Flawed program neglects foreign workers' rights: report

A program to bring in temporary foreign workers to ease Alberta's labour shortage has instead introduced extortion, threats and poor living conditions, said a labour union report Thursday.

The Alberta Federation of Labour released a report that said the rights of workers recruited under the Temporary Foreign Workers Program are being abused.

'They are literally modern-day slaves in the system and that's the worst part of this.' Yessy Byl, advocate

More than 22,000 workers from countries including India, Poland and China are working in Alberta's restaurants, oil sands and construction industry.

An advocate hired by the federation in April received more than 100 formal complaints from workers not being paid promised wages, being forced to pay thousands of dollars in illegal brokerfees, and being threatened with deportation if they complained.

"Nobody's watching put to see if the employers are actually following those contracts," said advocate and human rights lawyer Yessy Byl.

"Nobody's seeing if they're paying the workers the wages that were promised, giving the hours of work to the workers or even providing any jobs to those workers. There is absolutely no follow-through, no enforcement."

The paperwork to get a legal job takes between three to eight months, she said.

"So foreign temporary workers are being held hostage. They are literally modern-day slaves in the system and that's the worst part of this."

Labour federation president Gil McGowan wants the program suspended until the problems can be fixed.

"It's against Canadian values the way we're treating these workers," McGowan said. "This program needs to be replaced and at the very least we need to provide these workers with the kind of protection that they deserve."

Contractor disputes report findings

Alberta's Employment and Immigration Minister Iris Evans confirmed that a phone line set up to assist foreign workers has been fielding about 70 calls a month.

Evans said she'll respond to the AFL report next week.

Amajor construction contractor in Alberta said the allegations of abuse are being overblown by the labour federation, which has always opposed the recruitment of non-union workers.

"I think it's largely a tempest in a teapot," said Bill Stewart, a vice-president with Merit Contractors Association. "There have certainly been reports of isolated situations, but I think it's overblown to suggest the program has been a failure."

Two Chinese temporary workers were killed and four others injured last April when part of a storage tank collapsed under construction near Fort McMurray.