In Brampton, newly arrived young workers defend their rights: “there is strength in”

Gagandeep Sidhu was out of breath in June. With $ 50 left in his bank account and his employer refusing to pay the $ 5,549 in wages he owed him, the 24-year-old had nowhere to turn. “I was completely broke,” said the driver of the dump truck.

It was then that Mr. Sidhu saw a Facebook post that caught his eye. The message, written in Punjabi, his mother tongue, promised to help students and workers recover wages withheld from their employers.

In the international student recruitment machine from India and Canada, opportunity turns to mourning and exploitation

The post was published by the Naujawan Support Network (NSN), a collective of Punjabi-Canadian activists based in Brampton, Ontario. The group, named after the Punjabi and Urdu word for “youth,” supports newcomer youth who are trying to enforce their rights against exploitative employers.

The group, which started with around a dozen core members, are now helping to defend young workers falling through the cracks in Brampton. Most are newcomers looking to become permanent residents. As they establish their new life in Canada, some find that they have no choice but to work below minimum wage and be paid illegally. Others are too afraid to confront their employers when things go wrong. NSN defends those who find themselves with their backs to the wall.

Simran Dhunna, 25, an early member of NSN, said employers withholding wages from international students and temporary workers are surprisingly common. When NSN first launched its social media accounts, the group received a flood of complaints from workers – hearing about everything from a trucking company forcing its employees to drive damaged trucks to an owner of the truck. food company that refused to pay a worker as he earned. wages. In the months that followed, NSN attracted hundreds of members and supporters across Brampton and beyond, establishing an online discussion network of over 250 people.

Feeling helpless in the face of his situation, Mr. Sidhu was one of those who turned to NSN for help. “The first thing they did was tell me not to be afraid. And I needed to hear that, ”he said. Mr. Sidhu, like many others involved in NSN’s efforts, is in Canada on a work permit. He was concerned that speaking out could result in retaliation from his employer, which could hamper his application for permanent residence. NSN members reassured him that Canadian law protects his right to protest.

NSN is currently involved in several active campaigns in support of immigrant workers, including Mr. Sidhu. He still hasn’t seen the money he says he owes her, but has joined NSN as a core member to help those in similar situations. “I have to keep fighting for others like me who think they are powerless,” he said. “I want to tell them that there is strength in numbers.”

The first action NSN takes against an employer is to send them a letter. “It’s a way of warning them. If an employer pays after the first letter, we back off. There is no problem with someone doing the right thing for their worker, ”Ms. Dhunna said.

When an employer refuses to pay, NSN protests. In early October, they supported truck driver Gurmukhjeet Singh, who demonstrated outside his former employer’s home. after filing a complaint in the labor court when the employer did not pay his salary for the month of June 2020. He obtained a payment order in March of this year, but the employer filed an appeal with of the Canadian Industrial Relations Board. “Appeals to the courts can take years – I had to do more than that,” he said.

Ontario Labor Minister Monte McNaughton said last month the government wanted to regulate temporary help agencies, noting inspections have shown that many such agencies in Ontario illegally pay workers below the rate. minimum wage and deny other basic employment rights. The provincial government has proposed a law that would require temp agencies to obtain an operating permit after being properly vetted.

Newcomers, including work permit holders, are often exploited and abused in the workplace because they are not yet permanent residents or citizens, said Mr Sidhu. Many of the businesses targeted by NSN are owned by fellow South Asians – the group tries to appeal to their sense of community by not so subtly reminding them of their obligations.

“Our community values ​​the concept of izzat – or honor, ”Singh said. “No matter how stubborn an employer is, they don’t want to be dishonored in the eyes of their neighbors. That’s why we put up posters in their neighborhoods, write about them on social media, and organize marches in front of their homes.

But such tactics have led to accusations that NSN is enforcing a form of self-defense justice. NSN founding member Ms Dhunna insists the group is not looking to replace appropriate legal channels, but only to provide much-needed support to vulnerable workers. They take care to examine workers’ complaints and also give employers the opportunity to respond, she added.

“We meet them in person and assess the hard evidence,” she said. “If we’re not convinced that there is a case or if we think someone has an ax to deal with, we turn it down. “

Sara Slinn, associate dean at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, said things were particularly precarious for independent contractors. They do not have the same rights as employees and have few options other than filing a costly lawsuit against the employer. “In these cases, the social pressure has the prospect of making them pay faster than the formal process, which can be very expensive and difficult,” she said. NSN claims to have succeeded in raising more than $ 45,000 in salaries for its members, either directly or indirectly through its campaigns.

Some NSN members, like truck driver Amandeep Virk, have managed to work with the group to pressure their employers to do the right thing. Mr. Virk, 31, was owed $ 3,054 by his former employer. “I had lost all hope. I even missed the window in which I could have placed a [legal] case, because I didn’t know how to file a claim, ”he said.

In June, Mr. Virk attended an NSN protest in support of his fellow truck driver, Mr. Sidhu. He spoke at the rally, sharing his own story. The video of his speech went viral, even reaching his employer.

“He asked me if I was planning a demonstration against him. I said yes, but we were planning to give him a fair warning first, ”Virk said. “He paused for a moment, then told me to get my check back in a few days.” When I got there he told me not to come in – he didn’t want other employees to see him hand over my check to me.

For other workers like Mr. Sidhu, however, the struggle continues. His former employer sent him and other members of the NSN formal notices citing defamation. But, with the support of the group, his determination remains strong.

“It might take longer than I thought, but I will win,” he said firmly. “I know I’m going to win, because I’m not alone.”

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