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February 7, 2013 |
Releases

Minister Pat Bell Changes Tune on Temporary Foreign Workers in Coal Mines – Sinclair Calls for Federal Minister to Make Review Public

Minister Pat Bell Changes Tune on Temporary Foreign Workers in Coal Mines – Sinclair Calls for Federal Minister to Make Review Public Vancouver, BC – Minister Pat Bell’s reversal on granting of Temporary Foreign Worker permits for HD Mining raises more questions than it answers, said B.C. Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair today. Bell, speaking at a labour relations organization event in

February 7, 2013 |
Releases

Forestry Workers Address Crisis in BC Forests

BC’s unionized forest workers are inviting forest communities to join them in a series of town hall meetings around the province to address the crisis in BC forest. Whether it’s the devastation caused by the mountain pine beetle or raw log exports, forest communities have been hit hard over the last decade, and it’s critical we come together to address not only the problems in our forest sector

January 24, 2013 |
Releases

Families Welcome Provincial Contribution to Farmworkers Memorial

Vancouver, BC – Families of three women killed in a tragic and preventable van crash near Abbotsford in 2007 expressed their thanks today for a $100,000 contribution from the government of British Columbia and the Workers’ Compensation Board to a memorial project in honour of the women, Amarjit Kaur Bal, Sukhvinder Kaur Punia and Sarbjit Kaur Sidhu. “The families greatly appreciate the province’s

December 12, 2012 |
Releases

Documents Show HD Mining Only Planned on Hiring Its First Canadian Underground Miner in Its 5th Year

Vancouver, BC – Documents released today show HD Mining planned to use exclusively underpaid Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW’s) underground for 4.5 years after the commencement of construction, and that the BC and federal governments signed off on these plans. “We’ve heard varying stories from the Premier and her government about how hard they were working to find Canadians to do these jobs,” said

November 15, 2012 |
Releases

Double Double Takes on New Meaning

The BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre (BCPIAC) has launched a complaint at the BC Human Rights Tribunal (BCHRT) on behalf of four temporary foreign workers (TFW) from Mexico employed at two Tim Hortons locations in Dawson Creek, BC. Living two to a room, in a five bedroom home, workers were asked to pay $200.00 each at the beginning of the month, and then asked by the employer for an additional

November 6, 2012 |
Releases

Why is BC Relying on Temporary Foreign Workers?

The latest unemployment figures show the continued use of Temporary Foreign Workers is unnecessary said BC Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair. According to Statistics Canada, BC lost 10,900 total jobs and 16,200 full-time jobs last month. "These numbers reveal we don't have a temporary shortage of workers, we have a shortage of jobs," Sinclair stated. The Federation has long opposed the


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The BC Federation of Labour office is located on unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) territories.