 |
Labour Views
with Steve Petersen
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
My concern does not lie with immigration or individual newcomers to Canada.
Instead, I have concerns about the way our federal and provincial and territorial governments have designed and how they operate one particular program - the Foreign Temporary Worker program.
The stated purpose of the program is to provide Canadian employers with access to workers when critical labour shortages can be demonstrated.
In addition, the program was originally intended to provide access to a pool of workers who would supplement, not replace, the existing pool of Canadian workers.
Unfortunately, it has become clear that at least some employers are using the program as part of a deliberate effort to drive down wages and working conditions and to bypass unionized Canadian workers, creating a second class citizen.
Temporary workers have limited rights and protections, and what rights they do hold are difficult to enforce. The continued presence of these workers in Canada is entirely contingent on their employment - so they are at the mercy of the employer who brings them into the country. There is a dangerous power imbalance inherent in this kind of relationship.
Business people who attended the all-day video conference hosted by Canadian Business NWT on how to recruit foreign workers to the North are missing the point.
One of the main reasons local businesses are having difficulty in the recruitment and retention of workers is the low minimum wage ($8.25) typically associated with the service industry.
In the mining sector, if the excuse is there are no qualified Northern candidates, then efforts to recruit and educate have been lackluster. There are currently many employees who fly over the North heading home.
Positions in the service sector at the mines are not the highest paying jobs. Individuals in the kitchen and housekeeping typically start at $12 an hour with front line cooks, etc., in the $18 an hour range.
These workers subject themselves to long periods of absence from family and loved ones. They also have to maintain a home, with all the expenses that incurs.
Housing (overcrowding) is a major issue. How can a worker earning minimum wage afford to live and eat in a town where just renting a room costs $650, almost two weeks' wages for a single person!
If you are responsible for a family, the expenses are considerably higher, often requiring two incomes, with one income often being eaten up by childcare costs.
In the communities, teachers are leaving because of huge housing costs - if they can find suitable accommodation.
Perhaps the easiest solution is have a fly-in, fly-out foreign workforce - then there would be no need to address social issues such as affordable housing and quality childcare, and no requirement for onerous training and education.
We should be exhausting all efforts to train and hire locally. The results will be a stronger, healthier and vibrant territory.
- Steve Petersen is the Great Slave regional vice-president of the Northern Territories Federation of Labour