like fuel and maintenance prices, insurance - ect.
    But the love I have for my job far outweighs the bad crap. Its because of my love for this job that makes me want to reach out to find a resolution for our group. I wont apologise for being passionate about trucking, but I'll protect what I can to preserve this way of life.
     
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