"A new kind of slavery."
August 10, 2024 10:22 AM Subscribe
Canada’s $100-billion food-service industry, struggling with labour shortages, is leaning on a vulnerable workforce in record numbers. (slStar, but is an archive.ph link; OG link if you want it)
Certain kinds of white Canadians are on a tear right now against immigrants due to unaffordable housing and unemployment, but honestly these two snippets from the article told me all I need to know about those kinds of people.
Originally designed to fill jobs Canadians could not or would not take
“Restaurants always reported the highest vacancy rate in any industry and it isn’t because there aren’t Canadians around who can do it,” Stanford said.
“It’s that these jobs are so unappealing and the wages are so low and the shifts are so irregular and the job security is so poor that people will look to other industries for work.”
Certain kinds of white Canadians are on a tear right now against immigrants due to unaffordable housing and unemployment, but honestly these two snippets from the article told me all I need to know about those kinds of people.
Originally designed to fill jobs Canadians could not or would not take
“Restaurants always reported the highest vacancy rate in any industry and it isn’t because there aren’t Canadians around who can do it,” Stanford said.
“It’s that these jobs are so unappealing and the wages are so low and the shifts are so irregular and the job security is so poor that people will look to other industries for work.”
I grimaced when I got to the part about "keeping bad actors in check."
I mean, yes - you should do that. But you're never going to get rid of them as long as you've designed the system to encourage people to act badly. A business owner's financial incentives are to exploit their workers, and the system removes (or at least severely constrains) what little legal recourse workers have to resist. You've just added more power imbalance to an already deeply imbalanced system. Is anyone surprised when it results in abuse?
This quote is chilling:
The Canadian Franchise Association on its website says “the main benefit (of the TFW program) for business owners is that it guarantees a worker will stay employed with them for the term of the agreement
Anyone with an ounce of empathy for workers, immigrant or not, can immediately see the dark side of that quote, but it's just ... put out there like it's a good thing. Don't be concerned about it.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 11:20 AM on August 10 [34 favorites]
I mean, yes - you should do that. But you're never going to get rid of them as long as you've designed the system to encourage people to act badly. A business owner's financial incentives are to exploit their workers, and the system removes (or at least severely constrains) what little legal recourse workers have to resist. You've just added more power imbalance to an already deeply imbalanced system. Is anyone surprised when it results in abuse?
This quote is chilling:
The Canadian Franchise Association on its website says “the main benefit (of the TFW program) for business owners is that it guarantees a worker will stay employed with them for the term of the agreement
Anyone with an ounce of empathy for workers, immigrant or not, can immediately see the dark side of that quote, but it's just ... put out there like it's a good thing. Don't be concerned about it.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 11:20 AM on August 10 [34 favorites]
Temporary foreign workers can’t just quit and find another job like Canadian residents can, and that’s what makes them so vulnerable to exploitation, experts say.
Who possibly could have foreseen this outcome? You'd have to be innovative enough to look at literally any other similar arrangement to see how this might be ripe for exploitation.
posted by axiom at 11:27 AM on August 10 [7 favorites]
Who possibly could have foreseen this outcome? You'd have to be innovative enough to look at literally any other similar arrangement to see how this might be ripe for exploitation.
posted by axiom at 11:27 AM on August 10 [7 favorites]
TBC I'm pointing at the obvious failure of the government in setting up this program and not realizing (or caring) about its potential for exploitation. The workers taken in by it are not to blame when their employer turns out to be a shithead.
posted by axiom at 11:50 AM on August 10 [2 favorites]
posted by axiom at 11:50 AM on August 10 [2 favorites]
Who possibly could have foreseen this outcome?
Anyone with an ounce of empathy for workers, immigrant or not, can immediately see the dark side of that quote, but it's just ...
This programme, originally implemented under Pierre Trudeau, underwent significant "reforms" during Stephen Harper's tenure as prime minister (about 2014 when he had a majority). He was not known for his empathy.
posted by Ashwagandha at 12:07 PM on August 10 [9 favorites]
Anyone with an ounce of empathy for workers, immigrant or not, can immediately see the dark side of that quote, but it's just ...
This programme, originally implemented under Pierre Trudeau, underwent significant "reforms" during Stephen Harper's tenure as prime minister (about 2014 when he had a majority). He was not known for his empathy.
posted by Ashwagandha at 12:07 PM on August 10 [9 favorites]
My teenage son and all of his friends have been applying at fast food places, grocery stores, retail and the like all over Ottawa for the last year, and almost none of them are getting hired.
posted by fimbulvetr at 12:30 PM on August 10 [11 favorites]
posted by fimbulvetr at 12:30 PM on August 10 [11 favorites]
In Australia, exploitation and abuse of overseas workers under a similar system, led to the government implementing reforms whereby overseas workers under the program could switch from [original participating employer] to [any other employer who was also signed up to the scheme].
So the visa wasn't linked to working for a particular business, but rather to working for a participating business.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 12:35 PM on August 10 [9 favorites]
So the visa wasn't linked to working for a particular business, but rather to working for a participating business.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 12:35 PM on August 10 [9 favorites]
Youth unemployment is up to 14.2% in July. There is a legitimate non-racist argument for limiting new entrants to the labour market when the unemployment rate is rising. Unfortunately we are mixing a legitimate beef with employers and the government with xenophobia, which turns the whole narrative toxic.
posted by shock muppet at 12:56 PM on August 10 [17 favorites]
posted by shock muppet at 12:56 PM on August 10 [17 favorites]
Businesses bring in immigrants to exploit them and divide the residents, same businesses support parties who rage gainst immigrants and call for stricter borders. Wash rinse repeat. The real race war is the upper class and their dupes against all comers, and yet battles play out at the til and in the street.
posted by No Climate - No Food, No Food - No Future. at 12:57 PM on August 10 [10 favorites]
posted by No Climate - No Food, No Food - No Future. at 12:57 PM on August 10 [10 favorites]
For a deep and broad dive into Temporary Foreign Workers systems, including Canada's, I learned a lot from Harsha Wallia's Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism. Here's a review from Protean Magazine and a couple of academic reviews (State Crime Journal; Border Criminologies blog).
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 1:27 PM on August 10 [12 favorites]
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 1:27 PM on August 10 [12 favorites]
My teenage son and all of his friends have been applying at fast food places, grocery stores, retail and the like all over Ottawa…
Why would anyone hire workers with rights and recourse if they don’t have to?
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:54 PM on August 10 [20 favorites]
Why would anyone hire workers with rights and recourse if they don’t have to?
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:54 PM on August 10 [20 favorites]
I have two points I want to add to this discussion:
1) Corporations operating out of Canada have been exploiting and underpaying workers in other countries for decades now, sight unseen, by moving thousands and thousands of positions offshore to countries with fewer labour regulations and oversight. They usually do it in a hands-off way through another corporate entity established in the target country. It started with min. wage jobs like call centre work, and has now progressed to encompass higher-paying, higher-knowledge jobs. I wasn't able to find recent, hard #s about how many jobs that entails, which is concerning.
2) Some Canadian-owned businesses who employ foreign workers actually take their passports away from them, trapping them here. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/migrant-workers-passports-ontario-law-1.6784443
posted by Stoof at 2:00 PM on August 10 [5 favorites]
1) Corporations operating out of Canada have been exploiting and underpaying workers in other countries for decades now, sight unseen, by moving thousands and thousands of positions offshore to countries with fewer labour regulations and oversight. They usually do it in a hands-off way through another corporate entity established in the target country. It started with min. wage jobs like call centre work, and has now progressed to encompass higher-paying, higher-knowledge jobs. I wasn't able to find recent, hard #s about how many jobs that entails, which is concerning.
2) Some Canadian-owned businesses who employ foreign workers actually take their passports away from them, trapping them here. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/migrant-workers-passports-ontario-law-1.6784443
posted by Stoof at 2:00 PM on August 10 [5 favorites]
Mod note: One removed because for going against the Content Policy and advocating policy.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 2:07 PM on August 10
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 2:07 PM on August 10
Brandon Blatcher, that's a typo, right, and we are allowed to advocate policy here? (I couldn't see anything to the contrary in the content policy.)
posted by It is regrettable that at 5:30 PM on August 10 [1 favorite]
posted by It is regrettable that at 5:30 PM on August 10 [1 favorite]
Mod note: Yep, that's a typo, sorry about that, it should read "and advocating violence".
As for advocating MetaFilter related policy, that should be done via the Contact Us form or submitting a MetaTalk post.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:50 PM on August 10 [3 favorites]
As for advocating MetaFilter related policy, that should be done via the Contact Us form or submitting a MetaTalk post.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:50 PM on August 10 [3 favorites]
This programme, originally implemented under Pierre Trudeau, underwent significant "reforms" during Stephen Harper's tenure as prime minister (about 2014 when he had a majority). He was not known for his empathy.
Yeah, the program was originally intended primarily for temporary agricultural workers (Canadians don't appreciate how much of their homegrown produce is harvested by Mexican temporary workers) but the Trudeau program had a reasonable number of worker protections built in so although it was still exploitative in the way that any temp worker program will be it wasn't egregious. Then Harper happened and, welp.
posted by mightygodking at 7:48 AM on August 11 [4 favorites]
Yeah, the program was originally intended primarily for temporary agricultural workers (Canadians don't appreciate how much of their homegrown produce is harvested by Mexican temporary workers) but the Trudeau program had a reasonable number of worker protections built in so although it was still exploitative in the way that any temp worker program will be it wasn't egregious. Then Harper happened and, welp.
posted by mightygodking at 7:48 AM on August 11 [4 favorites]
I will die before I vote conservative, but it’s the current government that removed a clause conservatives actually put in restricting use of the TFW programme where local unemployment is above 6% for job categories like “cashier”. Unemployment is higher than that in the GTA (where many people end up) and Alberta, probably elsewhere. The Liberals also expanded the TFW programme even beyond Harper’s targets, to historic levels, despite arguing against this before assuming power. This is wage suppression (and side note I’m disappointed the NDP has abandoned its roots in worker’s rights in supporting it).
There’s backlash because every single fucking thing in this country including goddamn food is stretching the pocketbooks of *most* Canadians. “Stretching pocketbooks” is putting it mildly, many Canadians are a paycheck away from financial disaster. Food bank use is at an all time high, while grocers gouge us. People are getting laid off left and right across industries, and unable to find work. Provinces have largely abandoned the idea of maintaining infrastructure of any kind, yet ask the feds for more and more slave labour. Propping up the GDP with immigration to benefit CEOs, at the expense of the GDP per capita, WHILE the BOC has kept interest rates up (making things difficult for small businesses) was bound to lead to this reaction. It feels like shit to live in this country now. I have never found myself so politically homeless. No one has a vision for a way out of this hole. This next election, I might not even vote (for the first time since I was 18).
(The problem is obviously with the policies not immigrants themselves. I am 1st gen myself.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 12:16 AM on August 12 [3 favorites]
There’s backlash because every single fucking thing in this country including goddamn food is stretching the pocketbooks of *most* Canadians. “Stretching pocketbooks” is putting it mildly, many Canadians are a paycheck away from financial disaster. Food bank use is at an all time high, while grocers gouge us. People are getting laid off left and right across industries, and unable to find work. Provinces have largely abandoned the idea of maintaining infrastructure of any kind, yet ask the feds for more and more slave labour. Propping up the GDP with immigration to benefit CEOs, at the expense of the GDP per capita, WHILE the BOC has kept interest rates up (making things difficult for small businesses) was bound to lead to this reaction. It feels like shit to live in this country now. I have never found myself so politically homeless. No one has a vision for a way out of this hole. This next election, I might not even vote (for the first time since I was 18).
(The problem is obviously with the policies not immigrants themselves. I am 1st gen myself.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 12:16 AM on August 12 [3 favorites]
Foreign worker programs are always about getting low(er)-cost semi-unfree labor for the owners. Some few jobs there are, that cannot be made less shitty, which are so shitty that no native is desperate enough to take them. But mostly it is about saving the owners money that they would otherwise have to pay out in compensation to workers at the market rate.
It is owners putting a thumb on the scale of the labor market, basically.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 8:13 AM on August 12 [1 favorite]
It is owners putting a thumb on the scale of the labor market, basically.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 8:13 AM on August 12 [1 favorite]
Absolutely. The owners are the ones taking advantage of these programs, but the foreign workers become the scapegoats.
posted by Kitteh at 8:19 AM on August 12 [2 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 8:19 AM on August 12 [2 favorites]
Here's a link for Temporary Foreign Worker's rights in case it may be useful. for example
Your employer must:
get and pay for private health insurance that covers your emergency medical care until you're eligible for provincial or territorial health insurance
If there is a period where you're not covered by the provincial or territorial health insurance where you’re working, your employer must obtain and pay for your private health insurance that covers emergency medical care. Your employer can’t deduct any money from your pay for this private health insurance.
---
here's a list of Employers who were found non-compliant. i.e. violated their rights
It also lists fines and penalties.
--
The Canadian Senate has published a 150 page report dated May 2024 called
Act Now: Solutions for Temporary and Migrant Labour in Canada
It's mainly political doublespeak
posted by yyz at 7:26 AM on August 14 [1 favorite]
Your employer must:
get and pay for private health insurance that covers your emergency medical care until you're eligible for provincial or territorial health insurance
If there is a period where you're not covered by the provincial or territorial health insurance where you’re working, your employer must obtain and pay for your private health insurance that covers emergency medical care. Your employer can’t deduct any money from your pay for this private health insurance.
---
here's a list of Employers who were found non-compliant. i.e. violated their rights
It also lists fines and penalties.
--
The Canadian Senate has published a 150 page report dated May 2024 called
Act Now: Solutions for Temporary and Migrant Labour in Canada
It's mainly political doublespeak
posted by yyz at 7:26 AM on August 14 [1 favorite]
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posted by Ashwagandha at 11:13 AM on August 10 [6 favorites]