RBC replaces Canadian staff with foreign workers

[gegu1]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... rkers.html

"Displacement against rules, it is against federal rules for any company to bring foreign workers into Canada temporarily if it will put citizens out of work."

"The rules are very clear. You cannot displace Canadians to hire people from abroad,” said Immigration Minister Jason Kenney."

"Toronto immigration lawyer says there is no loophole in any visa category that allows companies to displace Canadians who are able to do the work."

“It should not happen, Mario Bellisimo told Go Public. The overarching legal standard is to supplement and to fill labour shortages or to bring job creation and retention, knowledge transfer to Canada, not the opposite."

"Go Public asked whether the company had told federal authorities Canadian jobs would be terminated when iGATE temporary foreign workers were brought in to work at RBC. Go Public did not receive a direct answer."


Hey Gilles, might be worth contacting some persons mentioned in this article, thanks again for all your hard work on this topic.

[Gilles Hudicourt]

Thank you. I will try. We are working on several different things theses days to raise public awareness on the Foreign Worker problems in this country.....

[BE20 Driver]

Gilles appears to be a one man band on this subject. It only takes a minute to send an email. I would encourage the rest of us to contact some members of the press. The more people sounding the alarm the better.

[ramp_rat]

Bell, Telus, BMO, are the companies that I know who uses call centre agents from another country! But RBC is taking it to the next level to see if Canadian's would would actually say or do something!

I always think, and i'm vocal about it, that Canadian's specially "Ontarians" would always swallow whatever is being fed to them (and that includes me). From the 407 to the HST, did we ever protest about anything? I know BC did protest and won. I'm not saying let's be violent because I'm totally against that, but at least let's be vocal about it!

Ever wonder why our houses cost so much? I always think that we let all these "visa students" with lots of money just buy it like peanuts! Did you ever heard of one house in Toronto, that sold 100K over the asking price?

It seems like everyone is out for themselves, lets change it, for the better future of us and our country!

[kevind]

CPR and several other companies have done the same thing. Unfortunately, it is not that unusual in the IT world

[rudder]

It is becoming increasingly obvious that something is rotten at HRSDC.

Keep up the good work Gilles. They have two choices - follow the current rules or make new rules. What they are doing right now is either ignoring their own policies or demonstrating incompetence on an epic scale in applying those policies.

[altiplano]

Write them...

diane.finley@parl.gc.ca

jason.kenney@parl.gc.ca

and copy your own MP...

If every Canadian shows the MPs that we aren't content to stand by, government feels the pressure and will do something, they rely on our action or inaction for their jobs. If we just say "oh well" the beatings will continue - they're just seeing how far they can push. Take 3 minutes and write them.

Here is what I wrote, you can copy it and use it if you don't want to write your own letter...

Mr Kenney, Ms. Finley:

How long will this government and your departments allow quality middle class Canadian jobs to go to the lowest bidding foreigners? Is this government going to stand by while our middle class is outsourced?

RBC is terminating Canadian jobs so that foreign workers can do it for less, and the government is giving them visas to come here?

See the report here: RBC replaces Canadian staff with foreign workers - http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... rkers.html

RBC is just the latest of many - foreign pilots at Sunwing Airlines, foreign miners at HD Mining, the list goes on... I notice that the Harper government has significantly increased the number of visas being issued to foreign workers over the past several years. Yet there are no shortage of skilled and qualified Canadians unemployed or being held back in lower paying positions or feeling downward pressures on their wage and work conditions. Stop allowing foreign labour dumping and outsourcing of Canadian jobs in our own country. Companies have to do it with what we have here, if they can't maybe they need to pay more or revise their business plan.

I understand there may be exceptional unforeseen circumstances where a foreign worker is needed, but the bar in allowing such a visa must be raised significantly higher, it must be for a very limited duration and employers must take action in permanently transitioning the position to a Canadian.

If you require more information or would like to discuss this further please feel free to contact me anytime.

[Gilles Hudicourt]

http://mobilevideo.cbc.ca/u/ref~s-audio ... 20623622/1

A radio talk show on the issue. A laid off Air Transat pilot called in around the 13 minute mark.

[TheStig]

Gilles, kudos you are gaining media traction, this latest story combined with the latest job statistics is starting to make the federal government look bad. I appluade your efforts in behalf of all pilots in Canada. Thanks to Mark for calling in to that program, the host in that link was left speechless, and I think most Canadians who are (starting to learn about this) are too.

[BusDriver]

The media is finally grabbing this, the public is too. The boys in the coffee shop were appalled when they learned that 250+ foreign pilots were here this winter. MP's are being written as I type.

Keep at it Gilles!

[Gilles Hudicourt]

The temporary foreign workers program is meant to be used when no Canadian workers are available. Not in order to allow one Canadian company to gain a financial advantage over another at Taxpayers's expense where the un-employed workers are not only not paying taxes but collecting E-I while their foreign replacements pay no taxes in this country.

[BE20 Driver]

My letter to the MP's is below. I used basically the same letter to email several people at the CBC, National Post and the Globe and Mail.




Foreign workers being used to displace Canadians is a rather hot issue right now. I am writing to let you know that this practice is not limited to Banks and miners in BC.

For the last several years, several Canadian airlines have been using foreign labour while highly skilled Canadians are out of work and desperately trying to get into the airlines. This past winter, 60 Air Transat pilots were laid off while Canjet and Sunwing were hiring for their busy winter season. Both of these airlines advertised positions requiring a few thousand hours of airline experience and a type rating on the Boeing 737. This last requirement is the aviation equivalent of requiring Cantonese language skills to work in a Canadian mine. The pilots at Air Transat had type ratings on Airbus not Boeing aircraft and were thus excluded from interviews or hiring. Add in to those numbers, several hundred highly skilled pilots who were seasonally laid off over the winter and you can see that there should have been sufficient pilots to meet the needs of both companies. Canjet and Sunwing subsequently went to HRSDC to apply for work permits for several hundred foreign workers.

I do understand the need, under exceptional circumstances, to utilize foreign workers. This said, the rules regarding the use of extra-national labour are clearly being abused. The temporary foreign worker program is meant to be used when there is a shortage of labour in Canada. It is not intended to be used for one company to gain a financial advantage over another at the expense of the tax payers every winter. The majority of my colleagues have spent the winter drawing EI. Many others have gone overseas seeking contract work while several hundred european pilots are working in Canada, flying Canadian airplanes with Canadian passengers to Canadian vacation destinations and spending their paycheques and tax dollars back overseas.


Sincerely
A poor broke pilot.

[parallel60]

BE 20,

Nice letter, I will be writing a similar worded one. Thanks.

[crazy_aviator]

There is only ONE reason why RBC recanted and are reconsidering their hiring practices and that is MEDIA ATTENTION ! Now, we have thousands of RBC clients ( me included) ready to pull our savings out of that bank ! RBC knows the BAD publicity will hurt them more than the meagre savings that will result from outsourcing. RBC s bean counters/ upper mgmt/ CEO s have ABSOLUTELY no interest in anyone or anything else but cost reduction/ profit increases which equals padding their own pockets. IF this RBC situation was swept under the table, you can be ASSURED that RBC would INCREASE their foreign outsourcing UNTIL they were forced to stop by media or "laws" etc. The Banksters are SCUM in my eyes!!