VANCOUVER—The hiring of about 200 Chinese miners to work in northern British Columbia has raised concerns with Ottawa as unions went to court Monday seeking to overturn the decision to allow the foreign workers into Canada.
The workers, some of whom are already at the mine near Tumbler Ridge, B.C., were allowed in after getting approval from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
The miners will be employed at HD Mining International Ltd’s Murray River coal mine extracting bulk samples.
“Canadians must always have the first crack at job opportunities,” said Alyson Queen, spokeswoman for Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Diane Finley. “As we have indicated previously, we are concerned with the process that led to this decision.”
Queen said in a statement to the Toronto Star that the ministry is looking into the case to ensure that appropriate rules were followed but cannot comment further on matters because the issue is now in the courts.
On Monday, two unions under the B.C. Building Trades union filed a judicial review in federal court of Ottawa’s decision to allow in the Chinese workers.
Lee Loftus, business manager for B.C. Building Trades said Monday that the survey work and sampling work being done by the Chinese workers already employed at the site could be done by dozens of other qualified union members in B.C.
The application was filed by the Construction and Specialized Workers Union, Local 1611 and the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 115.
The B.C. Building Trades, which represents 40,000 members in the province, has 150 people available in northern B.C. available to do those jobs being done by the Chinese workers, said Loftus. Province-wide, there are 500 workers who could do the same work.
The Chinese workers will be employed at the Murray River Coal Mine, an underground mine, operated by HD Mining International Ltd. The company has insisted there aren’t Canadian workers trained in the skills needed to operate the machinery and other equipment used in the operation.
Jody Shimkus, spokesman for the mining company, was unavailable for comment Monday.
Loftus said that even if it takes six months to train B.C. and Canadian workers to use the equipment, that remains a better option than bringing in temporary foreign workers.
“We’ve never filed a suit against the federal government but this is an important issue,” said Loftus. “This isn’t about who’s in a union or not but we do see this as an issue of you can’t allow our resources to go out of the country without at least some benefits going to the people who live here and not just corporations getting the benefits.”
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Petti Fong
The workers, some of whom are already at the mine near Tumbler Ridge, B.C., were allowed in after getting approval from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
The miners will be employed at HD Mining International Ltd’s Murray River coal mine extracting bulk samples.
“Canadians must always have the first crack at job opportunities,” said Alyson Queen, spokeswoman for Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Diane Finley. “As we have indicated previously, we are concerned with the process that led to this decision.”
Queen said in a statement to the Toronto Star that the ministry is looking into the case to ensure that appropriate rules were followed but cannot comment further on matters because the issue is now in the courts.
On Monday, two unions under the B.C. Building Trades union filed a judicial review in federal court of Ottawa’s decision to allow in the Chinese workers.
Lee Loftus, business manager for B.C. Building Trades said Monday that the survey work and sampling work being done by the Chinese workers already employed at the site could be done by dozens of other qualified union members in B.C.
The application was filed by the Construction and Specialized Workers Union, Local 1611 and the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 115.
The B.C. Building Trades, which represents 40,000 members in the province, has 150 people available in northern B.C. available to do those jobs being done by the Chinese workers, said Loftus. Province-wide, there are 500 workers who could do the same work.
The Chinese workers will be employed at the Murray River Coal Mine, an underground mine, operated by HD Mining International Ltd. The company has insisted there aren’t Canadian workers trained in the skills needed to operate the machinery and other equipment used in the operation.
Jody Shimkus, spokesman for the mining company, was unavailable for comment Monday.
Loftus said that even if it takes six months to train B.C. and Canadian workers to use the equipment, that remains a better option than bringing in temporary foreign workers.
“We’ve never filed a suit against the federal government but this is an important issue,” said Loftus. “This isn’t about who’s in a union or not but we do see this as an issue of you can’t allow our resources to go out of the country without at least some benefits going to the people who live here and not just corporations getting the benefits.”
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Petti Fong
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