is labour out of touch???

On February 28 the Federal government announced long-awaited changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Essentially these changes extend the amount of time that someone from another country can be employed in Canada, from 12 months to 24. It also helps simplify and speed up the application process. As a manager in the tourism industry I am one of many people that are relieved to see these changes. The past two years (at least) have been extremely challenging in finding new skilled and unskilled workers for us and I know that this has been equally difficult for other areas similar to ours throughout the province.

I know it... and most people that hire (or try to hire) workers in the tourism, restaurant, construction, retail and other industries know it as well. Strangely enough though BC Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair and Wayne Peppard of the Building and Construction Trades Council either haven't been told about this growing problem or they have chosen to ignore it. You would think that anyone with their fingers on the pulse of labour in this province (as I would assume these guys have) would be very aware of the nearly 350 000 person shortfall that BC and Alberta combined will face within the next few years.


Wouldn't they?

In the tourism sector alone, in this province it is projected that we will need to fill some 84 000 skilled and unskilled positions leading up to and beyond the 2010 Olympics. This is significant considering that about 1 in 14 British Columbian workers are employed in or otherwise rely on tourism. Worse, according to the Globe and Mail's BC Editor Patrick Brethour after the Olympics if things continue as they are now, employers will look back on 2007 and reflect on how "easy" they had it way back then. Meanwhile, here in 2007 the restaurant industry is reporting a 13% shortfall in labour and the construction industry is scrambling to find the 20 000 extra workers that it will need within the next 3 years.

One of the key reasons that the likes of Mr. Sinclair and Mr. Peppard oppose changes to foreign worker rules is because they feel that the workers are vulnerable to their employers. The fact that many of these people may not speak or understand english means that they will not fully understand theirs rights and responsibilities. They become a gift to employers looking for "cheap labour". This is the most ridiculous accusation I have heard recently and speaking for my workplace (where I am responsible for employee Health and Safety) and in part for my industry, I can quite honestly say that the foreign workers employed by us are paid and treated exactly the same as their Canadian counterparts. They receive the same health and safety orientations and training, the same benefits, the same safety equipment and they are made to feel part of the same team. To suggest otherwise is simply insulting!

Employers within the province are not only competing with the site down the road for workers as shortages exist east of the Rockies as well. For this reason it seemed to make perfect sense to me that our provincial government come up with creative ways to attract workers from other provinces into the BC labour force. Creating an environment where our citizens pay the lowest tax in the country thanks to a 10% tax break seems like a pretty good way to start. Did I mention that Jim Sinclair opposed this tax break when it was introduced by Minister of Finance Carol Taylor?

No doubt the lowest unemployment rate in some 32 years is beginning to show its marks on all business and industry sectors across BC. It means that we are going to have to get creative in finding and retaining workers in a variety of ways and we will have to start exploring options and looking in places that we haven't really looked that hard in before. Extending the length of time that a foreign worker can stay in Canada is one option that seems to make sense to most of us however, it is a concept that the heads of the labour movement may never fully grasp. The numbers will likely never really add up to them and they won't justify what is seen by the likes of the BC Fed as a "cheap labour strategy", even when those foreign workers do receive the same benefits as we do.


So you tell me... is the labour movement out of touch with the reality of labour today? I'm sure beginning to think so.