Abuse of temporary foreign worker program alleged – Winnipeg Free Press

A Filipino migrant group is calling for changes to Canada's temporary foreign worker program, alleging emotional abuse in the Thompson workplace and unfair scheduling and layoffs.

“He enslaved us in the hotel,” Johnson Santos said of his former manager.

He and three colleagues shared their stories Monday at a news conference in Winnipeg organized by Migrante, Manitoba's main migrant worker advocate.

The group declined to name the hotel chains Thompson worked with. Some are still struggling to obtain permanent resident status in Canada and want to stay down.

Verbal abuse, wage theft and unfair termination were among the charges they filed Monday.

According to the band's timeline, they joined the hotel staff last summer. Santos said he previously worked with a hotel manager at a call center in the Philippines; he contacted her and asked if she and her friends were working at Thompson's.

Santos assembled the crew. He says the first seven months in northern Manitoba have gone well. Filipinos worked as cleaners and kitchen staff.

The situation changed in February, when two employees were not scheduled for the weekend they had been promised: the women had worked for almost two months and wanted two days off, they said, raising concerns with management.

The following months brought verbal abuse, constant surveillance and pettiness from the manager, they say.

The supervisor threatened to send the group back to the Philippines, Santos said. “We don't think we deserve it.”

He said the group called the federal government to report the abuse; they believed the manager had found out and looked for ways to stop them. At least five people have been released in recent weeks, the group said.

Filipinos did not change jobs because they were tied to contracts with temporary foreign workers, Santos noted. Individuals using such permits must either work for the employer that brought them to Canada or apply for a new work permit for another company.

Some view the temporary foreign worker permit as a means of securing permanent residence in Canada. Santos said he has become a permanent resident.

“Many Filipinos dream of working and living here in Canada,” said colleague John Maravilla. “It's a big deal to get a covered work permit (where you have to work for a specific employer).

The Free press considered Maravilla's permit to work in the hotel; it will end in 2025.

Santos is currently “taking care” of his friends — he'll start a new job soon, he said. Maravilla has received an open job permit and is hunting for employment.

Their colleagues hope to become permanent residents, they said, despite their former leader withdrawing their applications for Manitoba's provincial candidate program.

“Unfortunately, these practices are not new,” said Diva Marcelino, Migrante organizer and brother of Manitoba Labor and Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino.

Diva Marcelino said she had heard similar stories; The current temporary foreign worker installation creates an unfair power balance, he added.

Niall Harney, a senior fellow at the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives in Manitoba, called on the government to make it easier to report violations of employment standards and create a provincial body to investigate companies that hire migrant workers.

“These are workers who need support,” Harney said Monday. “We need to see a proactive strategy on employment standards.”

The think tank released a list of recommendations for the province's labor policy last week. It includes excluding migrants from employment standards.

Manitoba's Employment Standards Division investigates all worker cases, noted NDP MLA Malaya Marcelino.

He called the department's staff “run over” by the previous Progressive Conservative government, which led to longer processing times for cases. The New Democrats plan to hire more employment standards staff, he said, without specifying a timeline or headcount.

The province is looking to update the Employment and Protection of Workers Act to include seasonal workers, the minister added.

“All workers, regardless of immigration status, will have their rights, health and safety protected in our province,” he said. “It's something our government really cares about.”

Laurie Wilkinson, a professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Manitoba who studies immigration, says abuse of temporary foreign workers often goes unreported.

“People are afraid of losing their jobs and losing their ability to stay in Canada,” Wilkinson said. “They are in a state of exploitation.”

Temporary foreign workers don't have many channels to report abuse, he added. They can file a complaint with the federal government, but there is concern that the act could jeopardize their chances of permanent residency, Wilkinson said.

Being a temporary foreign worker does not increase a migrant's chances of becoming a permanent resident. However, some people don't want stability, Wilkinson said — they want to return to their families and countries and do seasonal work “very happily.”

Large-scale Canadian farms often employ temporary foreign workers.

The temporary foreign worker program is good for hiring low-wage workers and filling jobs, Wilkinson noted.

The program began in 1973; In 2002, a low-skilled worker component was added.

Ottawa approved about 692,760 temporary foreign jobs between January and August 2023, up from about 274,690 during the same period in 2022.

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Gabriel Piche
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Gabby is a big fan of people, writing and reading. She graduated from Red River College's Creative Communications program in spring 2020.

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