Aug 03

Les Voix migrantes: 30 juillet, 2012 Migrant Voices: IWC Radio Jul 30, 2012

Un travailleur mexicain raconte son travail comme boucher, jusqu’à 80 heures par semaine dans des conditions de travail esclavagistes. Son patron possédait ses papiers d’identité et contrôlait son compte en banque. Ce dernier l’empêchait de chercher des soins médicaux.

Lorsqu’il a quitté son emploi après trois ans, son patron a refusé de lui rendre son visa de travail, ce qui l’a obligé à travailler sans statut légal à Montréal. Il décrit sa situation comme étant “mille fois plus abusive qu’aux États-Unis” où il avait travaillé sans papiers pendant plusieurs années.

“Si là-bas on vous donne dix dollars, ici on vous donne cinq ou quatre, et on vous traite moins bien … et parfois le désespoir oblige les travailleurs à se soumettre” dit-il.

Son message à d’autres travailleurs im/migrants met l’accent sur l’importance du Centre des travailleurs et travailleuses immigrants pour les personnes qui viennent chez nous cherchant du soutien.

“Que dieu les aide  … à garder la tête haute et apporter leurs plaintes au Centre au métro Plamondon” dit-il. “Ces gens ont beaucoup d’expérience, et peuvent vraiment vous aider.”

Les Voix Migrantes est une compilation de témoignages des gens qui sont venus au Canada en tant que travailleurs et travailleuses (im)migrants.

Veuillez partager ces histoires avec vos amis. Ces émissions seront archivées sur notre site-web, où vous pourrez également soutenir via PayPal notre travail .

Part 1:

Part 2

In this special hour-long edition of Migrant Voices, a Mexican man recounts his experience working as a butcher for up to 80 hours per week in slave-like conditions. His boss controlled his immigration papers and bank account, and denied him access to health care.

When he quit his job after three years, his boss refused to relinquish his temporary work visa, forcing him to work without legal status in Montreal. He describes this experience as “a thousand times more exploitative than in the United States,” where he had worked without status for many years.

“If over there they give you ten dollars, here they will give you five, or four dollars, and they will treat you worse … and sometimes the despair forces immigrants to bow down,” he says.

His message to other migrant workers speaks to the importance of the IWC for the people who walk through our doors seeking support.

“God willing … that they keep their heads up and bring their complaints to the Immigrant Workers Centre at Metro Plamondon,” he says. “These people have a lot of experience and can really help you.”

With Yumna Siddiqi, Noé Arteaga, Aadi Ndir, Viviana Medina, Sarita Ahooja and David Gordon Koch.

Special thanks to James Goddard and Gab Aubry for their production support.

The Migrant Voices project is a collection of audio testimonies about the experiences of people who come to Canada as im/migrant workers. These testimonies are archived at iwc-cti.ca/migrant-voices-iwc-radio.

Please share these stories with your friends and encourage them to donate to the IWC to support our work.

(Download: part 1, part 2)

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