Migrant agricultural workers in Canada pay into employment insurance (EI), but they are not able to access it when their contracts expire and they return to their home country.
They also have employment contracts that are tied to one employer, preventing them from changing their employer while they’re in Canada.
A proposed $500-million class action lawsuit is aiming to challenge those regulations.
“It’s an issue that has been around for some time now,” said Jody Brown, a partner at Goldblatt Partners LLP, the law firm that filed the statement of claim. “The time is now for workers to come forward and try and make a change to this program.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Migrant agricultural workers in Canada pay into employment insurance (EI), but they are not able to access it when their contracts expire and they return to their home country.
Kevin Palmer and Andrel Peters, seasonal migrant workers from the Caribbean who worked for companies in Leamington, Ont., are the lead plaintiffs in the suit, filed last month at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto.
“The biggest concerns that they’ve got are around immigration and around employment insurance and that in their time of need, they can’t claim or access this benefit.”
In an emailed statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada says the government does not comment on ongoing cases or “an individual’s personal circumstances,” but said that it takes "its responsibilities with respect to the protection of temporary foreign workers very seriously and the safety and protection of workers is paramount.
“While in Canada, temporary foreign workers have the same rights and protections as Canadians and permanent residents under applicable federal, provincial and territorial employment standards and collective agreements,” the statement continued.
Ramsaroop also says a successful suit would also address the issue of contracts and work permits that tie a worker to one employer.
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