MIGRANT WORKERS AND THE HAMPSTEAD CRASH

Come on Canadians quit beating around the bush. Call a spade a spade. Employers love them and so does our provincial government. Neither group care if migrant workers are yellow skinned, black, red or if they come from Mars. There is absolutely zero discrimination here. Employers will hire anybody from anywhere and why wouldn't they? They are incredibly cheap labour. Cheap doesn't just define direct wages. These people will take all the crap that you can dish out and come back for more. That's the difference. They are desperate for work and desperate for money to send back home. Where they come from their are no opportunities, no social safety net , no labour standards and nobody gives a shit for them . Just like here nobody gives a shit for them. Here with a regular non union job when someone gets "uppity" or asks a question you don't like, you just fire them. But then it's embarassing because especially in our smaller communities you run into them again and you know they've been badmouthing you. With migrant workers it's just so much more satisfying to fire them AND kick them out of the country. You never have to feel guilty down the road because where they came from there's a thousand more willing to work dirt cheap, without safety standards and who will suck up appropriately to you.

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story: "Vigil at site of Hampstead crash exposes plight of migrant workers". A group called Justice (Justicia) for Migrant Workers received phone calls from some migrant workers who wanted to attend the remembrance ceremony on Sunday in Hampstead but were told by their employers not to go. Others who did go without asking permission risk being sent back home. Saturday's Record also carried an Opinion article by Luisa D'Amato titled "Let's examine the dark, difficult world of migrant workers". It too describes the working conditions for 20,000 agricultural migrant workers from Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. Why does our government love having them here? Firstly they can't collect unemployment insurance at the end of the season. They simply get sent home. Secondly they help keep wages low. Minimum wage low. Thirdly they do pay deductions on their paycheques while unable to collect benefits and finally they can't vote in elections and demand a better life like ungrateful citizens. One other thing to consider. Their wages and working conditions help to keep food prices artificially low for the rest of us. They are subsidizing our consumer lifestyle and they are essentially invisible and usually not a political issue. I believe that both our students and many of our unemployed would for a higher wage take these jobs. BUT the employers would have to treat them like human beings and that is the real stumbling block.