Why is the UCP recruiting TFWs when Alberta’s unemployment rate is high, asks McGowan

EDMONTON – Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) president Gil McGowan is demanding answers from Premier Danielle Smith about the UCP government’s planned Temporary Foreign Worker recruitment trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In a letter sent to Smith today, McGowan said that finding jobs for Albertans should be the UCP’s top priority when the province’s unemployment rate is the third highest in Canada.

“It’s unacceptable that the UCP is aggressively recruiting Temporary Foreign Workers when so many Albertans are out of work and underpaid,” said McGowan. “There’s only one reason they would do this: to drive stagnating wages in our province even further down.”

“Multibillion-dollar corporations could be training workers in Alberta and offering jobs with competitive wages and good working conditions,” said McGowan. “But they don’t need to because governments have let wealthy CEOs cut costs by exploiting workers with precarious immigration status, creating a cycle of exploitation that puts migrant workers in harm’s way while unemployment is on the rise.”

“The UCP needs to stop encouraging abuse of the TFW program, stop suppressing wages, and start getting Albertans to work,” said McGowan. “Our province has the people and the talent to fill these jobs. We need a provincial government that will support these workers, not keep them unemployed or underpaid.”

McGowan’s letter, and the International Talent Recruitment Mission to the UAE itinerary are attached as background.

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Tony Clark
Director of Research, AFL
Email: tclark@afl.org