ALF V1

“Smoke and mirrors” cleanup of the TFW program allowing good jobs to disappear like magic

Edmonton – Good Canadian jobs continue to vanish into thin air as if by magic due to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Alberta’s largest labour organization released evidence today showing TFW welders can be paid less than half the going rate. This is a clear example of employers abusing the system, despite the Harper government’s claims of cracking down on the TFW program.

A Kijiji ad, posted by a recruiter on June 27, 2014, suggests approvals were granted to employers to fill jobs as Welders and Related Machine Operators (NOC 7265) in Alberta and Saskatchewan at wages of $13 to $20 per hour. At the low end, this is less than half the going rate for Canadian welders.

The average starting wage for a welder in Alberta is $28.49; the average overall wage is $33.79.

“It’s starting to look like Jason Kenney’s cleanup of the TFW program was smoke and mirrors,” Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan said. “While he was promising a crackdown, his department issued Labour Market Opinions for TFWs to work as welders and be paid less than half the wage being paid to Canadians.”

The Kijiji posting invites applicants to submit resumes and Skype IDs to Miles Andry of Canadian Shield Immigration. Mr. Andry does not appear to have any construction-related Human Resources experience. His LinkedIn profile lists him as a Canadian Shield recruitment specialist for the past two years and a professional magician for the past 12 years.

“These are some of the best jobs in the Alberta economy, and the Harper government has literally handed them over to a magician to make good wages disappear,” McGowan said. “All of this talk of cleaning up the program, cracking down on abuses, and making sure Canadians get first crack at jobs appears to be nothing more than sleight of hand.”

“Instead of a circus sideshow designed to trick the public, Mr. Kenney needs to get serious about cleaning up the mess he made,” McGowan said. “Mr. Kenney should wave his magic wand and cancel every LMO his department issued unlawfully, below the wages paid to Canadians for the same job”

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.218.4351 (cell)
or via e-mail [email protected]

Screenshots  at July 2, 2014

Kijiji ad for Welders, where an LMO is available for between $13.00/hour and $20.00/hour

Ad is posted at: http://www.kijiji.ca/v-construction-trades-jobs/calgary/welders-needed-lmo-available/1000543369?siteLocale=en_CA

LinkedIn Profile for Miles Andry, Canadian Shield LMO Recruitment Specialist: http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/miles-andrey/86/97b/937

Wage Profile from Government of Alberta WageInfo, for Welders and Related Machine Operators

http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/LMI_report_bynoc.do?&noc=7265&reportOption=wage

Labour unions in B.C. and Alberta are pushing for reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program, as a judicial review begins in Federal Court into the process that allowed HD Mining to hire Chinese nationals at a coal mine in northeastern B.C.

"This judicial review of the HD Mining permits will be the most comprehensive examination of Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program ever conducted," said Brian Cochrane, business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 115.

"We know that there are over 300,000 Temporary Foreign Workers employed in Canada today and 70,000 of those in B.C., but we've never seen the internal workings of how the federal government makes decisions on granting work permits to companies requesting them,"

The IUOE and the Construction and Specialized Workers Union (CSWU) Local 1611 unions will be in Federal Court in Vancouver for a judicial review between April 9 and 11.

The judicial review will investigate the process within Human Resources and Services Development Canada (HRSDC) that granted HD Mining permission to import 201 Chinese nationals at the $300 million Murray River underground coal mine, near Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

The unions argue HRSDC failed to ensure there were no Canadians to do the work. In addition, they claim that the TFWs are being offered wages far below prevailing rates.

HD Mining received at least 300 resumes from Canadian citizens or permanent residents, who applied to work at the proposed project.

The company did not hire one Canadian applicant to work at the mine, claiming they were not qualified.

"The documents we have already obtained through our court action clearly show the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is not working for Canadians," said Mark Olsen, business manager of the CSWU Local 1611.

"I suspect that other documents being disclosed for the first time in court this week – likely on Wednesday when we make our arguments – will provide even more evidence that our concerns are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg."

Given all the problems that have already been revealed in this case, Olsen wants the federal government to make several significant changes to the TFW program.

"Available jobs need to go to Canadians first and Canadians need to be skilled up in order to do the work," he said.

"There has to be a real shortage determined and that is where unions come in. Unions should be involved to determine if there is a real shortage."

Once a real shortage is identified, Olsen said the foreign workers have to be brought into the country properly, not by brokers or companies that will exploit them.

Once in Canada, foreign workers need to be paid to the full Canadian wages and benefits standard, he said.

In addition, there needs to be enforcement by the federal and provincial government.

Finally, there needs to be a path toward citizenship.

"That's what needs to happen across the country," said Olsen. "The federal and provincial governments need to get their act together."

After obtaining a list of fast-tracked TFW applications using an Access to Information request, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) agrees that the problems with HD Mining are just the tip of the iceberg.

The document lists all approved TFW applications in the first eight months of the new Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) process.

According to the AFL, more than 2,400 ALMO guest-worker permits were granted to fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations between April 25 and Dec. 18, 2012.

These permits are supposed to be reserved for highly-skilled employment.

The AFL is calling on the Auditor General of Canada to conduct a full audit of the ALMO approval process.

"Alberta is leading the way in misusing this approval process," said AFL president Gil McGowan.

"This isn't being used as a stop-gap, and it isn't a last resort for employers."

More than 54 per cent (2,640) of the ALMO approvals in the country were for Alberta-based employers. Of these, AFL researchers said more than 58 per cent (1,542) were questionable.

The list of businesses in Alberta who received ALMO approvals included 33 A&W restaurants.

The Journal of Commerce, Monday, Apr. 08, 2013
Byline: Richard Gilbert, staff writer

Fast-food chains and convenience stores are using a loophole in Canada's temporary foreign worker program to keep labour costs down, says an Alberta labour group.

Labour spokesperson Gil McGowan says fast food chains are hiring unskilled foreign workers using loopholes in a process set up to fast-track highly-skilled workers.Labour spokesperson Gil McGowan says fast food chains are hiring unskilled foreign workers using loopholes in a process set up to fast-track highly-skilled workers. (CBC)

Documents reveal that more than half of the temporary foreign workers hired through a new fast-track process to bring in highly-skilled workers ended up working at fast-food restaurants and convenience stores, said Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan.

"It stretches the bounds of crediblity that companies like A&W, McDonalds would be hiring high-skilled workers," McGowan said.

The document obtained through an access-to-information request shows restaurants, stores and gas stations across the country were granted more than 2,400 guest worker permits under the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion process between April 25 and Dec. 18, 2012.

"These applications have been rubber stamped in as little as 10 days and the vast majority aren't subjected to any kind of review," McGowan said.

More than half of all workers, 54 per cent, who were hired under the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion during the period ended up in Alberta.

Of those, almost 60 per cent were flagged as inappropriate under the process, McGowan said.

He said it's clear to him companies are abusing the system, giving jobs to foreign workers that Canadians should have as the Harper government turns a blind eye.

"They're using the temporary foreign workers program to keep wages low," McGowan said.

The program allows employers to pay workers up to 15 per cent less than Canadians.

McGowan wants the Auditor General to open an investigation into the fast-track process.

A spokesperson told CBC News the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development is concerned with the recent issues involving the Temporary Foreign Worker program and said officials will look into any evidence that the program is being misused.

The AFL's accusations come on the heels of a CBC Investigation revealing the Royal Bank of Canada is hiring foreign workers while laying off dozens of its Canadian employees.

CBC News Edmonton, Tuesday, Apr. 09, 2013
With files from CBC's James Hees

EDMONTON - A labour group is calling for a review of a federal program designed to help employers quickly hire temporary foreign workers for high-skill jobs.

The Alberta Federation of Labour says since the program was announced last April, more than 2,400 permits have been approved to hire foreign workers for low-skill service industry positions.

Federation president Gil McGowan says access to information documents show the employers include fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations.

"You look down this list, and it's McDonald's, Tim Hortons, A&W, Subway," McGowan said Tuesday.

"Are we supposed to believe that these are 'high-skill' employment opportunities?"

Some of the other businesses listed in the documents include The Big Moo Ice Cream Parlour in Alberta, Burger King in British Columbia and Pizza Express in Ontario.

McGowan said the permits are being used to replace Canadian workers and drive down wages.

He has sent a letter, along with the documents, to federal auditor general Michael Ferguson. It asks for an audit of the government's approval process.

Under the federal Accelerated-Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) program, employers can pay foreign workers up to 15 per cent less than Canadian workers. The program is designed to process permits to hire temporary foreign workers for high-skill jobs, including the skilled trades, within 10 business days.

"The percentage of ALMO approvals for businesses that largely employ low-skilled workers appears to be in direct contradiction to the stated parameters of the program," McGowan writes in the letter.

Officials with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada did not respond to a request for comment.

McGowan said just over half of the approvals by the department are for businesses in Alberta, including 33 A&W restaurants.

Information posted on the department's website says permits under ALMO have been approved for every jurisdiction in the country except for Prince Edward Island, the Yukon and Nunavut.

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said many small- and medium-size employers need temporary foreign workers to fill jobs. The need is most pressing in Western Canada and in rural communities right across the country, he said.

"I take it as a positive that businesses of all skill levels are able to access this expedited process. Our members really need those expedited processes," Kelly said from Toronto.

"We are moving into large pockets of the country where it has gone beyond a skills shortage and has moved into a general labour shortage where there is no one available to take the jobs that are on offer by Canadian employers."

The CFIB says it represents more than 109,000 businesses across the country.

McGowan said if employers are having a tough time finding workers, they should pay higher wages or the federal government could increase immigration.

He suggested initiatives such as ALMO and the Temporary Foreign Worker program are not the answer.

"Workers who want to come to Canada should enjoy the same rights and privileges as other Canadian residents," he said.

"We shouldn't be paying them 15 per cent less than Canadians, and government shouldn't be whisking them in through an accelerated and duplicitous process."

Brandon Sun, Tuesday, Apr. 9, 2013
Byline: John Cotter, The Canadian Press

EDMONTON - A labour group is calling for a review of a federal program designed to help employers quickly hire temporary foreign workers for high-skill jobs.

The Alberta Federation of Labour says since the program was announced last April, more than 2,400 permits have been approved to hire foreign workers for low-skill service industry positions.

Federation president Gil McGowan says access to information documents show the employers include fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations.

"You look down this list, and it's McDonald's, Tim Hortons, A&W, Subway," McGowan said Tuesday.

"Are we supposed to believe that these are 'high-skill' employment opportunities?"

Some of the other businesses listed in the documents include The Big Moo Ice Cream Parlour in Alberta, Burger King in British Columbia and Pizza Express in Ontario.

McGowan said the permits are being used to replace Canadian workers and drive down wages.

He has sent a letter, along with the documents, to federal auditor general Michael Ferguson. It asks for an audit of the government's approval process.

Under the federal Accelerated-Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) program, employers can pay foreign workers up to 15 per cent less than Canadian workers. The program is designed to process permits to hire temporary foreign workers for high-skill jobs, including the skilled trades, within 10 business days.

"The percentage of ALMO approvals for businesses that largely employ low-skilled workers appears to be in direct contradiction to the stated parameters of the program," McGowan writes in the letter.

Officials with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada did not respond to a request for comment.

McGowan said just over half of the approvals by the department are for businesses in Alberta, including 33 A&W restaurants.

Information posted on the department's website says permits under ALMO have been approved for every jurisdiction in the country except for Prince Edward Island, the Yukon and Nunavut.

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said many small- and medium-size employers need temporary foreign workers to fill jobs. The need is most pressing in Western Canada and in rural communities right across the country, he said.

"I take it as a positive that businesses of all skill levels are able to access this expedited process. Our members really need those expedited processes," Kelly said from Toronto.

"We are moving into large pockets of the country where it has gone beyond a skills shortage and has moved into a general labour shortage where there is no one available to take the jobs that are on offer by Canadian employers."

The CFIB says it represents more than 109,000 businesses across the country.

McGowan said if employers are having a tough time finding workers, they should pay higher wages or the federal government could increase immigration.

He suggested initiatives such as ALMO and the Temporary Foreign Worker program are not the answer.

"Workers who want to come to Canada should enjoy the same rights and privileges as other Canadian residents," he said.

"We shouldn't be paying them 15 per cent less than Canadians, and government shouldn't be whisking them in through an accelerated and duplicitous process."

The Victoria Times Colonist, Apr. 9, 2013

Alberta Federation of Labour to call for inquiry in light of growing evidence of fraud

Edmonton – A list of fast-tracked temporary foreign worker applications shows that scandals at Royal Bank and HD Mining are just the tip of the iceberg.

The document, which the Alberta Federation of Labour will release at a press conference on Tuesday, April 9, lists all approved TFW applications in the first eight months of the new Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) process. Thousands of ALMO guest worker permits – which are supposed to be reserved for highly-skilled employment – have been granted to fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations.

"You look down this list, and it's McDonalds, Tim Hortons, A&W, Subway sandwiches. Are we supposed to believe that these are 'high-skill' employment opportunities?" Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. "These permits are being used to replace Canadian workers with people who will have reduced bargaining power."

What: Alberta Federation of Labour to release list of Temporary Foreign Worker program "high-skilled" employer list

Where: Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe Hotel
River Valley Room, Lobby Level
10111 Bellamy Hill Rd NW, Edmonton

When: 1:30 PM, Tuesday, April 9

Who: Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, AFL Communications Director at 780-289-6528 (cell) or via email [email protected].

Temporary Foreign Worker program under the microscope

• The program will be reviewed due to criticism over the approval of a deceitful application that allowed a northeast B.C. coal project to hire 200 Chinese nationals for jobs that could have been filled locally. The AFL has concerns that the review will be used as a smokescreen to hide deeper problems, and called for meaningful participation from labour activists and from the public at large.
  
  If they want to find the source of the problems with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the Harper Conservatives just need to look in the mirror," AFL president Gil McGowan said. "They created this monster by removing any checks and balances from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and by rubberstamping every application."
  
  For more information see Nov 9 AFL release and backgrounder.

AFL and UFCW lead the charge for food safety

• The Alberta Federation of Labour and United Food and Commercial Workers are calling on Premier Alison Redford to stand up for the province's beef industry by conducting an independent public inquiry.
  
  In a public letter sent to the Premier on Thursday, October 18, AFL president Gil McGowan and UFCW Local 401 president Doug O'Halloran explained the reasons a public inquiry into the causes of the E.Coli outbreak at the Lakeside plant in Brooks would be in the best interest of consumers, the cattle industry and of Albertans.
  
  Read the whole story:  Oct 18 AFL Release
  
  

Urgent Action

Help us defeat Bill C-377

• The Alberta Federation of Labour is calling on all of our affiliates and members to help quash the anti-union Bill C-377.
  
  This private-members bill is not about transparency; it is an effort on the part of the Harper Government to undermine the ability of unions to act as an effective voice for working people. The bill is designed to increase costs to unions and divert resources from collective bargaining and servicing towards accounting and bureaucracy.
  
  "This is a political bill. In the same way that they have cut funding to environmental groups and women's groups, they are trying to weaken and muzzle a strong progressive voice," Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. "We have an obligation to act together to protect the labour movement, and in doing so, protect broader civil society."
  
  To join the fight, contact your Member of Parliament:  CLICK HERE
  
  Download the AFL Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-377:  CLICK HERE

Events

November 23-25: Parkland Institute's 16th Annual Fall Conference: Petro, Power and Politics

November 24: International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women

December 4: AFL Open House

December 7: Deadline to register for 2013 AFL/CLC Winter School

Did you know ...

• In 2010, 74 per cent of employers with workers under the TFW Program were found to be in violation of the Alberta Labour Code.
  
  
• There are currently more than 60,000 Temporary Foreign Workers in Alberta, giving the province the biggest TFW population in Canada as a proportion of the labour force.
  
  
• More than 50,000 additional TFW applications from Alberta employers were approved in 2011.
  
  
• Between 2002 and 2008, the number of TFWs present in Canada rose by 148 per cent, from 101,259 to 251,235.

Reports of exploited foreign temps have grown as fast as the federal program.

First in a series.

They hand you a soothing cup of Tim Hortons, pack frozen beef in factories, pick blueberries and apples on Abbotsford farms, serve fast-food meals and wipe tables, excavate mines and drill for oil in Western Canada, and raise your kids as if they were their own. Typically paid far less than Canadians, unprotected by labour laws, and disposed of when their contracts end, these migrant labourers have become ubiquitous while remaining all but invisible.

Under the Conservative government, the pool of migrant labour has expanded rapidly with almost no public discussion or oversight -- yet who benefits, and at what cost?

There were 300,111 migrant workers in Canada in 2011-- a more than three-fold increase over the previous decade. Another 190,769 entered that year, creating a temporary foreign workforce of nearly half a million. In 2010, the government accepted one and a half times more migrant workers than permanent Canadian residents.

Migrant workers have been cycling in and out of Canada since 1972, when the Non-Immigrant Employment Authorization Program was introduced. In 2002 it expanded to become the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) to service the oil and gas industries in Alberta.

Since the Conservative government of Stephen Harper came to power in 2006, the TFWP has expanded rapidly, becoming an unseen pillar of Canada's economic policy. That year, migrant workers admitted to Canada exceeded permanent residents for the first time. And for the first time, employers no longer had to advertise for a minimum of six weeks on a national job bank before being granted permission to hire a migrant, but could do so after just seven days. The shortened processing was a gift to employers, who were allowed to designate workers they needed under "Occupations Under Pressure."

So fast growing are such designations that between 2007 and 2011, the program created a total of almost 30 per cent of all new jobs -- this at a time when the government, grappling with the financial crisis, claimed that creating jobs for Canadians was a key priority. And in 2012, under a little-noted provision of the omnibus budget bill that managed to avoid public debate by sliding in with so much other legislation, the Conservatives introduced changes for high-skilled workers such as dropping application times from 12 weeks to 10 days and permitting employers to pay them 15 per cent less than the average Canadian salary for the same work.

Critics argue that such changes lower standards for all workers, and that it won't be long before the majority of migrant workers, who are considered "low-skilled" in fast-growing sectors such as construction, hospitality, caregiving and agriculture, can legally be paid less than Canadians -- a trend that is already happening, due to the lack of oversight. Many endure mistreatment that, in the most severe case to date, has cost lives.

On April 27, 2007, Canadians woke up to news that two Chinese migrant workers employed by Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Canada near Fort McMurray had been killed when a tank's structure fell on them. Charged with violating safety standards, Sinopec, a part owner of the pipeline transport company Enbridge, initially argued that the Chinese state-owned company "has no official presence" in Canada and therefore did not fall under Canadian jurisdiction. Only recently, on Oct. 10, 2012, did the company plead guilty to three safety violations.

Growing list of abuses

Reports of migrant workers being exploited by powerful corporations have increased almost as fast as the TFWP.

In Oct. 2008, migrant workers at Maple Leaf Foods in Edmonton went on strike with their Canadian counterparts for not receiving the $15 per hour promised in their contracts. Many relied on food banks during the strike as they couldn't survive on the strike wage of $230/week and could not, because of the nature of their work permits, work elsewhere.

On Christmas Eve of 2009, four migrant workers, whose names and the company they worked for were not disclosed, died when the scaffolding of the building they were constructing fell on them.

In May 2009, youth and multiculturalism critic and Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla was criticized for allegedly abusing her caregivers from the Philippines, by forcing them to do work outside their contract and underpaying them.

In Nov. 2010, the UN's International Labour Organization found Ontario, and Canada, guilty of violating the rights of 100,000 migrant and domestic farm workers in the province by banning farm unions. In May 2011 three Filipino temporary workers, dubbed "the Three Amigos," were deported when their permits became invalid after their employers in Alberta laid them off due to the recession. They worked at a Manitoba gas station for another employer who promised to change their permits, but never did.

Roof collapse

Storage tank roof collapsed in April 2007 killing two Chinese migrant workers employed by Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Canada near Fort McMurray. (CBC)

In May 2012, a union staged a blacklist tribunal in front of the Mexican consulate for all the farm workers who have allegedly been sent home for attempting to unionize. Later in June, the exotic dancer stream of the TFWP was cut after the immigration and the human resources departments deemed that there were risks of human trafficking and exploitation within the stream. And this fall the premier of B.C. was severely criticized for advertising a Chinese mining project as a way to bring jobs to Canadians, when up to 2,000 Chinese migrant workers will be recruited to work in mines -- rather than offering the jobs to locals, including the First Nations from those areas. The job ads also listed Mandarin as a language requirement, ruling out most Canadians from applying.

It was also discovered in an investigation by The Tyee that Chinese workers were being charged recruitment fees of more than $12,500 in exchange for work in the mine. Two unions have challenged the Chinese workers' entries, through a judicial review that was approved by the Federal Court. As the controversy grew, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada announced it was reviewing the entire program.

XL Foods, based in Alberta, also came under fire for laying off 2,000 workers, 800 of whom turned out to be migrant workers, after the massive beef recall in September 2012.

And earlier in November four Mexican migrant workers filed a human rights case against their employer at Tim Horton's in Dawson Creek, B.C., who they say gave them the "double-double" treatment, by doubling them up in bunk beds and charging them double in rent, as well as withholding their passports and calling them, according to reports, "Mexican idiots" -- charges their employer said were "made up."

Alberta's two-tier labour system

Alberta currently has the highest per capita use of migrant workers, largely due to the oil sands projects -- 22 times higher than the rest of the Canada -- and their situation reveals troubling rates of mistreatment. As a 2010 audit by the Alberta Ministry of Employment and Immigration discovered, 74 per cent of migrant workers were mistreated by their employers, who typically violated labour laws on overtime, holiday and vacation pay.

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, sees the treatment of migrant workers as an issue that affects Canadians directly. "They are being used as pawns to drive down wages and conditions across the board, especially in the service sector but also in higher income sectors like construction."

McGowan thinks the growing reliance on temporary foreign labour is a move backwards for Canada: "The Harper government is changing that model in a profound way without any kind of public discussion: to replace the citizenship-based model with a model focused on creating underclassed ghettos of exploitable workers."

He foresees future labour tensions, such as those in Western Europe and the Middle East where "guest workers" perform work their citizens refuse to do. "It set off a powder keg of resentments and animosities between the guest workers and the citizens of the countries in which they are working," he says. The citizens felt that the guest workers "were being used to undermine their wages and conditions, which frankly, they are."

Hoping to quickly close Canada's growing labour gap of tradespeople, federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has unveiled a new plan that would quickly turn skilled foreign workers into permanent Canadian residents.

Kenney says the Skilled Trades Stream will help fill a serious labour shortage caused by Canada's growing natural resource economy, particularly in the oilsands and remote areas of the country. The program will only admit a maximum of 3,000 people to avoid backlogs. Applications will be accepted after Jan. 2, 2013.

"For too long, Canada's immigration system has not been open to these in-demand skilled workers," said Kenney. "These changes are long overdue and will help us move to a fast and flexible immigration system that works for Canada's economy."

Applicants will not have to meet the criteria of the points system that is already used for prospective immigrants or other skilled foreign workers.

Instead, the new program will consider applicants who have a job offer in Canada, have a basic proficiency in English or French, can prove they have experience in an in-demand trade. They must also show that their occupation qualifies as a trade under federal regulations.

The need for skilled tradespeople is most dire in Alberta, where the province estimates that it will need an additional 115,000 skilled tradesworkers over the next 10 years.

A spokesperson with the Alberta Federation of Labour said the program will help the province's economic growing pains. However, the AFL is still concerned about employment protection for low-skilled foreign workers already operating in Canada.

Fort McMurray Today, Tues Dec 11 2012

— Today staff

Alberta Federation of Labour skeptical of TFW program review
Tories created this monster, can’t be trusted to tame it

Edmonton - Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program is broken and despite their promise of a review the Federal Conservatives are unlikely to fix it, says the Alberta Federation of Labour.

On Thursday, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley announced that the program would be reviewed, due to criticism over the decision to grant permits to more than 200 Chinese nationals to work in a northeast B.C. coal project.

“If they want to find the source of the problems with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the Harper Conservatives just need to look in the mirror,” AFL president Gil McGowan said. “They created this monster by removing any checks and balances from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and by rubberstamping every application.”

Fuelled by exaggerated labour shortage claims, Alberta employers have made more aggressive use of the TFW program than employers in any other province. There are currently more than 60,000 Temporary Foreign Workers in Alberta, giving the province the biggest TFW population in Canada as a proportion of the labour force. More than 50,000 additional TFW applications from Alberta employers were approved in 2011.

In a letter to the Human Resources Minister, McGowan expressed skepticism about how the federal government intends to re-examine the TFW program. The last time the Tories held hearings about the program, the hearings were held behind closed doors and had no public consultation.

“Another set of secretive meetings with business leaders will not be sufficient. This review cannot be conducted in the same manner,” McGowan said. “They have spent the last five years creating this problem by whittling away at safeguards. I have no confidence in their ability to fix it.”

After the last set of hearings in April, the federal government removed safeguards that had been designed to prevent abuse of the TFW program. Under the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) process, which was introduced earlier this year, employers can bring in workers under the TFW program and pay them 15 per cent less than the prevailing wage rates in the region.

“Previously, employers would have needed to show that they had made an effort to recruit workers from within Canada. Not anymore,” McGowan said, noting that the changes had been made behind closed doors, with no input from the public or real labour unions. “We have a system where it’s cheap and easy for an employer to exploit this program. Is it any surprise there are problems?”

Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan will be available to media to speak about this issue outside of MP Laurie Hawn’s office at 1:30 p.m. today, Friday, Nov. 9.

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MEDIA AVAILABILITY:  

Gil McGowan, Alberta Federation of Labour President
at 780-218-9888 (cell) or 780-483-3021 (office)
Friday, November 9, 2012 at 1:30 p.m.
Outside the constituency office of Laurie Hawn, MP (11156 – 142nd Street, Edmonton)

For Backgrounder click here.