Mel Rothenburger’s recent speech on the mine was inspiring and right on the money in my view (The Daily News, Nov. 25).
What he didn’t address was the assumption that most of the proponents of the mine are making that there will be lots of great paying jobs for Kamloops workers if the mine goes ahead.
I think there are good reasons for doubting that assumption. More likely there will be an army of foreign workers hired “temporarily” at minimum wage to do the work, replacing them with “new” foreign workers when their time runs out.
To quote the Huffington Post:
“Thousands of Canadian employers use temporary foreign workers. The Alberta Federation of Labour recently obtained a list of more than 4,000 companies that have used the ‘fast-track’ process since it came into existence a year ago, in April 2012.”
“We took that list and combined it with the Globe and Mail’s list of largest Canadian employers to find out which of them are using the ‘fast-track’ process. Of the
50 largest Canadian employers, The Huffington Post was able to confirm that at least 18 of them were on the AFL’s list.”
Also look at the following link for Temporary Foreign Worker Impacts Felt Far Beyond RBC (www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/13/rbc-foreign- workers_n_3073989.html)
On this post, Mark Thompson, professor emeritus at UBC’s Sauder School of
Business, says the story is much bigger than the four dozen Royal Bank workers, and it’s far from over:
“I think there’s going to be more examples of temporary foreign workers doing things that most people in the public wonder about.”
Thompson says there are over 300,000 temporary foreign workers in Canada in jobs that aren’t temporary in restaurants, in health care, and in many other fields.
“Normally, if you have a shortage of people, the response is wages go up . . . If you can get foreign workers for the prevailing rate where the market doesn’t clear, then you never have to raise the wages for the Canadians,” he said.
Comments:
Oh boy...here we go again. I got as far as The Huffington Post....and quit reading. Here's a few non-fear-mongering comments instead. The rules for foreign workers are very strict....maybe try researching what hoops the employers have to jump through before any foreign worker comes here. Ironic that those whining about a supposed lack of local hiring, are all old and retired. I guess these same locals also have no idea what the shortage of skilled workers means to the economy or to employers. How many of you have ever worked at Domtar ?....if you have, you would KNOW that they very rarely hire from outside THIS community. For years they wouldn't even accept an application if it didn't have a Kamloops return address. Did any of you even realize that ? My company, as well as most, have a policy of in house job posting first....then they go in company and finally, they will go outside the company. I really wish some people around here would get all the facts before they blindly swallow what a bunch of self-serving and partisan people throw at them. Sad...but that's why it's Fruitloops.
I admire you for your constancy in believe that our governments are acting in our best interests and that their regulations are applied fairly and honestly and that no one knows how to get around these rules or manipulate the decisions of panels and boards. However your comment about "hoops" that employers have to jump through is mostly wrong. A company can cease to be the employer - they contract out the provision of labour to a contracting firm to supply the workers - and these contractors are bringing in temporary foreign workers by the thousands with few or any "hoops". They are replacing Canadian workers who are being fired, all over the country for example 300 highly skilled trades workers were fired in Fort McMurray a month ago and replaced with temporary foreign workers using this approach. Please get all the facts before you blindly swallow what a bunch of self-serving and partisan people throw at you.
Having faith in our government to look after our interests before those of corporations or foreign nations is becoming rare.
Naivety in a young child is called innocence; but in an adult who has been around so much, seen so much and knows so much, I would call it blind ignorance.
There is a severe shortage in BC for skilled labour in all levels of resourse extraction. In Austrailia, mines are loosing people in droves as workers leave mining operations for better paying LNG projects. The same will happen here in BC. Firstly Ajax will have difficulty drawing workers from establsihed mines to work for a foreign owned low grade operation with no track record that will be subject to shut down at the first hint of lower copper prices. Secondly KGHM has a poor environmental record http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2... and poor labour relations back home http://www.euronews.com/2011/0...
Who would quit their secure employeement to work for this substandard organization? Workers from Poland?
Ajax Mine's priority is to its shareholders
- Not employees
- Not the City of Kamloops
- Not the environment
- Not the politicians
The will build this mine as cheaply as possible, operate it as cheaply as possible and if it means hiring their own from back in Poland, they will. The average miner's salary in Poland is $3000 USD. That is why they will not guaranttee to hire locally. Do the math, a Polish worker will take a job at a much lower wage than local workers and will likely be more qualified as they are trained in KGHM procedures. Less operating costs means more profits to the Company, 32% of which is owned by the Polish government. The mine has a high probability of hiring foreign workers and profits will trickle back home to fund government services there as Hydro subsidies ensure profits are maximized. Seniors and schools in BC will be worst hit by 28% Hydro increases all while Ajax profits will fund seniors and schools in Poland.
THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!
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