A temporary fix for foreign workers
While the Tories have been bemoaning a labour shortage in Canada, it is painfully obvious that they are concerned about the shortage of cheap labour, incredible as that might seem during a period of high unemployment. Now they are are in full damage control mode, apparently yielding to heavy pressure to revise the temporary foreign workers (TFW) program after RBC attempted to replace part of its IT staff with cheap foreign labour. It’s a tricky problem.
But there’s a simple fix: Require Canadian employers to pay temporary foreign workers 15 per cent more than they would pay Canadian workers. That would naturally reduce the abuse of the program by putting pressure on employers to take a harder look at available Canadian labour.
It would also correct market distortions that the government program has introduced. If there is, indeed, a labour shortage, as employers argue, the law of supply and demand holds that the price of labour will increase rather than decrease.
James Hayes, Mississauga Re Harper hits the brakes, Editorial April 30 Stephen Harper hit the brakes. How so? The TFW program still violates the Charter of Rights. TFWs don’t get basic labour law protections (firing, overtime), benefits, health care, insurance. And they cannot bring their families. This is the reason why firms hire them.
Will the changes result in Canadians getting these jobs? No. Will Jason Kenney exerting financial pressure prevent this import of cheap labour? Will fees per TFW be a deterrent? Of course not. The employment agencies will turn that over to the TFWs to bear — these head hunting agencies are already feasting on the low wages of these TFWs and they are unregulated. Dilip Samuels, Mississauga Congratulations to Star and colum- nists Thomas Walkom, Heather Mallick and Haroon Siddiqui who chased the Harper and Kenney joint venture and have stopped them in their tracks. Canadian workers are under assault by Harper and Kenney’s temporary workers system that erodes the rights of ordinary working-class Canadians, while a huge reserve army of unemployed (7 per cent) is staring at us. Javed Akbar, Ajax I have a simple suggestion. You want to sell your product to me, then hire me. Let’s encourage producers to write on their products that they are made in and by Canadians. Devraj Dhoot, Mississauga Why do people get livid over the idea of hiring a migrant worker to work a white-collar job for a bank but are fine with a migrant worker picking our fruits and vegetables? This screams of hypocrisy and racism. Thomi Root, Hamilton