Nov 12

Warehouse Workers Commission Report and Launch

walmart works cause we work

An evening of food, culture and testimonials

Saturday, November 23, 2019, 4 pm – 6 pm

Immigrant Workers Centre, 4755 Ave Van Horne Suite 110, Montréal

https://www.facebook.com/events/2678167875566768/

The Immigrant Workers Centre would like to invite you to participate in the launch of our report which was based on a two-year investigation on the conditions faced by warehouse workers in Montreal. There will be an event on Saturday, November 23rd at 4 pm. This event will feature the testimonial of temporary agency workers in warehouses that are active in organizing, because of the conditions they face; from low-wages, job insecurity, health and safety, and for status. The event will also be a chance to celebrate and come together with cultural performances and a community dinner provided by the Guinean community.

This was a project that was led by a core group of 5 temporary agency workers, who conducted group interviews and surveys with 50 workers in Montreal warehouses and distribution centres which have become “the new factories” in Montreal. As e-commerce and just in time distribution plays a crucial role in neoliberalism from the rise of Amazon, and other retail giants focusing more on online sales. Warehouse workers become critical in the economy. These workers as highlighted in the report are mainly temporary agency workers without job security, without access to basic rights, and are often racialized workers from Africa, Haiti, the Philippines, Egypt and other places.

The report itself is not just an opportunity to discuss the conditions faced by these workers but a chance to come together in solidarity to find ways to organize for justice for these warehouse workers to defend their basic labour rights.

Related Posts

Mostafa Henaway Exposes Migrant Worker Exploitation and Calls for Collective Resistance

Around 50 people gathered Wednesday evening at Un livre à soi bookstore in Montreal to celebrate the release of the updated French edition of Travail essentiel, travailleurs jetables, a book by Mostafa Henaway, a community organizer at the Immigrant Workers Centre (IWC). More than a book launch, the event offered an opportunity to confront an economic system that depends on migrant labour while denying migrant workers their rights and exposing... Read more →

Racism in the Montreal Police Is Not an “Isolated Incident”

What the racism crisis within the Montreal police reveals cannot be reduced to a few officers who overstepped their authority. The dismantling of an entire 16-officer team at neighbourhood station 39 in Montréal-Nord following allegations of racism and hateful conduct raises a much deeper question: what structures allow such practices to develop within an institution that is supposed to protect everyone? Following the revelations, community organizations and advocates demanded concrete... Read more →

Stop Making Refugees Pay for Canada’s Health-Care Crisis

The Carney government has partially reversed cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) after months of pressure from refugees, health-care workers, and community organizations. While the change will help some families, it leaves intact a cruel policy that forces some of Canada’s poorest and most vulnerable residents to pay for essential care they cannot afford. The IFHP provides temporary coverage to resettled refugees and asylum seekers waiting to qualify... Read more →

Building Community Power Against Deportations

On Sunday, August 2, the Comité d’action de Parc-Extension (CAPE) and the Immigrant Workers Centre (IWC-CTI) organized a workshop on the rights of migrants facing deportation. The workshop formed part of the IWC-CTI’s ongoing campaign to resist deportations and defend migrant communities. The event was particularly urgent because Parc-Extension has become an epicenter of the deportation crisis. More than 200 people are deported from Quebec every week, with people from... Read more →