Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Guest Workers, Guest Slaves

Canada's business elite are salivating at the prospect of importing guest workers in the thousands. Guest workers give all the advantages of vulnerable immigrants without the pesky rights of basic citizenship. In Alberta in particular the idea of cheap, union free labor you can threaten with 'the immigration' if they get too uppity is causing stiffies in board rooms all over the province.

The Lakeside Packers dispute of 2005 showed the outright contempt and dehumanizing racism and violence an Alberta employer was prepared to use against a mostly African immigrant workforce. Imagine the same kind of employer on a large scale with guest workers with no citizenship, limited legal rights and marginal oversight.

Even the US State department felt compelled to describe the darker corners of Australia's guest worker program as out and out slavery.

Employers not prepared to pay for experienced Alberta unionized labour should ask the government to increase immigration if they want a larger workforce. Workers should be citizens with the rights and legal protections of citizens.

Including the right to join the same unions.

1 comment:

Matthew The Astrologer said...

"Imagine the same kind of employer on a large scale with guest workers with no citizenship, limited legal rights and marginal oversight."

I rented a movie about this recently. It was called "Amistad."

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