Temporary Foreign Worker program abuse alleged

Alleging emotional abuse and unfair scheduling and terminations at their Thompson workplace, a group of Filipino migrants are calling for change to Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program.

“She (was) making us a slave in the hotel,” Jmillson Santos said of his former manager.

He and three co-workers shared their story Monday at a news conference in Winnipeg hosted by Migrante, a grassroots advocate for Manitoba’s migrant workers.

The group declined to name the hotel chain they worked for in Thompson. Some are still vying for permanent residency status in Canada and want to lay low.

Verbal abuse, wage theft and unfair terminations were among the allegations they made Monday.

By the group’s timeline, they joined the hotel staff last summer. Santos said he had previously worked with the hotel manager at a Philippines call centre; she’d contacted him and asked if he and friends would work for her in Thompson.

Santos gathered a crew. The first seven months in northern Manitoba went well, he said. The Filipinos worked as cleaners and kitchen staff.

Things took a turn in February, when two employees weren’t scheduled for days off they’d been promised: the women had worked almost two months straight and wanted two free days, they alleged, adding they raised concerns with management.

The following months brought verbal abuse, constant monitoring and pettiness from a manager, they said.

The supervisor threatened to send the group back to the Philippines, Santos relayed. “We don’t think we deserve that.”

He said the group called the federal government’s tip line to report abuse; they believe the manager found out and sought ways to terminate them. At least five people were let go in recent weeks, the group claims.

The Filipinos didn’t switch jobs because they were bound by their Temporary Foreign Worker contracts, Santos noted. People using such permits must work for the employer who brought them to Canada or apply for a new work permit with a different company.

Some view a temporary foreign worker permit as a vehicle to securing permanent residency in Canada. Santos said he’s become a permanent resident.

“A lot of Filipino have dream to work and live here in Canada,” noted colleague John Maravilla. “This is a big problem for a closed work permit (where you must work for a specific employer).”

The Free Press reviewed Maravilla’s hotel work permit; it expires in 2025.

Currently, Santos is “looking after” his friends — he’s starting a new job soon, he said. Maravilla received an open work permit and is hunting for employment.

Their colleagues are hoping to become permanent residents, despite their former supervisor withdrawing applications to Manitoba’s provincial nominee program, they said.

“Unfortunately, these experiences are not new,” said Diwa Marcelino, an organizer with Migrante and brother of Manitoba Labour and Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino.

Diwa Marcelino said he’s heard similar stories; the current Temporary Foreign Worker set-up creates an unfair power balance, he added.

Niall Harney, a senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Manitoba, called for government to make reporting employment standards violations easier and to form a provincial entity for investigating companies hiring migrant workers.

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

The think tank released a report last week listing recommendations to the province’s labour policy. It included eliminating employment standards exclusions for migrants.

Manitoba’s employment standards division investigates all workers’ cases, noted NDP MLA Malaya Marcelino.

She called department staff “ravaged” by the former Progressive Conservative government, leading to longer case processing times. The New Democrats plan to hire more employment standards employees, she said, without giving a timeline or staff number.

The province is looking to update the Worker Recruitment and Protection Act, which covers seasonal workers, the minister added.

“All workers, irrespective of their immigration status, will be having their rights, health and safety protected here in our province,” she stated. “It’s something that our government takes very seriously.”

Much abuse of temporary foreign workers goes unreported, noted Lori Wilkinson, a University of Manitoba sociology and criminology professor who studies immigration.

“People are scared that they’re going to lose their job, lose their ability to stay in Canada,” Wilkinson said. “They’re in an exploitative situation.”

Temporary foreign workers don’t have many channels to report abuse, she added. They can bring complaints to the federal government, but there’s a perception the act could jeopardize their chances of obtaining permanent residency, Wilkinson said.

Becoming a temporary foreign worker doesn’t cement a migrant’s chances of becoming a permanent resident. However, some people don’t want permanency, Wilkinson said — they want to return to their families and home countries, and do seasonal work “quite happily.”

Large scale Canadian farms often use temporary foreign workers.

The Temporary Foreign Worker program is good for hiring employees at lower wages and filling labour gaps, Wilkinson underlined.

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

Ottawa issued around 692,760 temporary foreign work permits between January and August 2023, up from about 274,690 during 2022’s same time period.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com