A former employee of a New Brunswick seafood processing company is speaking out, saying she’s happy the federal government barred it from employing temporary foreign workers but is urging more to be done.
Estefania Montes worked for Bolero Shellfish Processing Inc. and told Global News in an interview her and her co-workers faced various problems, including being threatened with deportation if they complained.
“I still feel vulnerable because of the whole situation I went through,” she said.
Last month, Bolero was fined $1 million, the maximum financial penalty possible by the federal government for violating rules of the temporary foreign workers program.
They were also issued a 10-year ban from the program that will expire Sept. 17, 2035.
“To date, this is the biggest penalty ever issued by the department, because any mistreatment of workers or misuse of the program will not be tolerated,” Employment and Social Development Canada said in a statement on Monday.
But Montes says she’d like the fine to be distributed to the workers impacted.
“We need them to support us as victims, and we need them to give us compensation for this harm the company has done to us,” she said.
Montes alleged the company promised to pay workers for 30 hours a week “in case there was no work,” but they were not paid.
Those allegations are similar to ones being made by Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, which cites “documented systematic exploitation” from workers at the plant.
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The group says in May 2023, 40 workers from Mexico and the Philippines arrived under contracts that promised nine to 12 months of stable employment.
According to the group, the workers alleged the company had workers scheduled for 12- to 16-hour days, then had hours “abruptly cut” to 20 hours.
“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,” a news release from Migrant Workers Alliance says.
The group also alleged one worker developed a severe allergic reaction from handling lobster and was hospitalized twice, but was forced to keep working despite a doctor ordering time off.
Global News reached out to Sogelco International Inc., the parent company of Bolero, for a response to the allegations made by Montes and Migrant Workers Alliance.
In a statement, the company reiterated its previous statements saying it “categorically rejects” the decision by the federal government and said it will challenge the fine and ban in court.
“Bolero Shellfish categorically rejects the conclusions of the federal government, which do not reflect the reality of its practices nor its commitment to the well-being of employees hired under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program,” the company said.
The statement did not acknowledge the allegations.
The federal government, in its reasoning for fining the company, said Bolero had provided pay or conditions that did not match or weren’t better than what was listed on the offer or the job was not the same as offered.
It also said the company was found to have broken federal, provincial or territorial laws and deemed to not have put in “enough effort” to ensure the workplace was free of abuse or reprisal.
Syed Hussan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance, told Global News on Wednesday the fines show the impacts migrant workers face.
“The fine proves what we already know, which is that migrant workers don’t have the same rights as Canadian citizens,” he said.
He reiterated his call from Monday for the federal government to redistribute the fines collected from the program violations to the workers “as a minimum step.”
Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu was asked Wednesday about Bolero and if the fines would go to help the works.
“The fines go back to general revenue,” Hajdu said. “Unfortunately the challenge with any kind of fraud in any workplace is that it’s on individual employees then to take action to the employer to try to recover those wages.”
She added fines and bans, like what was imposed on Bolero, are helping to catch “bad actors.”
“The real focus that our program has is prevention of this kind of abuse going forward,” Hajdu said.
—with files from Global News’ Heidi Petracek and Suzanne Lapointe
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