The plaintiffs also challenge the contractual obligation that binds them to a single employer.
Their class action lawsuit is worth $500 million. The petition must be approved by the courts in order to proceed.
This problem has been around for some time
“It's a huge problem,” explained attorney Judy Brown of Goldblatt, who initiated the class action lawsuit on behalf of Kevin Palmer and Andrell Peters, two Caribbean migrant workers who worked in the Canadian tomato-growing capital of Leamington.
The lawsuit was filed last month in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto and has been brought on behalf of workers under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program for the past 15 years.
The plaintiffs are not only fighting for themselves, but for tens of thousands of workers who have been in the same situation.
A 2022 report from the Department of Statistics stated that Canada The country is increasingly relying on temporary foreign workers to fill the labor shortage
The number of these migrant workers in Canada has increased by 600% since 2000, reaching 777,000 in 2021.
Temporary foreign workers in Leamington, Ontario. They contribute to employment insurance but are not entitled to these benefits.
Photo: Radio-Canada/Katerina Georgieva/CBC
Ottawa defends itself
Employment and Social Development Canada declined to comment on the matter because the case is before the courts.
The ministry confirmed in an email statement that the foreign workers are temporary Enjoy the same rights and protections as Canadians
When they are in Canada.
Attorney Brown responded by pointing out that temporary foreign workers do not have the right to change employers under the rules of a federal program that allows them to come and work temporarily in the country.
She added that when the harvest season ends, these workers must return to their home countries without being able to receive employment insurance benefits, despite their contribution to that plan.
Chris Ramsaroop, of Justice for Migrant Workers, welcomed the class action request. According to him, the employment insurance system should be amended to allow temporary foreign workers to access these benefits. Like the Canadian worker
.
It's worrying. We are in the 21st century and we still have a slave labor program. Workers should not be confined to one employer or placed in such a precarious situation.
Ramsaroop added.
Source: RC / CBC / J. Sinanan / K. Breen
Adaptation: RCI/R. Valencia
