Employer claims 'none of the mayor's meanings are true or close to true'
British Columbia employer SAN Group is suing the City of Port Alberni over comments made surrounding allegations against the employer, according to reports.
In some of the comments, the city's mayor and chief administrative officer (CAO) used terms like "disgusted by workers' treatment" and "the community won't tolerate the mistreatment of workers".
The comments were made in relation to claims that the forestry products company SAN Group is providing inhumane working conditions to temporary foreign workers in Port Alberni, according to a CHEK news report.
"I think this is absolutely disgusting, and this is not how you treat people,” Mayor Sharie Minions allegedly told reports, according to a CBC report.
These words damaged the company's reputation and put the business's supply and demand at risk, the employer claimed.
"None of the mayor's meanings are true or close to true," according to SAN Group’s notice of civil claim filed last week, reported CBC.
"They were expressed maliciously knowing they were false, or reckless as to whether they are true or false, made without investigation or even minimal inquiry."
The federal government is taking a stricter approach to the rules around employers’ use of the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program to “weed out misuse and fraud within the system,” according to a report released earlier this month.
Living arrangements for migrant workers
According to the CHEK news report, roughly 15 migrant workers who were under contract with SAN Group were living in a Port Alberni trailer. The report noted that the building did not have running water, and the men were allegedly forced to wash dishes and get drinking water from a small trickle of a stream out back.
However, the employer claims that that’s not true. Instead, some of its 30 temporary foreign workers from Vietnam were housed in a modular home and several ECOChalets (mini homes) the company had built to use when constructing its facilities four years ago, reported CBC.
"The plaintiffs were not required to provide accommodation for the temporary foreign workers due to the rate of pay they were paid, and accommodation was not part of the employment contract," the notice of civil claim said.
"But the plaintiffs made accommodation available to some of the temporary workers because of a lack of rental accommodation in Port Alberni."
Earlier this year, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) said that low-wage employers are exploiting the Recognized Employer Pilot (REP) under TFW program.
SAN Group’s notice of claim also mentions a news release issued by the city's CAO that referred to the workers' "mistreatment."
While the release didn't name SAN Group, the notice says the company was inferred because of news stories that had recently been published outlining the allegations, reported CBC.
The City of Port Alberni has yet to file a response, according to CBC.
Ottawa has increased the fines it imposed on employers that have been found non-compliant with the rules under the TFW Program in the past fiscal year.
