The Seafarers International Union of Canada wants to take the federal government to court over the use of foreign sailors on internationally-flagged ships in Canadians waters. Some of these sailors are allegedly being paid as little as $2 per hour
Seafarers union president, Jim Givens, said this exploitation is common in international shipping, where companies will hire sailors from Indonesia or the Philippines, or another poor country for a fraction of what Canadians would be paid.
“The Government of Canada is letting foreign ships replace thousands of qualified Canadian workers at a time when 25 per cent of our workforce is unemployed,” he said. “The law is very simple. They’re giving work permits to foreign workers on ships in Canadian waters when the law says those jobs should go qualified Canadians first.”
“There needs to be a maritime policy and there needs to be a policy on temporary foreign workers when it comes to seafarers”
Last year, the Canada Border Services Agency issued 142 exemptions to foreign ships to enable their crews to work legally in Canada, even though, according to the union, the shipping companies made no effort to hire Canadian sailors. Another 59 exemptions have been granted so far this year.
Meanwhile, Givens said, more than 800 of his members are currently looking for work. The temporary foreign worker exemptions are being abused. “Those permits are intended for those who are going to open a company and employ people and there is some big economic benefit to Canada,” said Givens.
The Harper government clamped down on the temporary foreign worker program earlier this year when it was reavealed that Canadian young people were losing out on hours at fast-food establishments, such as McDonalds. The government set a deadline of April 1 for low-skilled workers to either become permanent residents or leave the country.
In its revision of the Temporary Foreign Worker program the government required some employers to provide labour market impact assessments to demonstrate no Canadians were available before hiring foreigners.
But there are loopholes allowing international companies to bypass the assessment, but whether they apply to shipping companies is unclear.
The labour movement in Canada is working now to defeat the Conservatives in the upcoming federal election and in some key ridings has encouraged strategic voting.
Givens says the impending court challenge is not politically motivated. “I don’t care who is elected next. There needs to be a maritime policy and there needs to be a policy on temporary foreign workers when it comes to seafarers,” he said.
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