Migrant workers to get health-care boost from website

Migrant workers to get health-care boost from website – thestar.com

Migrant workers seek better working conditions on farms

ADRIAN MORROW

The Globe and Mail

Every year from 2003 to 2006, Jose Sicajau made the trek from Guatemala to Canada, working at a produce farm south of Montreal to earn money for his family back home.

One day, he and fellow migrant workers were building an irrigation system on the operation.

Mr. Sicajau says the owner, upset that they were doing the job incorrectly, hit a Mexican worker in the foot with an aluminum pole.

Migrant workers seek better working conditions on farms – The Globe and Mail

Chinese labourers told to pay to secure B.C. jobs: report

One of the Chinese companies developing underground coal mines in northeastern B.C. denounced on Thursday “unspeakable” tactics that are, according to a media report, being used to recruit Chinese labour to work in Canada.

HD Mining International spokeswoman Jody Shimkus was responding to a news report on the Tyee website that said Chinese miners are asked to pay $12,500 for the opportunity to work in Canadian projects.

Vancouver Sun: Firm slams worker recruitment tactics

Major Step-back on Canadian immigration system

Rather than move past insular policies that devalue experience acquired abroad, Canada is going forward to perpetuate the increasingly common attitude that only “Canadian Experience” is welcome inside its borders.

On August 17, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) quietly unveiled a major overhaul of the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the main economic immigration program commonly known as the “points system”. This announcement solidifies the changes to the immigration system CIC has been releasing for the past several months. In a recent report for the Maytree Foundation, Naomi Albiom and Karen Cohl argue that the new system implements a “two-step process” for potential immigrants, who are now required to enter Canada as temporary foreign workers and pass language and “Canadian Experience” tests before being eligible to become permanent residents. While the new FSWP targets a younger and more “flexible” workforce that is presumably able to adapt to Canadian society, these changes effectively disguise how the government is simultaneously admitting more and more foreign workers into Canada through temporary visa programs. Rather than somebody chosen on merit acquired abroad, the new immigrant in Canada will be selected based on country of origin, race, religion and culture. It sounds like the government is betting that employers are more enlightened than the rest of society as to who will make the best Canadians.

Major step-back on Canadian immigration system – Only those with “Canadian experience” need apply « CERIS Blog

La fin de l’immigration

Ah ces patrons, toujours plus vites et plus astucieux que nous ! Devant l’ensemble des menaces et pièges qu’a entraîné la mondialisation pour les travailleuses et les travailleurs d’ici (délocalisation, concurrence avec le « cheap labor », pressions à la baisse des législations sociales, etc.), restait toujours la mince consolation que les emplois des secteurs des services et des ressources naturelles ne pouvaient être exportés. Le restaurant du coin avait beau se plaindre de la hausse du salaire minimum, il ne pouvait pas déménager son comptoir dans le Maine… les clients étant attachés à leur quartier. Les minières avaient beau menacer de réduire leurs investissements si les employés ne faisaient pas de concessions… l’or allait attendre sagement qu’une autre entreprise plus clémente accepte de payer le juste prix pour l’extraire.

IRIS – Blogue – La fin de l’immigration

CBC report and interview with Fay Faraday: Temporary foreign worker laws in Canada

Not authorized to work in any occupation other than stated, not authorized to work for any employer other than stated, not authorized to work in any location other than stated. Must leave Canada by 20th of May 2012 was stamped right in Juma Rangam’s passport, his opportunity for a promising job that he says kept him tethered and powerless. Canada is bringing in an increasing number of temporary foreign workers under those very conditions, more in fact than economic migrants who can get permanent status. Migrant workers can be invisible to most of us. If things with their employers turn sour or even abusive, they can fear deportation and so do not speak out. Today, we bring you the story of one temporary foreign worker. 

Temporary foreign worker laws in Canada – Juma Rangam’s Story

Temporary foreign worker laws in Canada | The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti | CBC Radio

Survivors haunted by crash that killed 10 migrant workers

They were so happy, they couldn’t sleep.

While the other migrant workers dozed in the van, Juan Jose Ariza Mejia 35, and Abelardo Javier Alba Medina, 38, could only stare out at peaceful farmland and be grateful for where they were.

They had just finished their first day’s work vaccinating chickens at a poultry farm in rural Ontario. The job paid $10.25 an hour, up from the $2 wage they made in Peru.

Survivors haunted by crash that killed 10 migrant workers | TheSpec.com

A provincial government advisory body wants Alberta to remain the lone province to exempt farm workers

Advisory body urges province to leave farm workers exempt from health and safety laws

Canada’s Laws Fuel Migrant Worker Exploitation: Report

Toronto, Ontario, September 17, 2012 – Canada’s reliance on low-wage migrant workers with temporary immigration status is growing but our laws make them vulnerable to abuse, says a new report published by the Metcalf Foundation.

See Toronto Star article here

Migrant worker killed in eastern Ontario farm accident

Migrant worker killed in eastern Ontario farm accident – Ottawa – CBC News

The Agriculture Workers Alliance said the death of a migrant worker in an incident on an eastern Ontario farm on Monday is the 13th in the province this year.

The Ministry of Labour is investigating the death of the 38-year-old Mexican worker who was fatally injured at an orchard operation in Prince Edward County.

The worker was attaching a water tank to a tractor when the when the attachment fell, trapping him between it and the tractor. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.