the CanadaVisa Team - 23 July, 2015
In the autumn of 2007, a group of union leaders and migrant worker advocates formed an alliance to address the growing number of temporary foreign workers in Canada and to protect their labour rights.
They have been meeting regularly to discuss the labour rights of migrant workers, to strategize political lobbying, to share information on unscrupulous recruiters, and to build bridges with the source countries of many of Canada's temporary foreign workers.
Unions have been making progress in organizing Canadian temporary foreign workers.
Last year, the Alberta Federation of Labour established an advocate's office where temporary foreign workers can lodge complaints against employers.
This spring, the Canadian Steelworkers Union and Migrante Ontario launched the Independent Workers Association, which offers discounted legal counseling and insurance and dental plan packages to live-in caregivers.
Alberta's Food and Commercial Worker's Union coordinated a collective agreement with a hog plant in Red Deer to fund a workplace training and community integration program for 240 temporary foreign workers. Through this contract, the employer sponsored 190 of the workers for Permanent Residency through the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program.
The British Columbia government and Service Employees' Union is working with counterparts in 14 countries to educate foreign-trained health care professionals about the occupational requirements in Canada before they leave their home country.
"With globalization and transnational migration, you can only raise awareness and improve labour conditions by building bridges with workers in other countries," explains Lorene Oikawa, of the BC union.
In the past two years, the number of temporary foreign workers has risen from 122,848 to 165,198.
Source: Toronto Star
