The largest private sector union in Quebec will defend the rights of temporary workers, according to its national spokesperson. Interview.
“We slept on gas for several years,” recognizes Dominic Lemieux, in an interview with The duty, a few hours before the start of the Annual Meeting of 60,000 Steelworkers unions. “We’ve been seeing the arrival of temporary foreign workers in our workplaces for several years, but we’re looking at it for the first time. »
A tour of local chapters in the spring opened the eyes of the union leadership, he says. Cases of “kidnapping”, “nonsense” and intimidation, he has heard of all kinds. “We have even seen foremen passing in front of these workers and extending their arms to each side while mimicking an airplane. They were really showing off, looking at foreign workers and saying that if that doesn’t work, we’re going to put a stamp in your forehead and we’re going to send you back to your country… It’s really precariousness of the worst kind. ! »
However, this working mass has recently become essential in Quebec industries. There were nearly 90,000 temporary workers in Quebec in 2022 distributed among thousands of different employers.
But how on earth can we mobilize these workers sitting in the first of the ejection seats, who often speak little French, who depend on their employer for their residence permit and who come from different union cultures? “It’s up to us to show them that they have the protection of the union,” replies the spokesperson. “ […] They are humans like the other Steelworkers members. It’s up to us to inform them [de leurs droits], to mobilize them. »
But still ? Who will dare to complain about an employer responsible for their immigration?
Dominic Lemieux cites as an example the Quebec law to refuse dangerous work. “We have the right to say: “I refuse to work, I consider it dangerous.” Them, [les travailleurs temporaires], they perhaps go less this way, but we can negotiate collective agreement clauses which say, for example, that a prevention representative could exercise a right of refusal on behalf of a temporary foreign worker. That would take all the burden off that worker to denounce the situation. There are plenty of moments where we can be imaginative. It’s up to us to reach out to them. »
In French, to stay
The fate of these reinforcements also depends on permanent residence. “At some point you have to make them permanent. We must make them Canadian citizens,” insists Dominic Lemieux several times.
But first, we will have to teach them French. Only 2.6% have taken French courses in recent years, according to figures from the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration. “That they do it during working hours, during their shift, that is one of our really important demands,” specifies the spokesperson.
“We need temporary foreign workers in our workplaces. But we must remove this precariousness. We must remove this sword that they have above their heads,” he says. “You have to take the bull by the horns. This is the Steelworkers union’s next battle. »
As a first step, for the first time in 59 assemblies, the union will offer a Spanish translation for its delegates from Latin America.
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.