Ontario Migrant Workers Victimized by Labour Trafficking Speak Out
Migrant workers and their supporters are speaking out
about
the dire situation these workers face when they are recruited to
come to Canada, and putting forward their demands to
governments.
Leny Simbre, Migrante Ontario Chairperson stated that
her
organization has three demands: "First, we seek the
implementation of a policy that will mandate all foreign
recruitment agencies to obtain a licence from Employment
Standards. Second, we demand that all employers wanting to
recruit foreign workers in Ontario be registered with Employment
Standards. Third, we demand for the Province of Ontario to
advocate to the Federal Government to provide Permanent Residency
on landing for all migrant workers coming to work in Canada."
 At an April 10 press
conference in Toronto organized by
Migrante Ontario, Ontario-based migrant workers Maila Ceguerra,
Lourdes De la Pena, Jesse Veneranda and Marisol Bobadilla, spoke
out about their exploitation by recruitment agency
Link4Staff Inc. and their former employer Sharon Mushroom Farm,
and the case they have filed against the agency and the employer
at the Ontario Small Claims Court. They were joined by those
fighting for the rights of migrant workers to call on the Ontario
government to license recruiters, register employers and hold
them jointly financially liable for the fees paid by the workers
to come to Canada. They also called on the federal government to
ensure these workers receive permanent resident status on
arrival.
The four migrant workers have launched a petition to
regulate
foreign recruitment agencies and employers hiring migrant
workers. To read and sign the petition, click
here.
Since May 2018, these workers have been speaking out and
mounting legal complaints against recruitment agencies and their
employers. As a result of their organizing, Lily Miranda, a
recruiter for the firm A&L Hammer, and Laxman Marsonia, owner of
Sharon Mushroom Farm, were charged by the Canada Border Services
Agency with human trafficking and misrepresentation-related
offences under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
A year later, the Ontario court ordered A&L Hammer to pay back
illegally charged recruiter fees to the migrant workers. The
recruiter Miranda has not been convicted.
Migrant workers in Ontario face a particular situation,
distinct from other provinces, because of non-enforceable provincial
laws and federal temporary immigration programs which favour
exploitation and human trafficking. Manitoba, Alberta, Nova Scotia and
British Columbia have recruiter registries which are said to create an
awareness of migrant worker employers. However, employer specific work
permits and temporary immigration streams create worker precarity,
limiting workers' ability to assert their rights and allowing for
labour super-exploitation.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 16 - May 4, 2019
Article Link:
Ontario Migrant Workers Victimized by Labour Trafficking Speak Out
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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