Temporary Foreign Workers

Just to make it clear what the purpose of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is, here is a quote from the January 7, 2013 issue of the Vancouver Sun newspaper. The Vancouver Sun is as mainstream media, right-wing, anti-worker as it gets, yet they reported this:

"The acceleration of the TFW program has created an odd-couple pairing of prominent economists normally at opposite extremes in public policy debates - Jim Stanford of the Canadian Auto Workers and Simon Fraser University professor emeritus Herb Grubel, who writes frequently for the conservative Fraser Institute.

"The aggressive expansion of the TFW program is part of a deliberate effort to undermine the bargaining power of Canadian workers, whether they're in a union or not," Stanford said in an email.
"It is part of a broader strategy to suppress wage growth and widen profit margins - not just in northern Alberta, but in any province and any sector. The workers who come in under the program are exploited, and treated as second-class citizens."
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Not that truck drivers who are Canadian citizens ever exercise their legal rights as employees but Temporary Foreign truck drivers are subject to less protection than Canadian citizens. Temporary Foreign truck drivers are bound as indentured servants to their employers. They cannot quit a bad trucking company and move to another job. They do not have rights of citizenship and practical means of legal recourse if they are shorted on their pay and otherwise abused. If the Temporary Foreign truck driver wishes to become a citizen of Canada it is in his best interests not to complain about pay shortages, abuse or unsafe working conditions. The trucking company has power to determine the legal status of a Temporary Foreign truck driver by supporting or sabotaging the truck driver's application for permanent residency.

The Federal Government recently changed the rules to speed up the tidal wave of Temporary Foreign Workers flowing into Canada. Labour Market Opinions are now approved in 10 days (instead of 2 months) and employers are now allowed to pay Temporary Foreign Workers 15% less than Canadian citizens.

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