MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2008

BC construction unions say massive federal expansion of temporary foreign worker program announced today is a recipe for exploitation of vulnerable workers as cheap labour and will undercut BC workers’ wages Vancouver - BC construction unions says today’s federal government massive expansion of the temporary foreign worker program in BC and Alberta is a recipe to exploit vulnerable workers as a cheap source of labour and to undercut BC workers’ wages. The federal Conservative government has made a reckless decision to open the doors to tens of thousands of temporary foreign workers without providing any means to protect them from exploitation or for workers to exercise their rights in Canada, says Wayne Peppard, Executive Director of the BC and Yukon Building Trades Council. And Peppard said the government has ignored repeated warnings by unions, community groups and others not to increase existing problems of exploitation by making it easier for employers to bring in temporary foreign workers without adequate monitoring and enforcement protection. “British Columbians were shocked in 2006 when they learned that a group of temporary Latin American workers in Vancouver were being paid less than $5 per hour on the tunnel excavation for the new $1.7 billion Canada Line rapid transit project,” Peppard said. “Allegations of coercion and intimidation by those tunnel workers were recently confirmed in a decision by the BC Human Rights Tribunal,” Peppard added. “Let’s be clear - we are not opposed to foreign workers coming to Canada to work for fair wages, enjoy safe working conditions and have the right to become citizens,” Peppard said. “What we oppose is exploiting vulnerable workers as cheap labour, in unsafe workplaces where they have no knowledge of their rights and no real way of exercising them anyway.” Peppard said the federal changes, which add 21 new occupations to a temporary foreign worker pilot program in the two provinces and reducing the processing time to just five days will favour large employers over small, local contractors. “Big employers who can afford to employ immigration lawyers, labour brokers and foreign recruiters will bring in cheap labour and local employers will suffer as a result,” Peppard said. And he said migrant workers in the construction industry are especially vulnerable because immigration permits require workers to be indentured to one employer while project construction contracts and sub-contracting make it easy for employers to exploit workers. “Some employers intimidate and coerce migrant workers to accept intolerable wages and working conditions under threat of being sent home,” said Peppard. “Temporary foreign workers are afraid to speak out for fear of reprisals from their employer.” For more information: Wayne Peppard, BCYT at cell 778-388-0014 or 604-291-9020 or Bill Tieleman, West Star Communications, at 604-844-7827 or cell 778-896-0964. Website: www.bcbuildingtrades.org

For further information contact 

the BCYT-BCTC office:  604-291-9020

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