Temporary foreign workers: economic commodities in Canada?

The reality

Miguel is woken up at 4 a.m. at his shared trailer home and driven 10 kilometres away to his workplace. The day’s target? To fill ten cans of worms for his employer at minimum wage. Equipped with a head-light, battery pack and cans tied to his ankles, Miguel is on his way.

In another province, Samantha mops the floor of a downtown restaurant early morning before opening the door to customers. Out east, Nmembe is taken by bus along with 20 others to weed an onion field.

We’re not talking about Latin America or Africa. It’s another regular workday in Canada for more than 120,000 foreign temporary workers who arrive annually, hoping to earn a living to support their families left behind in their impoverished countries. Few like their work or the conditions, but they’d rather stick it out than return home or complain about the unmet contractual agreements and unfair treatment by their employers.

The debate

The debate around temporary workers and their working conditions has gathered momentum across Canada. Employers who attract temporary workers from countries such as Mexico, the Caribbean islands, Philippines, South Asia and Latin America consider them a source of cheap labour that lowers production costs. Canadian labour substitutes would drive prices way beyond reach of an ordinary consumer, they say.

Labour unions see things differently. The Alberta Federation of Labour, for instance, believes that at least some employers are using the Foreign Temporary Worker program as part of a deliberate effort to drive down wages and working conditions and to bypass unionized Canadian workers.

Advocates on behalf of temporary foreign workers argue that the rights of these workers are consistently being violated by employers. Less than contracted-for wages, dangerous working conditions, substandard living conditions, long hours and minimal benefits are some ways these "powerless" workers are being exploited by unscrupulous employers.

Government, by its conspicuous silence, seems to have adopted a non-interference policy for fear of upsetting employers and the market equilibrium. No surprise therefore that Canada is not a signatory to the United Nations International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

And the workers themselves? They’ve been rendered voiceless for fear of being returned home never to return and worse still, being harassed for speaking out when they do get back by the local mafia who trade in a profitable labour industry.

Public Justice

Economically, temporary work in Canada seems like a good deal for these folk. Canada has a growing need for workers, while people in "poorer" countries search for employment that will pay more than the equivalent of a living wage in their countries.

Perhaps this is a good example of the law of supply and demand in a free market enterprise? There’s only one problem: these are real people for whom earning a living wage helps to realize only in a small way their full potential as human beings.

Hence, if any just and equitable solutions are to be found to this complex issue, it is important that the debate around temporary workers is widened and reframed to include core principles of public justice and that the rights and responsibilities of all actors be recognized and enforced.

Using the public justice lens, it is clear that human beings should not be regarded as mere economic factors of production nor commodities. They are not goods and services to be traded across borders to meet market demands. Their value cannot be measured in terms of how much or how little (in this case) their services are bought for.

Temporary workers, like everyone else, need to be treated with dignity and granted equal rights and privileges. It is an affront to their self worth and God’s purpose for their lives that they be traded by brokers (recruiters) who reduce them to being a lucrative source of income or be exploited by employers who regard them as cheap resources that keep production costs low.

The way forward

Government has a key role to play in correcting the imbalances in this system that is skewed towards the employer. Although formal contracts are signed to ensure a level of fairness towards temporary workers, these remain limited to paper. Government monitoring to ensure that the terms and conditions of the contract are kept is minimal, and little or no effort made to educate employees about employment standards and contractual rights.

Because of excessive demand and a steady supply of cheap labour, many safeguards that protect workers from exploitation are non-existent or observed only in the breach. Those who arrive from other countries are warned by their brokers that any "questioning" of status quo would be punished by immediate removal to their home country. Some employers hire and fire workers at will, meeting minimum standards with almost no checks and balances.

It is incumbent therefore on government to actively nurture values of fairness and equity in society, in this case to ensure that those who labour get more than just a wage.

Employers too have a key role to play in helping create the infrastructure that supports a fair and just system, which is not based only on generating profit, but has also the well-being of those who contribute to it in mind. There is also a huge need for public awareness about and engagement in the needs and issues of temporary foreign workers.

After all, we are Canadian and we owe it to the world not just to preach but also to demonstrate how to treat people with respect and dignity, even if they live and work in our own back yard.

The Catalyst, summer 2007, Volume 30 / Number 3