Canadian Seafarers File A Lawsuit Against Federal Government To Protect Maritime Jobs
The Seafarers’ International Union of Canada (SIU) has launched a lawsuit challenging repeated decisions by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) to grant temporary work permits to foreign maritime workers crewing foreign ships operating in Canadian waters. Canadian law requires that ships carrying passengers or goods between Canadian ports (“cabotage”) may only use foreign workers if no qualified Canadian workers are available.
“The Government of Canada has allowed foreign workers to take 2100 jobs from qualified Canadian maritime workers,” said SIU President Jim Given. “The Federal Government continues to misuse their authority to grant temporary work permits to foreign workers, while passing over Canadian sailors who are ready to work”.
The SIU lawsuit challenges the temporary work permits recently granted to foreign workers aboard the Sparto, an oil tanker sailing under the flag of convenience of Cyprus. Since the beginning of 2015, the Sparto has been granted permission 10 separate times to ship crude oil on the St. Lawrence Seaway and Gulf of St. Lawrence, between the Maritime Provinces and Montreal. The Government of Canada recently issued work permits to 16 foreign workers on the Sparto despite the law stipulating that temporary work permits can only be issued if qualified Canadian workers are not available. The lawsuit seeks a declaration that the work permits should not have been issued and the termination of those work permits. Employment and Social Development Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada are named as respondents in the lawsuit.
To date, 2100 Canadian jobs have been lost as a result of the federal government not properly enforcing Canadian immigration law requirements. Since 2013, approximately 4000 temporary foreign work permits have been issued by the Government of Canada for domestic shipping. Approximately 25 per cent of Canadian maritime workers are currently unemployed.
“The Government of Canada is willfully ignoring the law and giving up on qualified, ready-to-work Canadian workers,” said Given. “We cannot sit by and watch while foreign workers are being given work permits and are paid as little as $2.00 an hour to work on ships in Canadian waters.”
The lawsuit comes on the heels of reports of another foreign vessel, the Amalthea, operating between Canadian ports with foreign workers paid as little as $2.00 an hour.
The SIU has made numerous attempts to contact Federal Government officials around Ottawa’s failure to enforce immigration law in connection with issuing work permits to foreign crew. To date, no acknowledgement has been made and no action has been taken.
Reference: seafarers.ca
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Sounds like the Australian and Canadian government are playing from the same play book. Trying to destroy working lives of their own countrymen. Its a disgrace and is a race to the bottom driven by greed without thought of the impact to the local workers.
https://www.mua.org.au/abbott_government_still_refuses_to_apologise_for_selling_out_australian_shipping_jobs
I need a luvly job like this
Same stuff happening here in Australia. Race to the bottom and exploitation of workers. Workers copping it from all angles.
Good to see opposition to the government having or letting carte blanche access by shipping companies.
Long term you wonder. Increase unemployment, reduce your tax base, reduce the flow on effect from localised spending etc etc.
Whose interest really is this in?