CANADIAN LABOUR BRITISH COLUMBIA:

MIGRANT WORKERS LAUNCH LAWSUIT AGAINST DENNY'S FOR WAGE THEFT:

The service industry has traditionally been both penny pinching and outright dishonest when it comes to their employees. This has been exasperated by a recent trend across the western world of hiring migrant labour, many of whom don't know their rights (and bosses are certainly not going to inform them out of the kindness of their overflowing hearts) or who are intimidated by their status in the country that they have emigrated to. One example in the USA, the workers at Chipotle, was recently mentioned on this blog. Here's another from Canada, out BC way. Seems that Filipino workers at the Denny's restaurants in that province have gotten together to demand their rights. Here's how the story is seen by the BC Federation of Labour.

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BC Fed in the News:

Fillipino Denny's workers launch class action
January 13, 2011
Fifty temporary foreign workers from the Phillipines have launched a class action lawsuit against Denny's restaurant. The workers allege Denny's has not paid them in full and say the restaurant has not reimbursed them for recruitment and processing fees they paid in order to come to Canada.

The B.C. Federation of Labour is calling for a moratorium on the recruitment of workers under the Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program until all alleged abuses are investigated and the program is cleaned up.

To see the CBC Television story on the class action lawsuit against Denny's click here.
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And here is how the story is seen by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).
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Migrant Workers File $10 Million Lawsuit against Denny’s in British Columbia
More than 50 Filipino migrant workers recruited to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) program have filed a $10 million class action suit against Denny’s restaurants in British Columbia, charging the company did not live up to the employment contract the workers signed before they arrived from the Philippines. The suit was filed in the B.C. Supreme Court on January 7, on behalf of the Filipino migrant workers employed at Denny’s from 2006 until the present.

One of the lawyers representing the workers, Charles Gordon, alleges that “the workers came to Canada, mainly as cooks and servers, to take jobs at Denny’s Restaurants in B.C. but were required to pay approximately $6,000 each to an agency that was recruiting employees for the Defendants, and the workers have not received the hours of work, overtime pay, air travel and other conditions they were promised.”

“These workers were encouraged to come to Canada with a set of promises that have never been met – they have done their part but the Denny’s has not lived up to their end of the deal,” says Christopher Foy, another member of the legal team.

“The federal government’s Temporary Foreign Workers program continues to be a shameful treadmill that lures workers to Canada, and then leaves them defenseless and vulnerable,” says UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley. “The fact that the Denny’s workers have been forced to go to court is yet another blatant example of how the exploitative TFW program turns a blind eye to what happens to migrant workers once they arrive in Canada.”

CANADIAN LABOUR BRITISH COLUMBIA:

PUBLIC INQUIRY ON SILVICULTURE LABOUR ABUSES:

As reported earlier on this blog the BC Federation of Labour is calling for a public inquiry on the silviculture (tree planting) industry in BC. This is in the wake of the revelation of recent abuses amounting to slave labour at a camp run by Khaira Enterprises Inc.. In Molly's opinion this inquiry is long overdue, and we can be certain that no participating paties will escape unscathed. As reported earlier on this blog Khaira has been operating in BC for over 10 years under both the present administration and the previous NDP government. It is also noteworthy that the board presumably overseeing this industry has at least "nominal" union representation. Here's the story from the BC Fed. >>>

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Public Inquiry needed to clean up silviculture abuses
August 20, 2010
The BC Federation of Labour is calling on the provincial government to launch a public inquiry into silviculture regulations and enforcement in the province. An investigation by the Federation has uncovered a patchwork of regulations and the absence of any real enforcement.

The call for an inquiry follows shocking details on conditions at a Khaira Enterprises work camp near Golden in July and the death of a Khaira worker in Revelstoke in June.

"We have talked with former Khaira workers, government agencies and silviculture contractors," says Jim Sinclair, President of the B.C. Federation of Labour. "As more information emerges, it is clear we have multiple and systemic problems with the regulation of silviculture contractors in BC and with the enforcement of those regulations."

The Federation has learned that Khaira Enterprises was the successful bidder on a BC Timber Sales tree planting contract on Texada Island in March of this year. The Khaira bid was 30 percent lower than the next lowest bid and 37 percent lower than the average bid on the contract. The Federation has also learned that Khaira Enterprises had limited expertise in the difficult tree planting required in the contract that included helicopter, boat work and expensive logistics.

"While Khaira worked on Texada Island in March, complaints were received and the company was investigated by various agencies including BC Timber Sales, the WCB, the BC Forest Safety Council, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and the RCMP," says Sinclair. "Instead of being shut down by these agencies, Khaira was allowed to move on to other publicly funded silviculture contracts in Kamloops, Revelstoke and Golden."

The Federation's investigation also suggests there are other silviculture contractors that ignore regulations with impunity and undercut legitimate contractors who follow the regulations.

"What we have right now is a race to the bottom where unscrupulous contractors like Khaira win contracts through unrealistic bids," says Sinclair. "The current situation is bad for silviculture workers, it is bad for our forests and it is bad for other silviculture contractors who follow the regulations. We need a public inquiry so that we can clean up this industry and stop this type of abuse."

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For more information contact: Evan Stewart, Director of Communications, B.C. Federation of Labour (604) 430-1421.

CANADIAN POLITICS BRITISH COLUMBIA:

BC FEDERATION OF LABOUR AGAINST THE HST:

The campaign to put the proposed 'Harmonized Sales tax' to a referendum in British Columbia continues to gather steam, and people from both the right and left are lining up to oppose this tax grab. Here's a press release from the BC Federation of Labour about their view of the tax.

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Commentary: BC Fed Opposes Unfair Taxes

BY: JIM SINCLAIR
PRESIDENT, B.C. FEDERATION OF LABOUR

Published in The Province newspaper May 14.

The labour movement is not against taxes.

We understand that taxes fund important public services and programs.

But the labour movement is against taxes that are dishonest and regressive. The HST is both. And, we simply cannot accept a tax that takes $2 billion from the pockets of British Columbians, many of whom are having trouble making ends meet, and gives it to corporations, many of which are already profitable.

This is the wrong tax at the wrong time for the wrong reasons.

It might be acceptable if the money generated by the HST went into healthcare, education and building a sustainable economy. But it won't. The HST will generate another tax holiday for corporations and vague promises that the rest of us will benefit one day.

The BC Liberals have fed us this line before.

They slashed income taxes by about $2 billion a year, disproportionately to the wealthy, and told us it would make us a stronger province.

The Liberals have already slashed corporate taxes by about $1.5 billion a year. They told us this would boost competitiveness, productivity and job growth.

Having cut $3.5 billion in annual provincial revenues who feels any richer?

A real estate and construction boom in some parts of the province may have created an illusion of prosperity for a while, but the BC economy is chronically underperforming most other provinces.

No matter how you measure it, the Liberal's tax slashing has failed to deliver the promised results. Employment growth has been lower than the 1990's. Investment in machinery and equipment in BC has barely increased. Even before the recession began in 2008, the forest industry had lost almost 24,000 good jobs. BC's per capita GDP is lower than it should be, our productivity is behind Alberta and Ontario, and our wages are below the Canadian average.

Tax cuts haven't worked. Instead, they have left a legacy of chronic cuts, closed schools, underfunded healthcare facilities, angry seniors, children without proper support, declining wages and growing unemployment.

The Liberals never tire of telling us that people don't like paying taxes. But that's only a half truth. People understand value for money, and most people don't mind paying fair taxes to build a strong province.

What people really don't like is being lied to and taken for fools.

Hundreds of thousands of British Columbians are voicing their anger and opposition to the HST. The Liberals should listen. They should cancel the HST and muster the courage to begin talking to British Columbians about honest and fair taxation that makes us all stronger.