[lolka]

Hey everyone,...this is a big issue which has not really been covered and I would like to hear your thoughts or maybe some of you have been through this:

recently a friend of mine told me about a factory he used to work at (i think it's a box factory) where mostly immigrants work....the manager was aweful, no heat in winter so they had to double up their clothing, no A/C in the summer....and the worst...the bathrooms are locked and only opened during breaks, so one day a philipina woman who got her womanly monthly wasn't allowed to go to the bathroom...she went into the stairwell and started crying,...my friend went to ask what was wrong and was disgusted with what he heard....so he called the Labour Board and complained. What happened? NOTHING....instead he got fired once the manager found out!

I'm outraged! What's wrong with this place?
has this ever happened to you or do you know of it happening to anybody else?

-L

 

[urbandreamer]

Yes! Schmatte joints in Canada (the one's remaining) operate on very tight margins. Many are small family owned businesses--that imo should be put to sleep sooner rather than later but because the owners don't know how to do anything else, they keep hoping the next order will keep them in the green. I worked at a few in montreal and while one place was okay, the bigger place (Peerless) was brutal. There are many family-owned factories across Canada--making things like auto parts or bbq's or even wireless pagers!--that treat their employees like garbage. Try working in a factory sometime. Granted, I can understand the need for efficiency--look at the Canadian dollar for example--and some people just aren't suited for factory jobs. It depends how much you need the money. Think about those construction workers building all these trendy condos--at $40/hour working outside in all kinds of weather with dangerous silica dust and other hazards--is it really worth it? Even your local organic grocer or coffee shop is taking advantage of people somewhere in the supply chain.

I actually know someone that works in a box factory! It's contract work (meaning the faster you work, the less breaks you take etc the more $ you earn.) Obviously breaks are discouraged. It can be cold and unpleasant in any large poorly heated warehouse environment. Most people working there are either immigrants desperate to get canadian work experience or working class peasants incapable of doing much else thanks to criminal records, lack of ambition etc. There will always be the odd person who truly loves working their ass off for $8/hr.

I found the less I got paid the harder I worked. From factories to office jobs the higher the salary the more frequent the breaks, goofing around etc. If the average worker wastes 2.5 hours of company time (i've read this in media) the box-factory worker is wasting none other than his own time!

Am I shocked or disgusted? Not really but then I'm rather jaded.... My first factory job was surely a frightening and sobering experience. But the fact is: some people truly love that kind of environment! They excel under extreme disciplinary conditions (soldiers make $40k for what?) I worked my ass off so I'd never have to work anywhere but from my home again. Many people thought I was insane--learning a new skill (trading stocks) while working in a tedious deadend job. I always told my co-workers: learn a new skill that will make you enough money to stay out of factories; save your money; blahblahblah. It all fell on deaf ears--most people just can't think ahead.

Don't feel sorry for those factory workers--they especially hate soft-hearted Liberals!

 

[EnviroTO]

This will become an increasing problem as the dollar rises and profit margins are reduces to near non-existence. I would think an employer that locks bathroom doors does it because people taking long washroom breaks became a problem. However, the smarter employer would change the pay model so people are paid per box or are salaried with minimum quotas and bonuses for going beyond. That way people taking long breaks would only be hurting themselves. On the other hand some employees would quickly be identified as weak and be fired putting them on social assistance (if they are legal immigrants) which might not be a big improvement for those specific people who might complain about the poor working conditions that currently exist. The old lady helping to support her family with her $8/hr income might loose her job more quickly in a productivity measured business.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Many of these people are illegal immigrants who have no legal recourse. Hence the need for another amnesty so they can get decent jobs and pay tax like the rest of us. My late partner worked illegally for five years, at times under very unpleasant conditions, before he was accepted for the amnesty in 1985.

 

[St. Even]

Many of these people are illegal immigrants who have no legal recourse. Hence the need for another amnesty so they can get decent jobs and pay tax like the rest of us. My late partner worked illegally for five years, at times under very unpleasant conditions, before he was accepted for the amnesty in 1985.

Amnesty...Hear! Hear!

 

[St. Even]

I've heard some shady stories from a Portuguese friend of mine who works in construction. But it goes beyond that type of setting. I used to work for a very large public sector organization where people were "asked" to "volunteer" to work at events that occurred after hours and on weekends. No overtime, no lieu time. (They've recently unionized, go figure.)

It's not on the same scale as forcing someone to work in a cold, damp cellar and denying them breaks, but it's the same kind of abuse/bullying that is common in a lot of workplaces.

 

[rpgr]

No, no, no way should they get amnesty, at least until I get my CSIC license next year, then I'll be all for it

 

[lolka]

hey,
thanks everyone for their replies, i didn't know there were so many illegal stuff happening and how aweful work conditions can actually be......and while some of you are saying that immigrants should be happy with what they get, you've got to think that we're supposed to be a civilised society here, we can't be treating people in this way

and the other thing is, how effective is the ministry of labour if they're allowing these factories and other places to occur and stay open? I wonder what the chances are that they know about these places and just haven't done anything about it

anyways would love to hear more about ur horror stories, i'm working on a story to reveal these places !

 

[Urban Shocker]

For whom?

 

[Hydrogen]

hey,
thanks everyone for their replies, i didn't know there were so many illegal stuff happening and how aweful work conditions can actually be......and while some of you are saying that immigrants should be happy with what they get, you've got to think that we're supposed to be a civilised society here, we can't be treating people in this way

and the other thing is, how effective is the ministry of labour if they're allowing these factories and other places to occur and stay open? I wonder what the chances are that they know about these places and just haven't done anything about it

anyways would love to hear more about ur horror stories, i'm working on a story to reveal these places !

If you are working on a story about this subject, then you should already understand that sweatshops operate outside the law. This would mean that the Ministry of Labour does not know they exist, and, as a result, does not allow them to stay open.

Avoiding sweeping generalizations is usually helpful when writing "stories" - as is a grammar checker.

 

[urbandreamer]

Do you shop@root's? They have sweatshops near queen and spadina.

Do you eat@trendy restaurants? They have sweltering hot sweatshops in the kitchen--dishwashers are paid $8. Someone's gotta chop up all those spuds.

Do you travel often? Someone's gotta handle your luggage.

Do you surf the web often? Someone's assembling your next laptop for 25 cents per hour. Many people are sitting in a Kitchener call centre for $10-$14/hour ready to assist you on your Rogers internet problems. Breaks sometimes not allowed depending on demand.

Someone's walking through a warehouse in Guelph right now scanner in hand working their butt off to fulfill demand for ipods (yep ontario distribution centre for ipods in Guelph Ontario! They pay $10.50/hour with a bonus for working faster faster faster! It's not exactly the warmest place on earth Some of my best friends work there--mostly immigrants with degrees in Engineering, Phd's etc! Yet they like it because it's "easy" and thus allows them time to get Canadian degrees.

As I like to say: if you hate your job you know where the exit is!

Should Ipod's and laptops retail for $10,000 each if workers were paid "fair trade" wages? What is a fair wage anyhow?

From personal experience, I'm telling you not to expose these places because even more depressing and demeaning to a poor worker is having A)media exposure and B)threat of losing their job. They will think you're some rich kid from privilege. Besides, they can't afford to read newspapers Many warehouse workers (even young ppl) don't have internet access or computers--too expensive! Those Ipod order pickers can't afford the very object they handle!

Much more by PM if you want, journalist.

 

[unimaginative2]

Interesting points, though...

Do you eat@trendy restaurants? They have sweltering hot sweatshops in the kitchen--dishwashers are paid $8. Someone's gotta chop up all those spuds.

What about the large number with open kitchens, or even tables in the kitchen...?

Do you travel often? Someone's gotta handle your luggage.

My friend handled baggage at Pearson, and it's a pretty decently paid union job with benefits.

 

[rpgr]

I for one had worked in one of these sweat shops before. $8 an hour? Try 8 dollars for 4 hours or less. As a kid I didn't know what I was getting into, only knew I needed money and someone was hiring. After spending 4 hours in a sweatshop, I got a little over $5 pay. I still have that $5.00 in small change (I got paid in quarters, nickles, pennies, etc.) as a reminder. I took the money but I remember asking if he wanted to keep it, I'd give it to him if I could shove it up his ass. Regardless, the guy isn't in business anymore as someone complained and had him shut down.

Trust me, these sweat shops really are just that, it's not just the conditions but also the pay. They pick mostly on illegal immigrants or those that can't get a job.

Some of you guys have weird thoughts of what sweat shops really are. Don't mistake crappy jobs for sweat shops.

 

[urbandreamer]

^@Pearson yes. In Mexico? That Cuban winter break vacation?

There are always hidden people working at contract jobs supplying the airport/travel business in Canada. The factory that makes airplane food?

@the moment my job isn't paying very well either. I'm feeling rather exploited. People stealing my money on the stock market Hedgefunds shorting good companies into the ground. My working conditions suck too--10 square feet of "office" space? An internet connection that's supposed to be highspeed but is slooooooooooooowwwwwwwwww. A stock advisor that never tells me anything? An insecure future--no benefits, no health plan, no co-workers to gossip with, no Blackberry or free laptop, no travel plans. Zippo is what i get. Write about me you journalist!

Oh yeah you mean a real sweatshop? Piece work pays about $3/hour if you're average; if you're super fast maybe $7/hr. 95% of piece workers have little education, no immigration papers or speak any English. That's the way it is. One of my montreal sweatshop jobs--pay $200/week (6 days of work--i was desperate needed the money to buy a oneway ticket out of montreal )--was 8 hours of nonstop (no lunch break or any break at all--just as well i was completely broke) ripping off plastic wrap from imported chinese clothing then putting the clothes in new "Sears Canada"-approved hangars and wrap; you can guess where they were headed One guy working with me--a Russian kid just out of university--had been doing that for the past 2 years! Let me tell you I became superfast at ripping plastic wrap of cheap imported crap to be consumed by canadians with bad style! The best part of the job was going down the old elevator (chabanel st) to the dock to unload the trucks--faster faster faster! Nice and cold too in January Montreal!

 

[lolka]

hey everyone,

the responses to this are surprising to me for the simple fact that they're so divided! I thought for sure that people would be up in arms about this, because after all this is illegal, there are certain laws, and what if it was u that was put through these kinds of situations.

And please I ask some of you not to attack me for the simple reason that I am a journalist, I'm just trying to investigate something that I and i'm sure other people in Toronto deem to be wrong.
But again, this is an investigation and your feedback is EXCELLENT and AMAZING and helps sooo much for the story!

So I ask you another question...who would be willing to speak to me, via phone, e-mail, msn etc to voice more of their opinions, but even better their stories. I know some of you have some GREAT stories that you've told me up in here....would you like to continue? I promise you can remain completely anonymous, but remember how important your feedback is going to be to the story. I'll answer any questions you may have, and once it's done I'll post the story up on here