By: Daniel Nardini
Canadian mining unions are up in arms about a proposal by Chinese-owned Canadian mining companies to bring in Chinese workers. Two major companies, HD Mining Inc., and the Canadian Dehua International Mines Group, Inc., plan to bring in temporary Chinese workers to labor in mines in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The United Steel Workers of Canada alleges that these Chinese workers will be paid less than Canada’s minimum wage, and will not be given the protective equipment they will need for working in the deep mines. Given the poor safety record of Chinese-owned companies, this is a real possibility.
But there is a serious danger here that does concern the Canadian unions. This is the possibility that what happens with the mining companies will spread to other corporations. This danger is that other corporations will start hiring people from overseas to do the jobs that Canadians can and will do. I have no argument about companies bringing in labor from outside the United States, or Canada, to do jobs that Americans and Canadians cannot or do not want to do. This practice is common and acceptable. However, I do argue that neither the United States nor Canada should bring in labor where Americans and Canadians can do the job. In the case of mining, Canadian workers have been doing mining for decades, and the Canadian unions have done the best they can to ensure that Canadian miners have the best equipment and are working under the safest conditions possible for this hazardous occupation.
With China’s poor safety record on mining, I seriously doubt that Chinese companies will do a better job in Canada, even with Chinese miners. More disturbing is that if the Canadian government allows Chinese-owned companies to lower the standards of mining, then what is to stop foreign-owned corporations from lowering the standards for workers in other fields, and bringing in workers from their countries to do work in hazardous conditions and for less pay than what is permitted by Canadian law? This is something I do not want to see happen in the United States either. If America imports workers for badly needed labor that Americans do not want to do, we must make sure that any foreign imported labor works under good conditions and for reasonable pay. The Canadian government must not allow the corporations to start dictating the rules who will work, who will get paid what, and under what working conditions they must work under. On this point, the Canadian unions must prevail..
Forced Chinese Labor in Canada?
By: Daniel Nardini
But there is a serious danger here that does concern the Canadian unions. This is the possibility that what happens with the mining companies will spread to other corporations. This danger is that other corporations will start hiring people from overseas to do the jobs that Canadians can and will do. I have no argument about companies bringing in labor from outside the United States, or Canada, to do jobs that Americans and Canadians cannot or do not want to do. This practice is common and acceptable. However, I do argue that neither the United States nor Canada should bring in labor where Americans and Canadians can do the job. In the case of mining, Canadian workers have been doing mining for decades, and the Canadian unions have done the best they can to ensure that Canadian miners have the best equipment and are working under the safest conditions possible for this hazardous occupation.
With China’s poor safety record on mining, I seriously doubt that Chinese companies will do a better job in Canada, even with Chinese miners. More disturbing is that if the Canadian government allows Chinese-owned companies to lower the standards of mining, then what is to stop foreign-owned corporations from lowering the standards for workers in other fields, and bringing in workers from their countries to do work in hazardous conditions and for less pay than what is permitted by Canadian law? This is something I do not want to see happen in the United States either. If America imports workers for badly needed labor that Americans do not want to do, we must make sure that any foreign imported labor works under good conditions and for reasonable pay. The Canadian government must not allow the corporations to start dictating the rules who will work, who will get paid what, and under what working conditions they must work under. On this point, the Canadian unions must prevail..