ALF V1

Investigations find employers skimming from TFW paycheques

EDMONTON - Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) face a greater risk of being the victims of payroll fraud.

Information obtained by the Alberta Federation of Labour shows that employers are likelier to violate the Employment Standards Code when they’re dealing with TFWs. Of investigations launched because of a complaint by a TFW, 47 per cent found the employer had contravened the Code. By comparison, the figure was 33 per cent when the complaint came from a Canadian worker.

“Workers brought in under the Temporary Foreign Worker program are less likely to know their workplace rights, are more likely to have language barriers, and are beholden to their employer for their ability to stay in Canada,” Alberta Federation of Labour Secretary Treasurer Siobhan Vipond said. “It seems clear that some predatory employers know these workers are vulnerable, and they’re exploiting that vulnerability. It’s disgraceful.”

The figures, which were collected from April 2012 – March 2013, were the result of investigations that were started because of a worker complaint. The province investigated only 218 complaints despite there being 68,319 TFWs in Alberta at that time.

“These are just the cases where there was a worker who was able to file a complaint,” Vipond said. “This is further evidence that the government needs to get serious about protecting TFWs and enforcing the rules. The province needs to resume proactive inspections; otherwise wage theft may never come to light.”

From 2009 to 2011, Alberta conducted a limited number of proactive investigations of work sites with Temporary Foreign Workers. The rate of payroll contraventions varied from month to month, peaking at 74 per cent in January 2010, but rarely dropping below 50 per cent.

“The federal government needs to axe the Temporary Foreign Worker program. Until the feds get around to that, Alberta needs to resume and ramp up their policing of workplaces with TFWs,” Vipond said. “These workers should be paid fairly. The government needs to ensure employers aren’t skimming from their paycheques.”

AFL Backgrounder: Temporary Foreign Workers shortchanged by payroll violations

-30-

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]

2013 Backgrounder: Temporary Foreign Workers shortchanged by payroll violations

Urgent Action: Alberta embracing The Better Way Campaign

Since April 1, moviegoers all over Alberta have been getting a message on the Better Way Alberta campaign. The message, in which Albertans are "thanked" for giving away their oil and gas so cheaply, has been shown before every movie on 188 screens.

The Better Way Alberta campaign is a collaboration between the AFL and several member unions including HSAA, UNA and CUPE. Advertising, media and our website www.betterwayalberta.com all make the case for sensible budgeting that puts the best interest of people first, and includes research showing that royalties and taxes may need to be increased.

Check out the Better Way Alberta ad

Action Item: 19th Annual Kids' Camp

The AFL Kids' Camp is a five-day event that combines summer fun with educational activities.

The camp, which has been running for 19 years, has become a popular event on the AFL calendar. In 2013, the camp will be themed around the history of labour in Canada.

The camp is open to children of trade unionists belonging to unions affiliated to the Alberta Federation of Labour. Learning is combined with recreational activities such as canoeing, wall climbing, hiking, mine tour, rappelling, group challenges, crafts and swimming.

When: August 5 – 9, 2013

Where: Goldeye Centre near Nordegg on Goldeye Lake

Ages: 8 to 15 years

Forms package to be completed and mailed/faxed to the AFL offices by June 14, 2013

AFL wins battle in fight against exploitation of Temporary Foreign Workers

Recently announced changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program are a victory for Canadian labour rights.

The Federal government has eliminated the pay differential for TFWs, and indefinitely suspended the fast-track ALMO process for bringing in workers.

Although there is a lot of work left to be done in preventing employers from exploiting people coming to Canada for work, the Alberta Federation of Labour is proud that it has played a key role in bringing to light the ways in which the TFW program is being used to exploit workers and drive down wages.

"Exploitation is fundamentally unCanadian, that's why t this program doesn't sit well with Canadians," AFL president Gil McGowan said. "I'm proud of the work the AFL has done in investigating the TFW program, and proud as a Canadian that the public in this country won't stand for how this program is being used."

The AFL released the latest in a series of reports on the Temporary Foreign Worker program recently, showing that workers are being brought in regardless of prevailing economic conditions. During the recession, Alberta lost tens of thousands of jobs. Yet, employers brought in tens of thousands of Temporary Foreign Workers. In 2011, the economy recovered and began creating jobs. But there was a Temporary Foreign Worker present in Alberta for three of every four jobs created.

Read the complete report HERE.

News

Convention videos online at AFL Youtube channel

If you missed it the first time, you can watch highlights from Alberta Federation of Labour's 48th constitutional convention on the internet.

For the first time, the proceedings have been made available to watch at the federation's youtube channel (youtube.com/ABFedLabour). Talks by speakers such as Allan Gregg, Jim Stanford, and Armine Yalnizyan have already been watched by hundreds of AFL affiliates and allies from as far away as California.

More than 7,000 people have already watched the videos, which were produced with the assistance of United Nurses videographer Jeremy Rittwage and the team from Listen Louder Productions. Videos that feature convention delegates being interviewed about what their unions mean to them are generating upwards of 300.

"There was a focused effort to make this convention relevant to people who couldn't be there in person," AFL president Gil McGowan said. "I'm proud to say that we accomplished that. The feedback from the videos has been extremely positive."

AFL offers solidarity to prison workers in struggle for workplace safety

The Alberta Federation of Labour has raised concerns about the province's handling of a four-day wildcat strike by unionized employees of Alberta's prison system. The four-day strike was sparked by the government's refusal to address health and safety concerns at the new Remand Centre in Edmonton.

After the strike, the government has imposed fines of $450,000, and has sought to suspend the collection of union dues to the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees. Although the AUPE is not affiliated with the AFL, the government's draconian response has raised concern in the broader labour movement about the treatment workers can expect from the provincial Tories.

"Every crisis presents opportunities and this situation is no different. The government could have addressed the workers' legitimate safety concerns in a timely and balanced manner. This would have improved the important relationship between a government and these workers," AFL president Gil McGowan said. "But that opportunity has been squandered by threats, intimidation and now specter of punitive measures against the union. As a result, labour relations are worse now than they were before the strike."

Read coverage of the AFL's solidarity with the striking workers here.

BLOCK the PARTY

Albertans are standing together for a BLOCK (the) PARTY rally from 12-2 p.m. on May 25th to create a block against the policies and recent budget cuts that negatively impact families, the most vulnerable, and all sectors in Alberta.

The rally will be held at 45th Avenue between Gateway Boulevard and Calgary Trail S, just north of the Radisson Hotel, where the Conservative Party will be holding their policy convention.

Come together with other Albertans by the busloads and help us remind our leaders that there is a Better Way!

Did you know ...

• In 2007, Alberta's Royalty Review panel ruled that the province's rate of 58% for natural gas was too low. Today, the rate is 34%.

• Royalty giveaways since 2009 have cost Albertans at least $4.7 billion.

• Three of every four new jobs created in Alberta since 2010 have been filled by workers brought in under the Temporary Foreign Worker program.

Events

• May 22: Shooting the Messenger: The Need for Effective Whistleblower Protection in Alberta, (Parkland) – 7:00 PM Telus Centre, Room 134 U of A (87th Avenue)

• May 23-26: Canadian Association of Labour Media conference (calm.ca/conference)

• June 10-11: AFL Executive Council Retreat (Calgary)

• June 12: AFL Executive Council (Calgary)

• June 14: Deadline to register for AFL Kids Camp

FROM LAST RESORT TO FIRST CHOICE: How the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is flooding the market, not filling a need

During the recession, Alberta lost tens of thousands of jobs. Yet, we brought in tens of thousands of Temporary Foreign Workers. In 2011, the economy recovered and began creating jobs. But there was a Temporary Foreign Worker present in Alberta for three of every four jobs created.

Over the past four years, Alberta has brought in thousands more Temporary Foreign Workers than jobs created. This report – the latest in a series by the Alberta Federation of Labour on the Temporary Foreign Worker program – shows there is no need for the TFW program. Thousands of Albertans are out of work or involuntarily working part-time. The evidence is stark: Alberta
employers are bringing in more TFWs than are needed to fill the new jobs the economy is creating. This report shows what we have known for some time: while there are shortages in select few trades or skills, there is no economy-wide labour shortage in Alberta. There is a shortage of people willing to work for less, and that is why Alberta continues to bring in  thousands of Temporary Foreign Workers every year, even when the economy sheds jobs.

OTTAWA — Changes to the ailing temporary foreign worker program unveiled Monday are little more than an admission of error and fall short of the massive overhaul the Conservative government promised, critics say.

The federal government announced it was dropping the confusing and seldom used 15-per-cent wage differential for foreign workers introduced in the last budget and temporarily suspending a controversial fast-track process brought in a year ago as a means of improving the program.

Effective immediately, employers will have to pay temporary foreign workers the prevailing regional wage average Canadian workers doing the same job earn because a plan to build in flexibility to account for experience and performance didn't work.

The Accelerated Labour Market Opinion process introduced last year to speed up the issuing of work permits was meant to better meet labour market demand in high-skill fields. Now, that too will be suspended pending a review of the program to make sure it's not being used to fill low-skill service jobs at, for example, Tim Hortons.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Human Resources parliamentary secretary Kellie Leitch made the announcement shortly after the government introduced its budget implementation bill.

"We are concerned about examples of the program not being used as intended. Canadians must always have the first crack at available jobs in our economy," Kenney said.

"The temporary foreign worker program was intended to fill acute labour shortages on a temporary basis only, not to displace Canadian workers."

A total of seven changes were introduced Monday. They include regulatory and administrative reforms as well as legislative changes contained in the budget that require the approval of Parliament.

Critics, however, argued the two key measures are simply a reversal of earlier mistakes.

"This is not the first time, as you know, that the Conservatives have said that they wanted to fix the program. Twice already they said that they were going to do that but then made things even worse," NDP human resources critic Chris Charlton said.

The NDP and other critics have complained the wage differential ultimately drove down wages and working conditions.

Charlton said the new measures don't address the need to recruit, hire and train Canadians first or the need for better labour-market information. There's also nothing in it to address unfair treatment and the rights of workers, she said, adding a comprehensive review is needed.

"The reality is, they have made an absolute mess of the temporary foreign worker program," she said.

"What we really need is a proper study with outside experts to make sure we get it right this time."

Liberal human resources critic Rodger Cuzner added the government may be "trying to sell this announcement as new reforms" but the truth is that it's simply promising to enforce rules that already exist.

Worse, it's "an embarrassing reversal" of changes the Harper government introduced in recent years, he said, adding he will introduce a motion asking a Commons committee to study the program.

The Alberta Federation of Labour, meanwhile, released a report Monday that found three out of four jobs created in the provinces over the last few years have been filled by temporary foreign workers instead of Canadians. When 8,600 jobs were lost in 2010, the province still admitted some 23,000 foreign workers, president Gil McGowan said.

He said the program is "not filling a need" but is "flooding the market," that it's become the "a first choice for employers rather than a last resort." McGowan added that the food-services industry has become a "low wage ghetto" in booming Alberta, where seniors looking to earn a little extra cash and teenagers looking for their first job are paying the price.

"It's clear at least in the province of Alberta that the program is being used to displace Canadians from employment, it's being used as a tool to suppress wages and it's giving employers and excuse to abdicate their responsibility to train the next generation of Canadians," he said, adding it's affecting construction trades as well as the service industry.

Among measures introduced Monday is a plan to boost the government's authority to suspend or revoke work permits and labour-market opinions, the latter of which pave the way for work permits to be issued where there is a genuine shortage of Canadian workers.

In the wake of a recent instance in which Royal Bank of Canada employees found themselves training temporary foreign workers to take over their jobs, the government said it will add new questions to employer applications to ensure the program isn't being used to outsource Canadian jobs.

The reforms are in addition to several already laid out in the 2013 budget.

Employers will also need to broaden the length and reach of job postings and produce a plan for transitioning to a Canadian workforce over time when applying for permits under the program.

New user fees for employers seeking to hire temporary foreign workers are also expected to offset costs currently absorbed by taxpayers.

The government is also taking steps to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations so that companies cannot make knowledge of a language other than French or English a requirement when hiring through the temporary foreign worker process.

"These changes will strengthen and improve the temporary foreign worker program to support our economic growth and recovery," Leitch said.

While agricultural employers could see permits revoked if companies are found to have misused the program, seasonal agricultural workers will otherwise be unaffected by the reforms.

An ongoing review of the program that began in fall 2011 will continue and more reforms are expected this fall, following a second round of consultations with businesses, trade organizations, unions and other stakeholders.

Ottawa Citizen, Tuesday, Apr. 30, 2013
Byline: Tobi Cohen, PostMedia News

Two federal ministers yesterday jointly announced changes in the controversial Temporary Foreign Worker Program, including a "temporary suspension" of the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion program criticized by labour leaders.

But one high profile labour leader described the announced changes as "simply public relations."

Gil McGowan, head of the Alberta Federation of Labour told CBC news after the Ottawa announcements that "the Harper government has blinked, but it hasn't backed down."

McGowan and his federation hold a thick file of Accelerated Labour Market Opinions they gained by filing Freedom of Information requests to the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. They say it demonstrates deep flaws in the process that allows companies to hire foreign workers ahead of Canadians who might expect to be paid more or have more flexibility to resist poor working conditions.

The 93 page document lists 4,839 employers across Canada approved to use the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) initiative in getting government permission to bring temporary workers into Canada from offshore. Although the ALMO program was described, when it was launched last April as applying to "employers hiring temporary foreign workers in higher skilled positions such as: management, professional and technical occupations," union researchers who have examined the document say that more than half the employers cited (often in the fast food, restaurant, hospitality and farming sectors) seem unlikely to require many foreign professionals and experts.

B.C. had the highest rate of employers using the ALMO fast track rated as "questionable" by researchers, with 628, or 65 per cent of the employers listed seen as dubious.

Labour organizations in B.C. and Alberta want the Auditor General to investigate.

Progam is 'discredited': BCFED's Sinclair

Canada's procedures for bringing temporary foreign workers into the country have attracted public scrutiny and criticism for the limited rights they accord agricultural workers and for recent scandals involving Canadian workers at the Royal Bank of Canada being required to train foreign workers who will take their jobs and for corporate attempts to bring Chinese miners into the country to dig B.C. coal.

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which has been greatly expanded since the Conservatives took power in 2006, "is discredited, and has lost public support," president Jim Sinclair of the BC Federation of Labour told The Tyee. "Since they came to power the Conservatives have been turning on the tap. Before then there was a very modest program that brought in actors, musicians and medical professionals, but now all of the top five categories of foreign workers being brought in are low skilled.

Sinclair says the latest Freedom of Information "revelations about the ALMO initiative demonstrate why the program is broken. It needs to be scrapped or reformed to return it to its original intentions. What we have in Canada isn't a worker shortage. It's a wage shortage. We shouldn't be turning Canada into a cheap labour zone."

In an opinion piece published in the Toronto Star on April 16, Canadian Labour Congress president Ken Georgetti agrees. "Today," he writes, "companies are employing nearly 340,000 migrant workers -- more than our annual intake of permanent newcomers. Between 2007 and 2011, 30 per cent of all net new jobs in Canada went to migrant workers -- during a period of high unemployment in this country. This is a concern. If employers need migrant workers to do jobs year after year, then let's admit it is not a temporary situation."

In 2009, Georgetti notes, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced that his department would publish online a list of employers found to be flouting the rules and they would be subject to sanctions. Four years later, he said, that "bad-boss" website doesn't contain a single name of a single company.

Kenney, along with Canada's minister of human resources, Diane Finley, made the announcement of program reforms yesterday (see sidebar).

'Lipstick on a pig'

But the Alberta Federation of Labour's McGowan told the CBC that that while a few of the announced changes marked small improvements, in balance the government was engaging in a public relations exercise, and in some instances, lying outright. McGowan said that when the ministers said that most temporary foreign workers were not being paid less than Canadian workers currently, the statement was "simply a lie." The program, even if the announced changes are fully implemented, will remain a "low wage program that exerts a structural downward pressure on wages," McGowan said.

"What the ministers did today," the visibly angry labour leader said, "was try to put lipstick on a pig."

Even Canada's top banker, Mark Carney, hardly a spokesperson for organized labour, has recently spoken out about the dangers of temporary foreign worker programs. The head of the Bank of Canada, soon to leave for a new posting in the UK, told a Parliamentary committee on April 23, according to the Globe and Mail, that the main purpose of the foreign worker program should be to help companies fill high-skill jobs for which there simply are too few Canadians who are adequately trained.

The program also should fill "temporary gaps" in the labour market, but avoid creating incentives for companies to avoid training Canadian workers, Carney said.

He added that the government must guard against abuse; otherwise, the effect will be to put downward pressure on wages, which in turn leaves companies with an excuse to avoid becoming more productive because they can keep up with demand by hiring cheap labour.

Fast food outlets prominent on 'accelerated' list

B.C. employers listed on the government document of ALMO users include McDonald's, Tim Horton's, Domino's Pizza, Burger King and smaller operations such as Solly's Bakery and Maurya Indian cuisine. Several of the employers appear to be blueberry farmers, despite the government statement when the initiative was launched that it would not apply to agricultural workers or workers in the film industry.

Several mining firms, including Goldcorp Inc., Teck Coal Ltd and the Western Coal Corporation are listed, as are the Big White Ski Resort and Sun Peaks. A few public bodies like health authorities and universities are also listed as ALMO employers, as well as Vancouver retail icons Lululemon and Mountain Equipment Co-op.

Margaret Wheeler, senior vice president at Lululemon, told The Tyee that her firm employs 102 workers from offshore, of which 75 were hired through federal temporary foreign worker programs. Lululemon was not able to provide detail on how many of these 75 workers entered under the new ALMO option before this story was filed, but estimated about 50 of the workers were covered by the new fast track arrangement.

The Mountain Equipment Co-op, meanwhile, told The Tyee that it had only used the ALMO option once this year, to hire a U.S. design and merchandise planning expert. Tim Southam, who speaks for the co-op, emphasized that MEC does not hire front line retail staff through the temporary foreign worker program.

Tim Horton's 'strong track record'

Many of the other listed ALMO employers did not respond to Tyee requests for comment, but Alexandra Cygall, who speaks for Tim Horton's, did reply by email. She told The Tyee that:

"The Accelerated-Labour Market Opinion is offered to employers with a strong track record in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, such as Tim Horton's, in order for us to hire high-skill workers to fill positions of Supervisors and Managers. These individuals often have many years of industry experience and education within the restaurant and hospitality industries and are crucial to our business. Every Tim Horton's restaurant requires at least four supervisors and one manager to handle our 24/7 business.

Tim Horton's and our restaurant owners have been hiring Temporary Foreign Workers since 2005, mostly in areas where there is a shortage of labour such as the West. Our owners turn to the temporary foreign worker program after they have exhausted all other avenues to fill job vacancies locally. Without this employment program, many Tim Horton's restaurants would not be able to operate full time or, in many cases, remain open at all."

Cygal said she was unable to tell The Tyee how many foreign workers Tim Horton's had imported because individual restaurant franchise owners did their own hiring. Similarly, Barry Longhodge, speaking for Domino's Pizza, said that the parent company at Domino's had not done any ALMO hiring itself and was unaware of whether any franchise holders in BC had hired using the new fast track program.

John Gibson, who speaks for McDonalds, told The Tyee that nationally, his firm employs just over 2,000 "international recruits," who represent 2.5 per cent of the company's 80,000 Canadian employees. Most of these, he said, are sourced through temporary foreign worker programs, but he was unable to specify how many of the 2,000 were procured using the new accelerated option. In an April 26 email, Gibson told The Tyee that:

"Our priority is always to hire local employees in every one of our more than 1,400 restaurants nationwide, however, in recent years, tight labour conditions in some markets require that we recruit abroad to ensure we're able to continue to offer the level of service our customers have come to expect from us. This labour shortage is not unique to the food-service industry. We make every effort to hire locally before undertaking international recruiting. Just this past April, we held our third National Hiring Day -- which is a major component to our recruiting practices -- and hired over 5,700 new employees."

Audit ALMO say labour leaders

McGowan, the president of the Alberta labour central that commissioned the research into the ALMO initiative, is sceptical. In a press release, the labour leader says.

"You look down this list, and it's McDonalds, Tim Horton's, A&W, Subway Sandwiches. Are we supposed to believe that these are 'high-skill' employment opportunities?"

McGowan is calling on the Auditor General of Canada, Michael Ferguson, to conduct a complete audit of the ALMO process, a demand that the BC Federation of Labour Jim Sinclair told The Tyee that he supports.

CHANGES TO TFWP ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY

Speaking at a press conference in Ottawa on Monday, April 29, Ministers Kenney and Finley announced changes in their government's embattled temporary foreign worker programs. The changes, they said, would:

- Effective immediately, require employers to pay temporary foreign workers at the prevailing wage by removing the existing wage flexibility;

- Effective immediately, temporarily suspend the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion process;

- Increase the Government's authority to suspend and revoke work permits and Labour Market Opinions (LMOs) if the program is being misused;

- Add questions to employer LMO applications to ensure that the TFWP is not used to facilitate the outsourcing of Canadian jobs;

- Ensure employers who rely on temporary foreign workers have a firm plan in place to transition to a Canadian workforce over time through the LMO process;

- Introduce fees for employers for the processing of LMOs and increase the fees for work permits so that the taxpayers are no longer subsidizing the costs;

- Identify English and French as the only languages that can be used as a job requirement.

— T.S.

The Tyee, Tuesday, Apr. 30, 2013
Byline: Tom Sandborn

8,600 jobs lost in 2010, but government approves whopping 22,992 TFW positions

Edmonton – Over the past four years, Alberta has brought in thousands more temporary foreign workers (TFWs) than jobs created.

In a new report, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) compares the number of new jobs created in municipalities throughout the province to the number of temporary foreign workers arriving each year. There is no correlation; thousands of temporary foreign worker permits are being granted to businesses in good times, in bad times, and even when the economy is shedding jobs.

“The temporary foreign worker program has to be scrapped,” AFL president Gil McGowan said. “Employers are clearly turning to it as a first-choice so they can hire people who have fewer legal protections, can be paid less than their Canadian counterparts, and who can be kicked out of the country if they make a fuss.”

The report, titled “From Last Resort to First Choice,” shows that throughout Alberta during the recession, the economy lost 8,600 jobs in 2010, but the government approved the hiring of 22,992 TFWs. In the big city, the situation was a bit worse, with the economy shedding 13,000 jobs in Edmonton and Calgary, but 12,995 TFWs arriving in 2010.

“Canada needs immigration — but this program isn’t immigration, it’s exploitation,” McGowan said. “Canada’s immigration system needs to be expanded and made accessible to lower-skilled immigrants. And people arriving in Canada to work should be treated the same as any other Canadians. But the TFW program gives them second-class status, and makes them beholden to employers.”

Medicine Hat may have fared worst over the past four years, shedding more than 10,000 jobs, while more TFWs arrived. Throughout the province, thousands of work permits for TFWs were issued for very small rural centres and towns in Alberta.

“It’s difficult for someone to put down roots in a community if they’re defined as temporary,” McGowan said. “They’re not going to gain long-term wage improvements from seniority, and this keeps standards down for all low-wage workers.”

“When employers get easy access to vulnerable groups of lower paid workers, wages and benefits don’t have to keep pace with economic growth,” McGowan said. “The Conservative government talks a big game about free markets, but they’re more than willing to meddle with the market when it comes to driving down wages.”

Under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, the TFW program has doubled in size, and has become a business subsidy that lets frequent users avoid increasing wages to attract workers or to invest in training.

This research clearly shows that jobs are being lost, and yet government is approving thousands of TFW permits for greedy employers who would rather not pay what the market demands.

-30-

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780-218-9888 (cell)
Olav Rokne, AFL Communications Director at 780-289-6528 (cell) or via email [email protected].

Unions and migrant workers' advocacy groups warned Human Resources Minister Diane Finley of potential for abuse.

Last year the government announced changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), indicating that it would fast-track the processing of employer applications for migrant workers and allow employers to pay them up to 15-per-cent less than prevailing wages. The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) warned that those changes would make an already flawed program worse. I met with Human Resources Minister Diane Finley shortly after the announcement and provided her with a book of abuses that one of our affiliates had compiled. The CLC urged Finley not to implement the changes and to conduct a thorough review of the program.

Now the chickens have come home to roost. The events last week with the Royal Bank of Canada are not isolated. This follows on the heels of unions in British Columbia in court battling the government's decision to approve HD Mining's use of offshore coal miners after the company rejected the applications of hundreds of Canadian miners.

The Alberta Federation of Labour recently found that the federal government has granted thousands of fast-tracked work permits designed for employers seeking high-skilled migrant workers under the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO). The documents show many migrant workers brought in under the ALMO process are actually toiling in fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations.

We shouldn't be surprised, given the repeated warnings sounded by unions and migrant workers' advocacy groups. What is surprising is that Finley has not offered her resignation over the issue. She should do the right thing and resign over what has happened on her watch.

The Conservative government has been determined to alter the national workforce. The 2007 budget document said, "it is our government's intention to create the best educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world." The TFWP has been the key to that flexibility. The same 2007 budget allowed Canada's employers to have access to temporary foreign workers "for any legally recognized occupation from any country," eliminating the previous limitation to occupations with recognized labour shortages.

Today, companies are employing nearly 340,000 migrant workers — more than our annual intake of permanent newcomers. Between 2007 and 2011, 30 per cent of all net new jobs in Canada went to migrant workers — during a period of high unemployment in this country. This is a concern. If employers need migrant workers to do jobs year after year, then let's admit it is not a temporary situation.

My grandfather came to Canada as a migrant worker. But there was nothing temporary about it. He was proud to become a Canadian citizen, as were so many of our parents and grandparents. Shouldn't we offer migrant workers a meaningful pathway to permanent residency and welcome their families?

Employers have been quick to take advantage of the loophole that Finley provided in April 2012. After announcing the up to 15-per-cent lower-wages scheme, she promised a new monitoring initiative to make sure the rules were being followed. Sadly, that initiative indicated that no more than 20 per cent of employer applications would be reviewed and only after employers had already received permission to hire migrant workers.

The government says that employers and labour brokers have to abide by the rules. Two of the criteria they must meet are: Has the employer attempted to hire or train available Canadians or permanent residents? Will the employer ensure the migrant worker will be paid substantially the same wage rate? There is ample evidence to show that these rules are being blatantly disregarded.

In 2009, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced that his department would publish online a list of employers found to be flouting the rules and they would be subject to sanctions. Four years later, that bad-boss website doesn't contain a single name of a single company.

Tripling the size of the migrant workforce in just 10 years, and allowing employers to pay migrant workers less, can only result in wages being driven down for everyone. It is unfair to both workers in Canada and to migrant workers.

The government must redress the ongoing problems with the TFWP. In 2009, the auditor general, after finding significant problems with the program, recommended a comprehensive review. Finally the prime minister has announced that a review will take place, but will it be transparent and meaningfully involve all stakeholders? Solutions do exist. For example, the CLC is calling on the government to establish a National Migrant Worker Commission. It must have real regulatory and enforcement powers to protect migrant workers' rights and ensure that our national labour force is fully utilized.

Ken Georgetti is president of the 3.3 million member Canadian Labour Congress.

The Star Commentary, Tuesday, Apr 16, 2013
Byline: Ken Georgetti, CLC

After news of RBC's outsourcing of jobs caused a nationwide outcry, one small Alberta town said it depends on foreign workers to fill jobs that Canadians refuse.

In Rocky Mountain House, a town in central Alberta, business owner Nikki Searth said she relies on the program because she has trouble finding a student who will accept an $11-an-hour cashier job.

According to Searth, it wasn't always so.

"Our ethics have changed with work. I know when I was younger everybody had a job," she told CTV News. "I find today it's not the case."

The turning point for town was the oil boom of 2007, after which it became hard to compete with the lure of a six-figure salary.

"A lot of businesses scaled back the hours, a lot of them were shutting days they weren't before. And owners were back in the kitchens," Donald Verhesen, a town councilmember, said.

Today there are "quite a few foreign workers in Rocky," one resident told CTV News.

"I know the Burger Baron in the town close to here is getting foreign workers, because you just can't get anyone to work," she said.

In fact, out of the 340,000 temporary foreign workers currently in the country, 85,000 are in Alberta, more than any other province.

To labour unions, that is far too many.

"This is not the way you build a country, but it is the way you break a labour market and drive down wages and conditions," Gill McGowan of the Alberta Federation of Labour said.

However, there are fears from the industry about changes to the foreign worker program.

The tourism association in particular relies heavily on foreign workers.

In a letter to several ministers Friday, the association warned that changes to the program could hurt the $84.8 billion industry.

Rocky Mountain House residents also fear what would happen to the town if there were no temporary foreign workers available to fill jobs.

"It would be shut down because there are not enough young people to work in these places," one resident said.

CTV News, Friday Apr 12 2013
With a report by CTV Daniele Hamamdjian

Re: "AFL says chains abusing program; Foreign staff fill low-wage positions," April 10.

Alberta Federation of Labour leader Gil McGowan makes some sweeping generalizations about Alberta employers and the temporary workers who come here for a chance at a better life.

Alberta employers would rather hire people from our own communities, but what is a business to do when those applications stop coming in?

The temporary foreign worker program is the last and most expensive option for employers looking for workers. It's also an opportunity for a better life for ambitious workers from around the world who want to experience the Alberta standard of living.

Some have criticized the provision allowing employers to pay up to 15 per cent less than the average rate for a given occupation. The purpose of this rule is not to allow employers to pay temporary workers less, but to give them room to pay according to experience and expertise. Companies can't pay temporary foreign workers less than they pay similarly qualified Canadians.

Eliminating the temporary foreign worker program could shut down some Alberta businesses, and severely limit the operation of many more.

If the temporary foreign worker program is used in bad faith, employers can and should be barred from ever using the program again - a consequence provided for under the existing legislation.

Instead of whipping up a false crisis, groups like the AFL would be better served working with the business community to address labour shortages with long-term solutions.

David MacLean, Edmonton David MacLean is vice-president of communications and policy with Alberta Enterprise Group.

Calgary Herald, Friday Apr 12, 2013
Byline: David MacLean