Canada has always prided itself in multiculturalism and cultural diversity; however, under the Tories' newly proposed two-tiered wage system which will target temporary foreign workers, we may no longer claim this identity.
Foreign workers are workers who arrive on work permits, and they were originally intended to fill immediate skills and labour shortages in Canada. Despite the fact that they are not citizens, employers still had the obligation to pay them the prevailing wage-- until recently, when the rules changed. Suddenly, employers are allowed to pay these individuals 15% less than the average wage. This creates an agglomeration of different problems, which the government fails to acknowledge.
Firstly, foreign workers are now even more vulnerable to exploitation in the workplace. Currently the program is already severely flawed; workers have no access to unions, no rights to collective bargaining and are often denied basic human rights. There have been cases of abuse, and a report done three years ago recognizes the fact that because the workers are desperate not to lose their jobs, they often tolerate abusive employers and poor working and living conditions. Instead of solving these problems, the government has now decided to lower the pay of these workers, allowing them to face the same atrocious conditions with a decrease in income. Certainly, business leaders are extremely pleased to be able to decrease their expenditures, but should Canada really become another nation that puts the economy before human rights?
Furthermore, this plan creates an "us and them" labour market and exposes foreign nationals to even more ostracization and discrimination. There is already a situation where the disgruntled unemployed are accusing immigrants of "stealing their jobs" and citizens looking over their shoulder, afraid that theirs will be ripped away from them. With the new "advantage" and "appeal" foreign workers now have, this paranoia is certainly not unfounded. The number of foreign workers in Canada has grown by 40% in the last six years, and it is expected to continue to grow despite of the new laws; there are always overseas workers who are eager to work regardless of poor conditions. Of course, one can argue that it shouldn't have that great of an effect since these workers are only supposed to fill in "immediate skills and labour shortages". However, this is a myth and the rules have become increasingly relaxed; employers can very well hire skilled workers like electricians and engineers. In fact, last week the government announced that the approval process for these workers can be shortened from the current 12-14 week process to as few as 10 days. Essentially, the labour market for foreign workers extends much further than just low skilled jobs, much to the displeasure of an estimated 2.4 million unemployed citizens in Canada. The wage cuts simply makes it more difficult for Canadians to compete for jobs, and may even bring down the pay scale for all workers, thus potentially weakening Canadian GDP. While one can argue that these workers can be paid less because they don't pay the same taxes as we do, we see that this isn't actually reasonable. We pay taxes because we have benefits in Canada; benefits like health care and education that these workers don't have. It would be unfair to underhandedly "tax" these individuals for services that they don't actually benefit from. Moreover, if we encourage employers to hire more of these workers (who don't pay taxes), it would mean less income for Canadian citizens and therefore less tax revenue for the government. With these detriments, there will undoubtedly be backlash from the community, possibly promoting a sense of discrimination and racism towards foreign nationals.
The recent developments are absolutely appalling; we are not only damaging Canada's economic future but as well as its reputation of a multicultural society that upholds the principles of human rights. It is fair to say that Canada may even be going backwards; as The Globe and Mail notes, "Even the Chinese railway workers of the 1800s came with “landed immigrant” status. Emphasizing the benefits of a disposable class of workers is a very recent, and unsavoury, development in our history." Clearly, we are simply promoting a divide in our society, where we categorize foreign workers as second class citizens. No individual in Canada should face exploitation and discrimination, but with this new two-tiered wage system, we are very much opening these doors. The classification of "temporary foreign workers" with different work standards ultimately suggest that they are not working alongside of Canadians, but rather working in opposition against Canadians. This situation was already a problem that we're facing, and what the government is proposing only deepens its severity.
In the short term, cheaper labour will probably benefit employers, but in the long term, it will bring complex problems of slowed economic progress, social unrest, human rights violations and exploitation of vulnerable foreign nationals.
With this policy, it is difficult for me to say that I'm proud to be a Canadian.
With this policy, it is difficult for me to say that I'm proud to be a Canadian.
Sources:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters/article/1170177--exploiting-the-already-exploited
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/sawp.shtml
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/sawp.shtml
Very well written overall. I wish I could see your picture / video? and the sources for the stats - just cite in brackets or within your sentence for our purposes.
ReplyDeleteYou are very right in suggesting that there is much exploitation happening even under our current laws and this two-tiered wage system could lead to further exploitation. However, one of the articles also suggests that within the amendments to the laws are additional means for govt agencies to crack down somewhat on the exploitation of workers with further investigative powers and bans on employing immigrant workers, albeit short term bans. Would you say that these clauses help to address some of the concerns? Further questions do arise - whose joe will it be to follow up and how will it be funded? Or is this another case of putting powers into the laws that cannot be enforced?
Hannah, I was under the impression that these immigrant workers and the two- tiered wage system was to apply specifically to seasonal (agricultural) workers like farm / orchard work. In the past couple of years BC farmers and orchardists have been complaining that they are unable to get Canadians do work on the farms - even at wages above min. Apparently, we Canadians may have an aversion to this kind of manual labour. There has even been concern raised that crops would go to waste in the past couple of years due to lack of harvesting. I had not read the immigrants were taking up other skilled labour jobs that you mentioned (electricians,...) but I suppose it is possible in areas where particular projects have high immediate demand (eg after a natrual disaster like the town wiped out in Alberta last year due to fire and the one in Manitoba due to flooding. Sometimes the urgency is due to the seasons - both to get the work done in good weather and for helath and safety reasons like to get people out of temporary housing before harsh prairie winters.) Alternatively - what else do you suggest? (not agreeing with either side - just posing the questions to consider.)
Indeed, the government has said that they will "crack down" on these hostile work environments-- in fact, they claim that they already have. Last year they announced that employers who are found to be abusive would just lose the permission to hire another worker for up to two years. In my opinion, this is hardly a fair response to what are often multiple abuses and human rights violations-- actions that would usually be considered to be criminal in Canada. There should at least be more severe punishments in place, or a better regulated program. Perhaps job openings of regulating this program should be considered as part of the training and employment initiative the government has been trying to put in place. Essentially, the program is already so severely flawed; the two-tiered system not only does not address the current issues, but it will most likely just add to the inadequacies of the current situation.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the temporary foreign worker program covers more than just agricultural workers. It states on the official Human Resources and Skills Development Canada site that the program applies to "managerial, technical, and professional occupations" as well. (http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/sawp.shtml) The article also does not explicitly state that the system will apply specifically to agricultural workers, so I'm under the impression that the government did not specify that either. While it's possible that the system was perhaps intended to apply to agricultural workers, but if it isn't specified, businesses can easily manipulate the regulations, as they so often do. While it is concerning that employers have difficulty finding Canadians to work on orchards even though they offer to pay above the prevailing wage, it hardly justifies punishing the foreign workers. If they're such a valuable asset to our labor market, why are we deducting their pay? That is the question that is left unanswered, because there simply is very little reason for it. I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't use temporary foreign workers, what I'm saying is that deducting their pay is not justified and leads to long term problems that the government is not addressing. Their labor is undoubtedly valuable, but that's not the message the government is sending.