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Temporary Foreign Worker Speaks Out

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Temporary Foreign Worker Speaks Out About Wage Theft, Rights Violations on Government Projects in BC

Painters’ union fights to recoup tens of thousands of dollars in stolen wages, shine light on rampant abuse of government program


Ariefs traveled from Indonesia to Canada in search of new opportunities. He learned about the job through a YouTube recruitment video posted by a supervisor at a painting company based in Vancouver, B.C. The job promised good pay along with employer-provided food and housing. Instead, he has experienced over a year of wage theft, exploitative financial claw backs, and an atmosphere of intimidation that included threats of deportation.


Despite facing serious repercussions, Ariefs is voicing concerns on behalf of himself and several other temporary foreign workers who are employed as construction painters on major hospital redevelopment projects such as Royal Columbian Hospital, and Lions Gate Hospital in Metro Vancouver. All are on closed work permits as part of the controversial Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) which is facing increasing scrutiny.


“My job offer stated that the salary for the position was $23 per hour,” Ariefs shared. “After accepting the job, the employer told me this was just to show the government compliance and that I’d only be making $650 bi-weekly.” Ariefs was disappointed, but with the promise of increased wages in the future and the opportunity to work in Canada, he hoped the employer would honor its commitment.
“I felt deceived,” he added. “I either had to work under this arrangement or go back home.”

Rampant rights violations

Despite being promised free accommodations, Ariefs and his coworkers are compelled to pay $1,055 from each paycheck back to the employer via e-transfer or cash. With the other employees residing in one employer-owned house, they collectively pay $18,990 monthly. If there are three paychecks in a month, this amount increases to $28,485. Employer-owned shelter is a common practice for workers on TFWP permits and contributes to a dangerous power imbalance that makes speaking out difficult for workers.


Ariefs and his coworkers are also facing wage theft. They frequently put in nine-hour shifts yet receive compensation for only eight of those hours. They’ve been compelled to work five unpaid hours most Saturdays and at times are expected to clean company cars on their one day off. This typically results in an average of 10 hours of unpaid work each week.


Ariefs’ story is an all-too-common occurrence under Canada’s exploding temporary worker regime. Unscrupulous employers use the TFWP, not as a last resort to hire workers when Canadians aren’t available, but as a business model premised on low wages.


According to Dan Jajic, Business Manager with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, District Council 38 (IUPAT DC38), dishonest construction companies use the TFWP so that they can submit lower-cost bids and steal contracts away from companies who pay living wages to Canadians.
“The rampant abuse of the temporary foreign worker program is deplorable. It not only hurts foreign workers; it hurts Canadian workers, companies and our apprenticeship system too,” said Jajic. “The way Ariefs and his colleagues have been treated is heartbreaking; it’s also against the law. These bad actors in the industry must be held accountable and stripped of the right to use the program.”


Ariefs’s situation highlights the dangers of the closed-permitting system which ties most low-wage temporary foreign workers to a single employer thereby restricting their ability to leave bad employers. “The system is stacked against these workers,” Jajic added. “We’ve provided full-time, steady employment to workers only to find that they prefer employers offering a closed permit, as it boosts their chances for permanent residency. That’s a recipe for employer impunity and a clear sign of a broken immigration system.”


Recent changes announced by the Federal government do not end closed permitting and exempt the construction sector from reforms all together.

Union fights back

Through an organizing campaign, IUPAT DC 38 successfully certified the employer and will commence negotiating a first collective agreement to improve wages and working conditions for all employees. Leveraging the trust of the workforce, IUPAT DC 38 managed to recover over $200,000 in unpaid wages for the workers. However, the Union believes that this represents less than half of the total owed to them. At the time of publication, none of the money taken for “rent” and to illegally “pay back debts” has been refunded.


IUPAT DC38 has successfully helped two workers change their temporary work permits from closed to open using the government’s Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers program. They are assisting others who wish to apply as the situation continues to be investigated. Those who have successfully applied now work for a unionized employer with an excellent reputation, a strong collective agreement, and access to a comprehensive apprenticeship program.


With the help of the Union, Ariefs witnessed a shift in the control that his employer once had over him: “I see that the employer feels they have lost power over us; they no longer raise their voice like before. They seem troubled now.” Ariefs adds, “It feels great; I feel we’re equal now. I feel empowered.”

Major reforms to immigration system needed

IUPAT DC38 has released new research on the scale of temporary foreign worker involvement in the B.C. labour market. According to government data, the number of temporary work permits has been increasing across the finishing trades over the past five years. In 2023, temporary work permits accounted for a stunning 15.1% per cent of the glazier workforce in B.C., 7.6% of the plasterers, drywall installers and finishers and lathers, and 3.3% of the painters and decorators.

Dan Jajic and twenty other BC Building Trades unions are urging the suspension of the TFWP until an independent audit is done along with other systemic reforms to the immigration system. IUPAT DC38 hope that by highlighting the exploitation, there will be regular audits of employers, increased fines, and longer bans for these unethical contractors.

*To protect the identity of Ariefs, they are using a pseudonym

Media Contact

Jonathan Sas

C: 905-808-4383E:

Jonathan.sas@gmail.com

FTI Expansion Featured in the Journal of Commerce

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The new 14,000-square-foot addition to the Finishing Trades Institute of B.C. (FTI), which now has 40,000 square feet of training space for tradespersons, will provide space for two growing training needs.

“Primarily, we saw a lot of work for industrial painting in the future and we had outgrown the facility we were in,” said Patrick Byrne, FTI director of training.

“There was also newer technology and equipment emerging.”

Industrial painters deal with range of large industrial structures. “These are the guys you see hanging off a bridge,” said Byrne. They area also the individuals who paint fuel tanks, apply linings for penstocks on dams, work on pipeline or, in confined spaces. Industrial painting is a component of becoming a Red Seal painter.

The other need was…  Read More

BC Supreme Court Tosses out “Nonsense” Asbestos Lawsuit against WorkSafeBC

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Great news for DC38 hazmat members and contractors…

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has thrown out a lawsuit by an asbestos removal company against WorkSafe B.C., labelling the suit “arrant nonsense.”

It’s the fourth such lawsuit against WorkSafe B.C. launched by Mike Singh, who operates Seattle Environmental Consulting Ltd., and his son Shawn Singh, who heads up ESS Environmental Ltd. All have been dismissed because the suits have been found to be without merit and are an abuse of process, according to the recently released ruling.

The Singhs have launched other complaints — all of which have failed — including to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, arguing that WorkSafe B.C. has maliciously…

Nomination Meeting for Newly-Chartered Local 163

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A new Business Representative and Local Union Officers, as listed here, will be elected to represent the newly-Chartered Lathers, Drywall Finishers, and Allied Trades, Local 163.

This new local, which combines Locals 163 & 2009, has also been renamed to better describe the trades working within it.

Why are the Locals Merging?

In March 2015, pursuant to Sections 46(g) and 180(a) of the General Constitution, the General President, with the approval of the General Executive Board, merged Local 2009 into Local 163. This action was taken to respond to the decreasing memberships, which no longer supported maintaining an Executive Board and full-time Business Representative for each Local.

To provide some perspective, as of today the combined memberships of Local 2009 and Local 163 is 295. By contrast, Painter’s Local 138 and Glaziers Local 1527 have memberships equaling 1330 and 470 respectively.

In April 2016, the District Council 38 Bylaws were updated to reflect the merger, and subsequently ratified by the membership.

At a Special called meeting held on February 9, 2017, the updated Bylaws of “IUPAT Lathers, Drywall Finishers and Allied Trades, Local 163″ were passed by the membership. (Note the name change to reflect the Drywall Finishers as constituent members of Local 163).

Nomination Meeting

A nomination meeting will be held at 5:30 pm on Thursday, March 9th at the Finishing Trades Institute (FTI) in Surrey.

Candidates for the positions must meet the eligibility requirements, as  outlined in Sections 151-156 and 209-212 of the General Constitution, which can be viewed here.

Click here for more information about the nomination meeting and the upcoming Vote.

James Clark Undergraduate Award in Labour Studies Endowment

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DC38 and former Premier, Glen Clark, are teaming up to offer a $2,500 annual scholarship to students who are enrolled, or are thinking about enrolling, in the Labour Studies program at SFU.

The scholarship has been established in the name of Glen’s father, James Clark, a long time officer of Painter’s Local 138.

The scholarship will be awarded to a member – or one of their direct family members – of DC38 or a union affiliated with the BC Federation of Labour.

We would love to see one of our members, or their son or daughter, receive this, but please pass this along to your friends or family in other unions so we have a good range of interest.

If interested, please visit our scholarships page

SFU James Clark Scholarship Letter

Union Leaders Meet with Trump

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At a meeting with the leaders of several construction and building trade unions, President Trump reiterated on Monday his interest in directing hundreds of billions of dollars to infrastructure investments, some of it from the federal government, union officials said.

“That was the impression I was taken away with,” said Sean McGarvey, the president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, an umbrella group, on a call with reporters after the meeting. “That the American citizenry and the American Treasury will be invested in building public infrastructure.”

Mr. McGarvey added that Mr. Trump clearly felt that much of the money should come from the private sector and that some of the investments could take the form of … (read more)

18% of Site C Workers not from BC

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BC Hydro recently released employment statistics for the Site C project for November 2016. The report reveals 18% of workers, which equals 246, on the project were from outside BC.

“This is simply unacceptable,” said Tom Sigurdson, Executive Director for the BC Building Trades. “There are thousands of skilled and qualified British Columbians available and ready to work on this project. Instead, BC Hydro has allowed contractors to … (read more)

Drywall Tariffs are Hurting our Contractors

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CertainTeed Gypsum Canada is praising a ruling by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) recognizing that dumped U.S. drywall imports into Western Canada are hurting its business, but also slammed the tribunal for not relying on “complete information.”

“Both high dumping margins and material injury have now been affirmed twice by Canadian authorities,” reads a statement from CertainTeed’s general manager, Matthew Walker.

“It validates CertainTeed Gypsum Canada’s anti-dumping complaint that western Canadian manufacturing has suffered material injury from large volumes of U.S. drywall imports sold at low prices with huge dumping margins.”

However, the CITT also recognized tariffs as high as 276 per cent were hurting … (read more)

Canada's Building Trades Unions Welcome Pipeline Announcement

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OTTAWA, Nov. 29, 2016 /CNW/ – Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU) welcomes the announcement of approval of two major pipeline projects by the Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau.

Skilled trades people and Canada’s economy depend on major resource projects for sustained prosperity. This announcement means increased certainty for employment prospects for our members in the coming years in Alberta and beyond. Pipelines don’t mean temporary construction jobs, they mean generational jobs at both ends of the line.

Read More…