Temp workers go to Queen's Park today to call for better protections

TORONTO, Oct. 30, 2014 /CNW/ - Temp agency workers will be appearing before a committee today to demand that MPPs make Bill 18 stronger by making temp agencies and client companies jointly liable for all employment standards violations, and implementing the Bill immediately so that workers don't have to wait to get the wages owed to them.

Bill 18 – the "Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act" – make temp agencies and client companies jointly liable for unpaid wages and overtime, give workers up to two years to file wage theft claims with no monetary limit, index minimum wage to inflation, and ban recruitment fees for all migrant workers. These are important steps toward improving conditions for workers in Ontario, but important changes need to be made to Bill 18 to ensure workers can access all their workplace rights.

As a temp agency worker, Angel has been working at the same company for over four years at minimum wage. "I have to ask both the company supervisor and the agency supervisor if I need a day off. I feel like I work for two companies – the place I go to every day and the temp agency name on my paycheque." Another worker, Justin, works through a temp agency at a warehouse for a large corporation. "They call us temporary workers but some of us have been working here 15 years or more, at minimum wage, with no benefits, in dangerous conditions, and with no ability to speak up."

"Every day workers are caught in limbo between temp agencies and client companies. The client company controls the workplace; there's no reason why they shouldn't be held responsible for the people who work there," says Deena Ladd, coordinator at the Worker's Action Centre. "The government's decision to lift the cap on wage theft claims should be implemented immediately so that workers don't have to wait for wages that have been stolen from them."

SOURCE: Workers Action Centre

Deena Ladd, cell: 416-836-2379, or: 416-531-0778 ext. 222; Karen Cocq, cell: 647-970-8464, or: 416-531-0778 ext. 221