The Mixer, December, 2007 Where are the Filipino 11? CLC/CALM Recently, Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) allowed a labour broker to lure 11 skilled trades people to Canada for non-existent jobs. The workers—known as the “Filipino 11”—are now indentured labour after having to come up with more than $10,000 each in administrative fees. The fees are to be paid to labour brokers and intermediaries that thrive within the unregulated margins of the TFWP. Promised jobs in their field at up to $23 an hour, some sold their homes or took out loans to cover the fees demanded by the labour brokers. Once in Canada, they were “sold” to unscrupulous employers, kept in an isolated rural house, and forced to do menial jobs earning a fraction of what they were promised. The Economist magazine reported that a Barrie police officer, who chanced upon them, said, “They were economic slaves. It turned my stomach.” The Canadian Labour Congress first learned of the plight of these workers in September, and filed a complaint with the Conservative government, demanding an investigation. The government’s response said the department that brings in guest workers is “not mandated to monitor the working conditions offered by the employer following entry into Canada.” Meanwhile, there are allegations that the workers were handed from an unscrupulous broker to various employers. The disturbing story of the Filipino 11 is only one of many cases across Canada involving migrant workers in the construction, health care, service, and agricultural sectors. The CLC is calling for an immediate moratorium of the government’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program until a comprehensive investigation of identified abuse and exploitation cases takes place. Full suspension of the program is necessary until the government acknowledges that it cannot “monitor the working conditions offered by the employer following entry into Canada” and protect these workers. | 
