United Food and Commercial Workers is demanding a seat at the table in a new Migrant Work Commission called for in a Senate report that calls for a phase-out of employer-specific work permits.On May 21, the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology released its report on Canada’s temporary and migrant labour force, Act Now: Solutions for temporary and migrant labour in Canada. The report outlines how Canada’s migrant labour infrastructure is failing workers and the employers who depend on them.“It is clear that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is neither temporary nor a last and limited resort,” the report states. “The program is not working for migrant workers and could work better for employers.”UFCW has been lobbying the government for over twenty years on behalf of migrant workers: many of the recommendations in the Senate report have been made annually for decades in UFCW’s Status of Migrant Workers reports. The union welcomes the Senate’s acknowledgement of the glaring systemic issues with this program and views the report’s recommendations as having promise.UFCW Canada represents thousands of migrant workers in unionized workplaces across the country, such as meatpacking plants. As union members, these migrant workers do not have to worry about their labour and health and safety rights being disregarded. UFCW works with migrants to navigate the immigration pathways and become permanent residents if desired.“Migrant workers with real representation do not become headline news. Migrant workers with real representation do not become the victims of human trafficking,” UFCW’s Derek Johnstone told the Senate Committee in 2022. “Migrant workers with real representation do not go home with disfigured bodies and the emotional baggage of being tormented by a horrible employer.”UFCW Canada sees promise in the top recommendation of a tripartite Migrant Work Commission, in line with the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Decent Work Guidelines for Agri-Food Sector. These call for "social dialogue" as an ongoing exchange of information and consultation between or among representatives of governments, employers and workers, on issues of common interest.UFCW believes it should serve a central role as a voice for agri-food workers under this tripartite approach.A key report recommendation is the phasing out of employer-specific work permits; the report states that “the employer-specific work permit inherently makes migrant workers more vulnerable to abuse at the hands of bad actors as well as imposing structural barriers to accessing rights and protections.”UFCW agrees and has long urged the government to remove employer-specific work permits. In addition, the union is pleased to see that the report adopts the UFCW recommendation of investing in regional sector councils.UFCW has long advocated for more pathways to permanent residence and welcomes the Senate committee’s acknowledgement that “neither migrant work programs nor workers are truly temporary”. The union sees promise in the recommendations to expand potential pathways to permanent residency for migrant workers.However, the union is concerned about increased funding to the Migrant Workers Support Program without measures to ensure practices are in keeping with the ILO’s Decent Work Guidelines for the Agri-Food Sector. While the current support program is supposed to help educate workers about their labour rights, the first and most fundamental labour right – freedom of association – is missing in the newly called-for education."Migrant workers must know that they have a right to organize and form unions, and any support that does not explicitly educate them about this fact is inadequate. Any reference to labour rights must begin with freedom of association, as per the ILO," the UFCW said in a press release.UFCW Canada represents more than 250,000 members. National President Shawn Haggerty says the recommendations are a step forward, but fall short by not including provinces."We are disappointed that there is not a recommendation for provincial guarantees to allow equal access to the labour rights. Any reform must include the fundamental labour right for migrant workers: the right to representation and bargaining collectively. Real representation is the best and most important tool for ensuring workers are defended against exploitation," Haggerty said.
