An open letter penned by Jamaican migrant farm workers has brought fresh attention to the poor working conditions that temporary foreign workers are facing in Canada. The Jamaican workers, members of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, described their experiences to “systematic slavery” and said they are “treated like mules.”Other recent headlines have also brought renewed focus on the precarious and sometimes dangerous working conditions that migrant workers endure. Research showed that the new program was inadequate in addressing abuse under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Simply relaxing rules for employers to hire more temporary foreign workers, as the federal government did this past April, does nothing to address its flaws. Furthermore, bringing in temporary foreign workers to work in low-wage jobs means that employers may opt for workers with fewer rights than workers already living in Canada who may be struggling to find work yet can’t be so easily taken advantage of.

Source: thestar August 30, 2022 04:38 UTC