More Canadians Loss Their Jobs To Foreign Workers

[WTTG]

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/04/08/ottawa_admits_it_approved_request_for_migrant_workers_to_replace_rbc_employees.html

From GrooveTunes' article,

How an overseas outsourcing firm managed to get Ottawa’s nod to bring in foreign workers to replace 45 Canadian employees at the Royal Bank has become the centre of an official probe. . . .

“If these workers were brought to Canada on LMO-based work permits, then either the employer may not have been fully straightforward with Service Canada about their plans, or someone at Service Canada might have been asleep at the wheel,” said Toronto lawyer Chantal Desloges, who has helped guide corporate clients through the LMO process. . . .

. . . Isn't that just easier to stick to whatever works for you and just not give a crap about details?

Yep, that may have been the plan for 'the employer' or some poor public servant at Service Canada, but it seems it didn’t work for the 45 Canadian employees at the Royal Bank.

. . . I feel nothing.

Wonder who in that mix was 'feeling nothing' before this broke in the media? And who will be 'feeling something' when this is settled. Our Canadian banks seem to have tenure; our public servants seem to have tenure . . ..

[Captain Awesome]

removed - Jennylives

[WTTG]

Just wondering: how would anyone feel about Canadian senior citizens performing data processing and answering phones from their ‘temporary’ residences in Mexico?

Or even here at home. From this article in the Globe and Mail, I can think of 118 million reasons why that might be a win-win for Canada and its banks.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/jobs/rbc-igate-and-a-past-built-on-profit/article10962231/

[E3V]

These beacons of capitalism keep talking about the 'skills gap' so why the F are they being trained by Canadian workers?

[E3V]

Banks are businesses, just like any other business. Their number one priority is to keep their global stock holders happy and increase dividends - of which I am one.

They don't seem to mind 'communist' bailouts from the Government

[E3V]

Isn't that just easier to stick to whatever works for you and just not give a crap about details?

That's why things are the way they are. Too many people like you who just don't want to be bothered with the details...well unless it's the latest NHL news

[WTTG]

These beacons of capitalism keep talking about the 'skills gap' so why the F are they being trained by Canadian workers?

I think that's a good point, and as I said above,

Just wondering: how would anyone feel about Canadian senior citizens performing (RBC's) data processing and answering phones . . ..

Many boomers have computer and critical reasoning skills, many have recieved school training in touch-typing, as well as have long been exposed to both ''official' languages. As well, many are facing retirement without adequate pensions, and would likely welcome this type of employment, along with access to a pot of $118 million dollars as a way to supplement what CPP and OAS they may be elegible to collect. Better than asking them to try to continue on in physically demanding jobs such as standing behind a counter all day etc ., and good for the brain when being tasked to perform communication tasks.

Plus, many seem to have a good work ethic, may not require direct supervision, and isn't the e-world all about mobility these days? Could it be that all that might be required 'to make a hit record' is the training and the equipment to put them at work at home (or wherever)?

[SurplusElect]

RBC chief apologizes for foreign workers controversy

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/201 ... ology.html

The head of the Royal Bank of Canada has apologized to employees affected by a move to replace Canadian workers with temporary foreign workers, and is promising all will be offered "comparable job opportunities" within the bank.

The public apology from CEO and president Gord Nixon comes after CBC News Go Public first reported dozens of employees at Canada’s largest bank were losing their jobs to temporary foreign workers, who are in Canada to take over the work of their department.

In an open letter released Thursday, Nixon said RBC is reviewing its relationships with suppliers and its policies "with a continued focus on Canadian jobs and prosperity, balancing our desire to be both a successful business and a leading corporate citizen."

The bank is taking out ads in newspapers across the country on Friday to apologize to any employee affected by outsourcing.

...sorry they got caught.

...full on denial mode for 2 days.

So if RBC did nothing wrong (hey that's life/capitalism) - why is he apologizing? Why give the people their jobs back? Why are so many Canadians upset?

Looks like nobody in Canada wants to finish the race to the bottom. Time for a re-think.

Temporary foreign workers at McDonalds? Yeahhhhh ok.

[albertabound]

That is stupid,your forefathers had an accent or came over from an other country

[SurplusElect]

That is stupid,your forefathers had an accent or came over from an other country

Immigration is not a "temporary foreign worker".

[E3V]

Immigration is not a "temporary foreign worker".

Exactly. It's got nothing to do with Immigration. The TW program is hurting immigrants living here just the same as citizens born in Canada. The race factor is the proponents last straw they can grasp at.

[WTTG]

RBC chief apologizes for foreign workers controversy

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/201 ... ology.html

The article also says,

"While we are compliant with the regulations, the debate has been about something else," Nixon wrote. "The question for many people is not about doing only what the rules require —it's about doing what employees, clients, shareholders and Canadians expect of RBC. And that's something we take very much to heart."

"Despite our best efforts, we don't always meet everyone's expectations, and when we get it wrong, you are quick to tell us. You have my assurance that I'm listening."

Mr. Nixon seems to be saying that RBC got it right but then RBC got it wrong for getting it right.

Then the article says he said,

. . . "Despite our best efforts, we don't always meet everyone's expectations, and when we get it wrong, you are quick to tell us. You have my assurance that I'm listening." “. . . it's about doing what employees, clients, shareholders and Canadians expect of RBC.” . . .

Well here’s my list of what I think might be expected:

Employees—please treat us fairly and let us keep our jobs.
Clients—please give us a break on service fees and pay higher interest on our savings.
Shareholders—please keep our stocks on the rise and the dividends similarly rolling in.
Canadians—please spend your profits in our country.

And I can’t think of any reason, given RBC’s yearly profits, why RBC can’t fulfill all of the requirements I perceive people expect: especially the one about spending their profits in Canada.

Can anyone here think of a reason why they can't?

Right; now I’m listening to hear about the government’s findings.

[Captain Awesome]

That's why things are the way they are. Too many people like you who just don't want to be bothered with the details...well unless it's the latest NHL news

Oh, boohoo. Get off the high horse. For every financial institution other there, you can find a reason why they're evil. Are you ready to put your money where your mouth is and stop using them all together? None of the big banks apparently are good, and small credit unions are tainted too - according to Baggo. Whatcha gonna do now? Or do you just like to feel like you're better than "people like me" while using them yourself?

At least I'm honest when I say that I can't be bothered to pay attention to every single media hysteria.

[flavorflav]

Good to see that the public has the attention of RBC. There needs to be a bigger effort on the part of all Canadians,especially those running businesses large and small to ensure we try our damndest to employ people who live in this country already.Whether it be through retraining etc, we have a duty to keep our country and it's reputation as the best place to live in the world intact. The company iGate, is trying to capitalize on a market of providing cheap labor which is probably not much different than a 'Snakehead" doing his job in the human trafficking industry.Really ,there is not a huge difference. In my old hometown,Malton,Ontario which happens to be the first place Pearson Airport unloads it's cargo,there is a 2 block stretch of Airport road that has 9 jewellery stores.My brother, who has IndoCanadian friends in that community has information from sources in the IndoCanadian circles that workers in those stores are working there to pay off their"Headtax" owed to the "Snakehead" that got them into the country. Makes me think we need a little more attention paid to the whole subject of "Temp Foreign Workers" and immigration as a whole

[WTTG]

News from globeandmail.com

Behind the foreign-worker fiasco lies a far bigger question

https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/gam/20130411/RBINSIGHTFOREIGNTEMP0410GLOBEWEBATL

Thursday, April 11, 2013
SEAN SILCOFF

This week's brouhaha over Royal Bank of Canada's latest outsourcing move is a sideshow to a larger issue: Canada's exploding temporary foreign worker population. The federal government promised reforms in this area in its recent budget. Let's hope the feds are serious - much needs to be fixed.

Canada's temporary foreign worker program has fallen into the trap of similar short-term guest worker programs. Stop-gap efforts to fill temporary job shortages typically "last longer and grow larger than intended ... developing structural labour market dependencies among employers" and creating job ghettos that are dominated by foreign workers, writes Athabasca University industrial relations expert Jason Foster in an excellent recent paper.

In Canada, the number of temporary foreign workers increased by 50 per cent from 2000 to 2006 under the Liberal government, and has more than doubled since then, to 338,000 last year (as the number of unfilled jobs in Western Canada increased). According to Mr. Foster, the proportion of these workers considered "high skill" has fallen sharply, to 31.1 per cent in 2010 from 51.8 per cent in 2000, while the number with no stated skill level more than doubled, to 36 per cent. These people, he and others point out, are far likelier to be exploited, paid less and take jobs from Canadians.

Rather than ebb and flow with the needs of the job market, Mr. Foster predicts the program will only expand as it "is primarily employer-driven, and as such government has no direct capacity to reduce applications" for new temporary foreign workers and "lacks the tools to check rising demand" from employers who increasingly depend on the cheap temporary foreign labour. (Migrant agricultural workers are handled under a separate process.)

Consider a government pilot project launched last year: Before hiring temporary foreign workers, employers need a labour market opinion or LMO from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. To get the LMO, they must document that they've made every possible effort to recruit Canadians for full-time jobs before turning to foreign workers, and that they will pay market wages.

But under the pilot project, employers can now get an "accelerated" LMO to fill "high-skilled" jobs through a more streamlined application. They are permitted to pay 15 per cent less than market rates, while requirements to advertise the job to Canadians, and prove Canadians have even been considered, are greatly reduced. The government has stated no more than one in five applications would be subject to compliance reviews.

Under other LMO applications, employers must commit that they won't recoup recruitment costs from employees, that they will provide health coverage until employees become eligible, to review and adjust wages after 12 months and commit to register employees under prevailing worker compensation programs. Not so under the accelerated LMO application.

It should come as no surprise, then, that employers have quickly made a mockery of the accelerated process. An access to information request by the Alberta Federation of Labour shows that of the close to 5,000 employers who have applied, many are fast-food chains, gas retailers "and other businesses that almost exclusively employ low-skilled workers," AFL president Gil McGowan says.

Is this what Canadians want - a program to make it easier for domestic employers to skip the local labour pool entirely and underpay temporary migrants who have little chance of staying on afterward - unless they become part of an undocumented migrant population of the sort that has exploded across Europe?

If the government is serious about fixing the temporary foreign worker program, it should kill or fix the accelerated process. Other changes are needed, such as better documentation of how long workers stay, what sectors employ them and who their employers are - information now lacking from public disclosures. The data published by the federal government now "doesn't answer key questions Canadians want answered," says Sharry Aiken, associate dean with the Queen's University faculty of law.

Better communication is needed between federal and provincial government, she adds, since federal laws govern who gets in, but labour law enforcement is left to the provinces. Scrutiny and penalties for employers who abuse the system should be cranked up.

But most of all, Canadians need to ask about the implications of an expanded temporary worker program with looser checks and balances. Are we creating meaningful opportunities for migrant workers to become Canadian citizens and participate in the growth and economic development of the country? Or are we planting the seeds for social and economic unrest in the long term by giving employers a cut-rate deal on hiring?

I repeat from the bottom of the article,

. . . Are we creating meaningful opportunities for migrant workers to become Canadian citizens and participate in the growth and economic development of the country? Or are we planting the seeds for social and economic unrest in the long term by giving employers a cut-rate deal on hiring?

First question--Not as far as I can see. According to my friend the farmer, his work is seasonal, so he can't turn his workers into Canadian citizens. And, so far, no Canadian citizens wish to 'migrate' across Canada to take up his jobs.

Second question--It seems to me though, if the time ever comes when Canadians want or need to take up these types of jobs—even to take up the ‘foreign worker’ fast-food service industry jobs in Alberta; that's when we may see some big-time social and economic unrest.

Now, as far as RBC hiring off shore workers!? Well I got some boomer friends . . ..