Cheap Croatian Labour Upsets Canadians

Politicians and labour unions are up in arms in Canada after dozens of Canadian ironworkers at an oilsands project were laid off and replaced by temporary Croatian workers…

Allegations that around 65 Canadians were replaced by the cheaper Croatian immigrants, has prompted federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney to ask for an investigation into the matter. Union leaders say that this case involving the temporary Croatian workers does not fit into the framework of the Temporary Foreign Worker Programme, which was designed to fill labour shortages which locals could not fill.

“Increasingly, instead of being filled by Canadians, jobs are being given to temporary foreign workers earning as little as half the prevailing wage,” AFL president Gil McGowan said.

The sacked oilsands workers have since been reinstated into jobs at the 277 million dollar construction near Kearl Lake in the Athabasca Oilsands region.