Temporary foreign workers among Fort Mac evacuees lost jobs, want permanent status, EI coverage

Temporary foreign workers among Fort Mac evacuees lost jobs, want permanent status, EI coverage

Emergency meeting for TFW from Fort MacMurray with Migrante along with other settlement service providers. A gov’t representative is also present in the meeting.

By Marco Luciano

EDMONTON — There are now approximately 80,000 evacuees from the fire-ravaged City of Fort MacMurray. Tens of thousands are in Edmonton. Among them are many temporary foreign workers (TFW). They went directly to the Northlands Expo Centre which was converted into an evacuation centre.

Evacuees registered with the Red Cross upon arrival. There are currently no figures that determines how many TFWs are affected. Some of the first TFWs who came to Edmonton had only the clothes on their backs. They were picked up by buses from work and were not able to go home and get some clothes and supplies.

Like most residents fleeing Fort Mac, they travelled for 12 to 13 hours to Edmonton, the normal drive is only 5 hours. Migrants who came down worked in different sectors. Most of them in service sectors such as frontline food counter attendants, hotel and restaurant workers. There were also caregivers.

“Some of them contacted and stayed with their friends in Edmonton, we were able to find housing for many others,” said Dhon Moji, an organizer from Migrante Alberta, a non-profit migrant advocacy organization in Alberta. “Many Filipinos opened their home for the evacuees,” he added.

The evacuation centres filled up quickly and there were many of them getting ill. Migrante continues to find housing for migrants who needed it.

“At the moment, we are able to address their immediate needs like housing and basic supplies. We are bracing for a longer struggle in dealing with their individual statuses,” said Marco Luciano of Migrante Canada.

Migrant workers who came to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program can only work for one employer with stringent conditions. An emergency meeting was called by Migrante and a couple of settlement service agencies to look into the problem. Over 120 workers attended and raised their immigration concerns as well as employment insurance qualification issues and lost and destroyed documents.

The Coalition for Migrant Workers Rights, a Canada-wide coalition prepared a statement and a petition. The focus of the statement and petition is for the federal government to provide relief from the restrictive immigration program and relaxing the EI restrictions. The coalition also looked into the problems of the TFWP while the Federal government is in the process of reviewing program. “What we’re facing now is a reflection of how broken the guest worker program is,” Said Luciano. “What we needed is permanent residency for these migrants. Their jobs are not temporary jobs, they are permanent jobs,” Luciano added.

The organization received support from individuals and organizations. Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199 from the USA committed to some funds, individuals also have been donating to the organization’s Paypal and the Toronto-based Filipino Workers Network collected money at the recent conference that they had and started an online crowdfunding (https://fundrazr.com/b180X9?fb_ref=share__55frb9).

“As we move forward, we will continue to provide assistance,” said Mojica. “And we will work together with other groups to lobby and make sure that our message of open work permit for the migrant workers are heard,” he added.