Declaration of May 1, 2026-Iwc-Cti

JUSTICE AND RIGHTS FOR MIGRANT WORKERS

The Immigrant Workers Centre (IWC) stands in solidarity with migrant and immigrant workers across Quebec who continue to face systemic exploitation, discrimination, and unsafe working conditions. In warehouses, food processing plants, agriculture, care work, trucking, and other low-wage sectors, migrant workers are too often subjected to abusive practices: wage theft, excessive hours, intimidation, unsafe environments, and a lack of adequate protections against workplace injuries. Many endure these conditions in silence due to fear of reprisal, deportation, or loss of employment tied to precarious immigration status.

Health and Safety at the workplace

Workplace injuries remain a critical concern, particularly in high-risk sectors like warehousing and logistics, where speed, productivity quotas, and lack of training endanger workers’ health and safety. Injured workers frequently face barriers to accessing compensation, medical care, and legal recourse, further deepening their vulnerability. For many migrant workers, safe and healthy work conditions is only in theory as profits or employer convenience is put before the security and wellbeing of vulnerable workers.

Work with Dignity, protected and free of abuse

Recruiters and placement agencies play a significant and troubling role in this system. Many migrant workers arrive already burdened with debt due to illegal recruitment fees, false promises of employment conditions, and outright fraud. These practices can amount to labour trafficking, trapping workers in exploitative situations where their mobility and rights are severely restricted. The lack of oversight and accountability in recruitment systems enables this abuse to persist.

At the IWC, we believe that the conditions faced by migrant and immigrant workers are not isolated injustices, they are at the forefront of broader working-class struggles. Their experiences expose the structural inequalities embedded in our labour systems and demonstrate how far we must go to achieve dignity, safety, and fairness for all workers. When the most vulnerable are exploited, it weakens protections for the entire working class. An injury to one is an injury to all!

We stand united with the labour movement and working-class families across Quebec and Canada in confronting the ongoing capitalist crisis. This crisis is reflected in rising housing costs, job insecurity, and increasing energy prices that drive up the cost of basic necessities. It is resulting in fascist policies that strip our basic democratic rights as workers. Instead of ensuring decent wages, working people are subjected to à decrease of their real wages in relation to the rising costs of living. Rather than addressing these systemic issues, governments continue to scapegoat migrants and refugees, tightening borders and implementing policies that render migrant labour increasingly disposable and precarious.

Regularization and status for all migrants and refugees

The IWC firmly opposes the scapegoating of migrants. We reject immigration policies that criminalize, marginalize, and dehumanize those seeking safety and dignity. We will mobilize alongside our offices and community partners across Quebec to resist regressive and exclusionary policies targeting migrants and asylum seekers. We remain committed to fighting for justice against workplace abuses, exploitation, recruiter fraud, and labour trafficking.

We call for:

•       Full and permanent immigration status for all workers, ensuring access to rights and protections without fear.
•       Stronger enforcement of labour standards and health and safety regulations, particularly in sectors employing migrant workers.
•       The abolition of closed work permits that tie workers to a single employer.
•       Clear mechanisms for workers to fight back and make accountable abusive and fraudulent recruiters and placement agencies.
•       Accessible pathways for reporting abuse without risk of retaliation or deportation.
•       Universal access to healthcare, workers’ compensation, and legal protections regardless of immigration status.
•       Investment in social housing and social protections for all working-class communities.

A just society cannot be built on the exploitation of the most vulnerable. The Immigrant Workers Centre will continue to organize, advocate, and fight alongside migrant workers until dignity, safety, and justice are realities for all.

List of IWC May 1st actions:

•     Montreal – 5pm outside Parc metro station. Community rally and march.
•     Quebec – 4:30pm at ‘la Place de l’université du Québec (Boulevard Charest E, Québec, QC G1K 8M4) Community rally and march
•     Saguenay – Community meeting at UQAC in Chicoutimi, making signs, taking photos, and providing information about the CAQ’s cuts to the social safety net and Bill C-12.
•     Rivière-du-Loup – 11.00 a.m. in front of the Hôtel Universel (311 Hôtel-de-Ville Boulevard) – Community and union rally at the site of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) Caucus meeting