http://j4mw.tumblr.com/post/84970815651/justicias-questions-for-the-house-of-labour-clc

Justicia for Migrant Workers is a collective of migrant workers, community and labour activists who organize to fight for better working and living conditions for migrant workers here in Canada and in their home countries.

This upcoming Canadian Labour Congress convention takes place at a critical juncture. Daily issues related to the crisis in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program grab headlines without any real dialogue on how to enact changes to enshrine the rights of migrant workers and to avoid a divide and rule strategy that only wounds the working class. Headlines construct a narrative or migrants taking Canadian jobs, decreasing workplace standards and having a negative impact in our economy.

We write this to challenge the conventional wisdom that migrant workers are the main reason for the crisis in the national and global economy. Rather, our focus should place the blame squarely on Canada’s broken immigration system and a precarious labour market that denies all workers the ability to work with dignity.

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https://www.facebook.com/events/538293229623143/

Please help Jose by showing your support at 11am on May 26, 701 West Georgia St, Vancouver.

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International Workers’ Day Statement by No One Is Illegal Toronto and No One Is Illegal Vancouver, Coast Salish Territory

Last Thursday, Jason Kenney announced a moratorium on new and pending permits of migrant workers in the fast food and restaurant sector. This is a mass deportation order.

Though exact numbers are as yet unknown, there were 44,000 Labour Market Opinions in the food and accommodation sector issued in 2012. Thus, approximately that many migrants will be shut out this year. Migrants abroad with pending applications have also likely paid recruiters thousands of dollars to come to Canada. To do so, many have gone into immense debt that they will not be able to get out of. Workers already here will be unable to change jobs and apply for new LMOs in the sector, leaving them tied to potentially abusive employers.

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Syed Hussan, Coordinator, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/syed-hussan/foreign-workers-canada_b_5200186.html

There has been massive media attention on the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) in the last few weeks. Mainstream and social media is full of analysis and solutions. Some critics and commentators insist that the only appropriate way forward is shutting down the low-skilled temporary foreign worker program. They are wrong.

With increased workplace uncertainty, as permanent jobs disappear and the public sector shrinks, many are looking around for culprits to blame. Though migrant workers and the TFWP seems like an easy target, it isn’t.

Its important to analyze the key arguments being made about the TFWP.

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Please RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/538293229623143/

Monday, May 26
at 11:00am
701 West Georgia (corner Granville)

Come show your support for Jose Figueroa and stand with his family as the federal court reviews the decision to deport Jose.

The judicial review is scheduled for 11:30 a.m., but we will gather outside the building (at 701 W Georgia St in Vancouver) at 11 a.m. in a
demonstration of solidarity.

Join us for a couple of hours, or stop by on your lunch break — we demand justice for Jose, and hope to see him back with his family this summer!