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Documents released by AFL show TFWs are being used to suppress wages in oil sands-related construction; some businesses fill more than half their jobs with TFWs

Edmonton – Internal government documents paint a clear picture of the negative consequences for working Albertans if Premier Jim Prentice is successful in convincing the federal government to re-open the TFW floodgates.

The documents, obtained by the Alberta Federation of Labour through federal access to information requests, show thousands of Alberta-based businesses have been disproportionately relying on Temporary Foreign Workers — many with workforces that are more than 50 per cent TFWs. They also show many Alberta businesses have been granted work permits that allow them to pay TFWs far below the rate offered to Canadians.

“Rather than working on the side of businesspeople who want to use TFWs to suppress wages and displace Canadians, the Premier should be taking the side of working Albertans who have bills to pay and kids to raise,” AFL president Gil McGowan said. “When it comes to making decisions about the future of the TFW program, he has to stop forming his opinions based exclusively on conversations he’s had with wealthy businessmen. Ordinary working people have a huge stake in all of this – their interests and their opinions cannot be ignored.”

The documents show that in 2013 there were 2,578 businesses nationwide whose workforces were more than 30 per cent TFWs – the majority of which were in Alberta. In the same year, 1,123 businesses had workforces that were more than 50 per cent TFWs. Again, the majority of these were in Alberta.

“There are a lot of fast food franchises on this list, but there are also a lot of big names in industries like construction and energy,” McGowan said. “Albertans deserve to know why the federal government thinks it’s okay for companies like Kiewet, Stuart Olson, Lafarge and Ensign Drilling to fill more than 30 per cent of their jobs with TFWs. And I think Canadians in places like Ontario and Quebec deserve to why the federal government is letting companies like Facebook, Amazon, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Infosys fill more than 50 per cent of their jobs with TFWs.”

McGowan says the list also raises serious concerns about the role being played by foreign state-owned corporations in the oil sands. More than half of the workers employed in Alberta by companies like Sinopec (a state-owned oil corporation from China) and Samjin (a subsidiary of Korea’s national oil company) are TFWs.

In addition to the list of businesses that use TFWs to fill more than 30 and 50 per cent of their jobs, the AFL also released documents showing that many construction companies in Alberta have been using TFWs to suppress the wages of tradespeople.

“It’s bad enough when businesses in the fast food industry are allowed to use TFWs to suppress wages, but when you start seeing the same thing happening with welders, ironworkers and electricians it becomes clear that the situation has gotten completely out of hand. These are the kind of jobs that form the backbone of Alberta’s middle class. Attacks on these jobs simply cannot be tolerated,” McGowan said.

Over the last two years, many work permits have been granted that allowed construction companies in Alberta to hire Temporary Foreign Workers at wages below those paid to Canadians. In some cases, the approved wages have fallen dramatically below the prevailing wage rate.

“A company called Supreme International was given approval to pay 28 TFW welders $19.25 an hour, which is $10.75 below the prevailing wage for welders in Alberta, and only about half of what a Canadian welder makes in Fort McMurray. Kiewet Energy Construction was given TFW permits for 100 industrial electricians and 100 ironworkers without even disclosing how much those TFWs would be paid,” said McGowan. “In June, the federal government introduced changes that will make it harder for low-wage employers to get access to TFWs. That’s a step in the right direction. But what these documents show is that the problem is not solved; it’s just moving up the wage ladder.”

McGowan has sent a letter to Premier Prentice urging him not to give into pressure from self-interested business owners who want to maintain easy access to exploitable TFWs. In the letter, McGowan reminds Prentice that too many construction companies have used TFWs to suppress wages, displace Canadians and ignore their responsibility to train the next generation of home-grown apprentices.

AFL Backgrounder:  Construction Trades Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Requests

AFL Backgrounder: ATIP Documents on Employees with TFW-Dominated Workforces

ATIP A-2014-00391: Canadian employers with a workforce of over 30% Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) and Canadian employers with a workforce composed of over 50% or more of Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs)   NOTE: A list of Canadian employers with a workforce of over 30% Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) starts on page 132 (page 137 of the pdf), and a list of Canadian employers with a workforce composed of over 50% or more of Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) starts on page 160 (page 166 of the pdf) of linked PDF

ATIP A-2014-00273: A list of all Labour Market Opinions issued May 1, 2012 - June 20, 2014 in Alberta by region

ATIP-A-2014-00074: Prevailing wage rates (or other wage rates, as used to adjudicate LMOs), for NOCs requested, by region from January 1, 2009 – March 31, 2014

MEDIA CONTACT:

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

2014 Backgrounder: ATIP Documents on Employers with TFW-Dominated Workforces

Backgrounder Issued with AFL News Release: Sep 26 Prentice plan to re-open TFW floodgates would be bad news for working Albertans

Alberta Federation of Labour unearths documents showing scope and effects of Temporary Foreign Worker program

 EDMONTON – Internal government documents paint a clear picture of the terrible consequences for working Albertans if Premier Jim Prentice is allowed to re-open TFW floodgates, as he has vowed to.

The documents, obtained by the Alberta Federation of Labour through federal access to information and privacy (ATIP) requests, show thousands of Alberta-based businesses are disproportionately relying on Temporary Foreign Workers — many with workforces that are more than 50 per cent TFWs. They also show many Alberta businesses are being granted work permits that allow them to pay TFWs far below the rate offered to Canadians. This includes employers in oil-sands related construction, where some of the best jobs in our economy can be found.

“The premier should make good jobs for Albertans his top priority, rather than making it a priority to help businesses pass them over,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “Too many good jobs, particularly in Alberta’s oil sands construction, are going to TFWs. What should be the best-paying trades jobs in the Canadian economy are going to Temporary Foreign Workers at far less than the going rate.”

When:        10:30 a.m., Friday, September 26, 2014

Where:       Ironworkers’ Union Local 720, 10504 – 122 Street, Edmonton

Who:           Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL)

                     Representatives from the Ironworkers’ Local 720

What:         Government documents show consequences of reopening TFW floodgates

MEDIA CONTACT:

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

Work permits that allowed unqualified workers to create unsafe conditions must be revoked

Edmonton – According to the architects of the disastrous TFW Pilot Project, the buck stops nowhere.

Follow-up investigation of the Alberta Occupation-Specific Pilot Project – a fast-track TFW scheme that has led to serious safety concerns in the oil patch – has found that oversight of the program fell into the cracks between federal and provincial jurisdictions.

“They were asleep at the wheel, and they’ve put lives at risk,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “The TFW permits given to companies that have put unqualified workers in unsafe jobs must be revoked.”

As revealed on Monday, employers in Alberta’s oil patch were allowed to bring in hundreds of unqualified temporary foreign workers under the Occupation-Specific Pilot Project.

Under the Pilot, employer applications to Citizenship and Immigration Canada needed to include an approval letter from Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training. The approval letter was based on a declaration of the number of hours the worker had worked, signed by an ‘employer.’ With no practical way to verify the legitimacy of the declaration, it was possible for unscrupulous TFW recruitment agencies to abuse the system.

“The province has few ways to verify overseas work experience declarations when rubber-stamping applications, and the federal government seems unwilling to ensure guest workers are qualified,” McGowan said. “They’re like a pilot and co-pilot on a 747, each of them reading a newspaper, while assuming that the other one has the controls. Well, Canadians now know that yet again, their country is off course.”

When it began, the Pilot was originally just for the steamfitter/pipefitter occupation, but was expanded in September 2012 to include six additional occupations. Earlier this year, the Pilot was ended as part of the government’s changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, but the work permits are still in place and several thousand workers brought in through the Pilot are still at Alberta worksites.

“Alberta has been lobbying the federal government to give them more control over the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and to re-open the Occupation-Specific Pilot Project,” McGowan said. “Albertans shouldn’t stand for it, now that they know how deeply negligent this government has been in putting unqualified migrant workers into dangerous situations.”

“This isn’t the first time the Harper Government has launched a fast-track stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and it isn’t the first time their attempt has caused a scandal,” McGowan said, noting that the fast-track Accelerated Labour Market Opinion program had to be abandoned because of a scandal in April, 2013. “They’re not learning from their mistakes. Don’t be surprised when they rename, recreate and re-launch another way to give employers the ability to circumvent the Canadian labour market.”

AFL Backgrounder:  Alberta Pilot for Occupation-Specific Work Permits

MEDIA CONTACT:

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

2014 Backgrounder: Alberta Pilot for Occupation-Specific Work Permits

News Release: Sep 4 TFW Pilot Project Oversight ‘fell between the cracks’

AFL calls on federal AG to investigate safety concerns surrounding fast-track program for TFWs in oil sands construction

EDMONTON – Worker safety is being put at risk by lack of oversight for a program that fast-tracked guest workers in Alberta’s oil patch.

As reported today by CBC news, workers at the Husky Sunrise project in the Alberta oil sands have come forward with accounts of significant safety violations and near misses caused by inexperienced and unqualified workers hired through the Alberta Pilot for Occupation-Specific Work Permits, a special fast-track stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker program.

“When it comes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, we've raised concerns about wage suppression, exploitation of foreign workers and the displacement of Canadians. But now it's becoming clear that the program also has serious implications for workplace safety," Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said.

"What we’re seeing is that employers have been using the Alberta Occupation-Specific pilot program to hire unskilled workers to do skilled work in oil sands construction. Without the proper skills and training, these workers are putting themselves and others at risk of serious injury or even death."

Originally launched in June 2011, the Pilot allowed employers to hire unqualified workers from abroad for specific occupations without first demonstrating that efforts had been made to offer the jobs to qualified Canadians. Information on the Pilot is difficult to obtain, but based on what’s available, the Alberta Federation of Labour estimates that only 24 per cent of guest workers hired under the Occupation-Specific fast track are fully qualified as tradespeople.

“We fear that some of the guest workers given a work permit through the Pilot are unqualified as tradespeople and unfit to work on Alberta industrial construction sites because of their inability to effectively communicate with coworkers,” McGowan said in a letter asking the federal Auditor General to conduct a non-partisan review of the program. “Everybody wants to ensure that Canadian workplaces are safe workplaces. An audit of this program would help ensure that standards are maintained, and could prevent injuries and deaths.”

When it began, the Pilot was originally just for the steamfitter/pipefitter trade, but was expanded in September 2012 to include six additional occupations. On July 31 of this year, the Pilot was ended as part of the government’s changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, but work permits already granted under the program are still in place and an estimated 2,000 workers brought in through the pilot are still at Alberta worksites.

“When it comes to safety issues, the government shouldn’t just be waiting around for these work permits to expire,” McGowan said. “If there are workers on these sites who are not trained, and who pose a risk to their co-workers, the government needs to act.”

Unlike other Temporary Foreign Worker programs, the Alberta Pilot for Occupation-Specific Work Permits did not require employers to fill out Labour Market Impact Assessments – the documents that are supposed to ensure that there was an attempt to hire Canadians to do the work. Because of this lack of paperwork, it has been difficult until now for the public to obtain information about how the program is being misused.

MEDIA CONTACT:

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

Evidence shows Harper government continues to allow TFW program to undermine Canadian wages

Edmonton – The wages of Canadians are continuing to be undermined by the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

Internal government documents obtained by the Alberta Federation of Labour show that Alberta companies were given the green light to underpay thousands of Temporary Foreign Workers in 2013.

The documents are the latest evidence that the misuse of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is deliberate, pervasive and not limited to a few sectors of the Canadian economy.

“These documents are a snapshot of what was happening while Jason Kenney, the minister responsible for the program, was telling the public he had taken steps to better monitor and enforce the rules around the program,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “Behind closed doors, they knew the rules were being bent and broken, and they knew thousands of TFWs were being underpaid and used as pawns to drive down wages for all Albertans.”

In 2013, 3,718 individual positions were approved across Canada in the low-skill categories, under 535 Labour Market Opinions (LMO).

Of those permits, the vast majority — 2,122 of them — were issued to employers in Alberta under 294 Labour Market Opinions.

TFWs were brought in to be paid less than Canadians as truck drivers, shipping and receiving, service station attendants, as health care workers, nurse aides, front desk clerks, metal fabrication labourers, delivery drivers, woodworking machine operators, heavy equipment operators, machining tool operators, automotive mechanics, mine labourers, and concrete, clay, and stone forming operators.

“As you look at these documents, it’s pretty clear that the problems in the Temporary Foreign Worker program extend far beyond the food services industry,” McGowan said. “These documents show the TFW program is being used to keep wages low, and to pay people less than what is paid to Canadians.”

TFWP regulations give Minister Kenney’s department the power to deny work permits if wages offered a worker in the Program are below prevailing regional wages for that particular occupation.

“PC leadership candidates, Conservative Members of Parliament, even Justin Trudeau are whining about the changes to the TFW Program,” McGowan said. “Whenever you hear a politician fighting to expand the TFW program, you know that they’re working for low-wage lobbyists and insiders, not for the good of Albertans.”

The documents, which contain records from all Canadian provinces and territories, can be accessed here:

LMOs issued for less than prevailing wage rates

Overview of locations and jobs where TFWs were paid less than Canadians

MEDIA CONTACT:

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

Internal FOIP Documents:

2014 LMOs issued for less than prevailing wage rates

Supporting document to News Release Aug 15: Alberta companies given green light to underpay thousands of TFWs

Overview of locations and jobs where TFWs were paid less than Canadians

Supporting document to News Release Aug 15: Alberta companies given green light to underpay thousands of TFWs