Advocates reveal details about ‘systematic exploitation’ at New Brunswick seafood processor [video]

Migrant justice advocates have released details about working conditions at Bolero Shellfish, the seafood processing company on the Acadian Peninsula that Ottawa recently hit with a record million-dollar fine and a 10-year ban from hiring temporary foreign workers.

The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC) says Ottawa should use money from that fine — the largest-ever imposed on an employer in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program — to compensate the workers who suffered abuse at the company.

The federal government has only provided a general outline of the violations that led to the penalties. But MWAC says that it has members at Bolero Shellfish who have documented conditions of “systematic exploitation” at the plant.

Bolero Shellfish and its parent company, Montreal-based Sogelco International, didn’t respond to a request for comment by publication time. The company has reportedly stated that it rejects the federal government’s decision and will challenge it in court.

Statement details allegations of abuse

MWAC said in a statement that 40 workers from Mexico and the Philippines arrived at the facility in May 2023 under contracts promising between nine and 12 months of stable employment.

Instead, workers were scheduled for workdays lasting between 12 and 16 hours, before their hours were abruptly slashed, leaving them with as little as 20 work hours per week, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the group.

“The employer still issued pay for 30 hours per week — as required by the contract — but told workers they ‘owed’ the difference and would have to repay it or work those hours for free later,” according to the statement.

“This debt ran into the thousands for many workers, trapping them into ongoing, unpaid labour year after year.”

During unpaid periods, migrant workers “were forced to go hungry, while paying rent to the employer, waiting for the employer to provide work or to pay them the minimum 30 hours per week guaranteed by the contract,” according to the statement.

One worker developed a “severe allergic reaction from handling lobster and was hospitalized twice,” according to MWAC. A doctor ordered time off, but company supervisors allegedly “forced the worker to keep working and swore at the driver who took him to the hospital. The worker was eventually sent back to Mexico where he was rushed to emergency and was hospitalized for several days.”

Several workers were also fired and deported to Mexico after requesting that the employer refrain from charging rent during unpaid periods, according to MWAC. Nine workers stayed in Canada and applied for open work permits available to “vulnerable workers who are victims of abuse.” Of that number, seven eventually received open work permits, while two others withdrew and remained in Canada as undocumented migrants.

READ MORE: Seafood processing company fined $1M, banned from hiring TFWs for 10 years
READ MORE: Lawsuit citing ‘widespread exploitation’ signals deeper problems in TFW program
READ MORE: ‘We are treated as disposable,’ says former migrant fishery worker  

One worker, identified as Estefania Montes, was quoted saying that unpaid periods in Canada left her feeling “desperate, not knowing when I would be able to work again.” Montes continued: “With nowhere to go, I developed anxiety. My family in Mexico was worried because they knew I couldn’t even cover basic expenses. We came here to earn money, not to end up in debt to the company.”

By September, the federal government had levied more than $6.8 million against non-compliant employers, according to MWAC. The group is calling for that money to be distributed to migrant workers who have suffered abuse in Canada.

“These fines are meaningless for the workers who lived through the exploitation because they don’t see a cent of that money,” said Niger Saravia, an organizer with MWAC.

The NB Media Co-op requested an interview with Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families, but she wasn’t available. Asked whether the Minister supported the idea of compensating migrant workers through fines, her spokesperson provided a statement that didn’t respond to the question directly.

Instead, the statement said that “all government fines go back to consolidated revenue.” It continued: “Should a migrant worker require support or assistance, the Government funds the Migrant Worker Support Program to provide resources to learn about and exercise their rights.”

Executive ‘doubled down on racism’

Gabriel Elbaz, who is listed on LinkedIn as the general manager of operations for Sogelco International Inc., was quoted in the Telegraph-Journal describing Mexican workers as “more rotten” than their Philippine counterparts.

MWAC fired back that executive had “doubled down on racism” in response to his company’s penalty. Elbaz didn’t respond to a request for comment by publication time.

The office of Patty Hajdu, the minister responsible for Employment and Social Development Canada, stated that fines like the one imposed on Bolero Shellfish show that “enforcement is working” and that the government is “catching bad actors.”

But migrant justice groups have long maintained that temporary foreign worker schemes are inherently exploitative, creating a disposable underclass of low-wage workers. MWAC says Canada’s compliance regime is failing temporary foreign workers. You can read the full statement here.

New Brunswick’s Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre and other advocates have called for Ottawa to end the practice of issuing closed work permits — which bind workers to a specific employer — and to provide open work permits and permanent resident status to all migrants.

Migrant justice organizers discussed those issues last weekend during a presentation at the Social Forum in Wolastokuk, an event that brought together activists from across the province.

“The main problem with the temporary foreign worker program is that the employer has total control of the worker,” said Cristian Sanabria, a community legal worker with the Madhu Verma Centre.

Saravia, the MWAC organizer, told the crowd that migrant workers are subject to surveillance by employers, who in some cases monitor their homes with security cameras and prevent them from having guests over. “The workers are being watched by the employers or the supervisors.”

VIDEO: Watch the full talk — Debunking Myths, Building Solidarity with Migrant Workers:

In 2023, UN Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata met with migrant workers employed in seafood processing in New Brunswick.

His 2024 report called the Temporary Foreign Worker Program a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery” and urged the federal government to provide a clear pathway to permanent residency upon arrival and end the closed work permit regime.

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, via the Local Journalism Initiative. Tracy Glynn, co-founder of the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre, is coordinating editor of the NB Media Co-op.