The Canadian Meat Council is seeking meetings with three
federal cabinet ministers on an urgent basis following the unveiling of
cutbacks to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program.
The council says it needs the workers to maintain
production.
Days before the release of the program changes, the council
issued a plea for more workers to staff meat-packing plants.
The plea went to a long list of people who might know recent
refugees and immigrants seeking work.
The council wants to meet with Agriculture Minister Gerry
Ritz, Employment Minister Jason Kenney and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander.
“We will be seeking further information and clarification from
Kenney, Alexander and Ritz on an urgent and expedited basis,”
the council says so meat packers can determine the impact the policy changes
will have on their operations.
Meat packers have been short of workers for at
least 10 years following the late 1970s and early 1980s when they managed to
drastically reduce wages by weakening the clout of unions.
Hourly pay was drastically reduced during those confrontations.
Then U.S. packers began employing Mexicans, including many without a legal right to be in the U.S., and that put additional competitive pressure on Canadian meat packers to lower costs.
Maple Leaf Foods got caught in a scandal in January, 2007, involving a company it paid to bring in workers from China. The company was charging the Chinese workers thousands of dollars in hidden fees.
