Firm vows to fight ruling, rejecting allegations as "unfounded"
A New Brunswick shellfish processing plant has been ordered to pay a historic $1-million fine and banned from Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program for 10 years after mistreating foreign employees.
The federal government penalized Bolero Shellfish Processing Inc. of Saint-Simon for multiple violations, including failing to provide a workplace free of abuse, according to Employment and Social Development Canada.
“We’re catching those bad actors,” federal minister of jobs and families Patty Hajdu told reporters Wednesday in Ottawa.
“Employers are required to provide safe, healthy and dignified working conditions,” the Employment and Social Development Canada said in a release.
Temp workers allegedly mistreated
According to the government registry of non-compliant employers, Bolero broke federal or provincial laws for hiring and recruiting employees, failed to meet the pay or working conditions promised in job offers and did not do enough to prevent workplace abuse or reprisals, CBC News reported.
Syed Hussan, co-executive director of Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, said Bolero employees contacted his advocacy group about problems at the plant.
“The employer was also denying workers the full hours,” Hussan told Global News. “It was mistreating workers, including, you know, denying people access to medical care. Workers will be threatened for organizing.”
The alliance also alleged Bolero asked workers to repay some of their contractually guaranteed wages, placing employees in debt.
Tracy Glynn, co-founder of the Madhu Verma Center for Migrant Justice in New Brunswick, said in an interview with Global News the closed work permit system makes temporary foreign workers vulnerable to abuse.
“We support a number of workers who will just keep working through toxic work environments, environments where they’re being sexually harassed or working in unsafe conditions,” Glynn said. “And they’ll continue to do that because their stay in the country is contingent on keeping that job.”
Calls to do more for abused employees
Hussan criticized the current penalty system for directing fines to the government rather than affected workers.
“Under the current rules, these fines are actually just going to the government, which is incredibly unjust,” Hussan said. “There are no reparations under the compliance enforcement system, which is why we’re calling on the federal government to actually distribute these fines to the workers who were abused.”
“Bolero Shellfish categorically rejects the conclusions of the federal government, which do not reflect the reality of its practices, nor its commitment to the well-being of employees hired under the temporary foreign worker program,” the company stated.
Gabriel Elbaz, general manager of Bolero’s parent company Sogelco International, said in an email to CBC News that the company plans to challenge the decision in court.
Glynn called on the province to increase labour standards to protect all workers.
