tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/labourers-48576/articlesLabourers – The Conversation2019-09-19T22:13:58Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1233982019-09-19T22:13:58Z2019-09-19T22:13:58ZThe NDP is MIA on bold labour proposals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293029/original/file-20190918-187995-pjp4ux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C665%2C4533%2C2380&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has so far failed to propose bold labour initiatives in the lead-up to the Oct. 21 federal election.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many social democrats, progressives and others on the left have been approaching Canada’s federal election campaign with considerable apprehension. </p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/elections/poll-tracker/canada/">latest polls</a>, the federal New Democratic Party is in a distant third place, its popular vote projection having declined slightly since May. </p>
<p>Poll numbers so far have put the NDP at below 15 per cent and if its popularity doesn’t rise over the next few weeks, the party is likely to lose most of its caucus and play a minor role in the next Parliament.</p>
<p>What’s going on with the New Democrats? </p>
<p>Without question, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2019/09/04/will-jagmeet-singhs-identity-be-a-campaign-issue.html">racism</a> — whether explicit or implicit — has contributed to NDP leader Jagmeet’s Singh’s struggle to make headway with Canadian voters. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/vb5vwb/ndp-leader-jagmeet-singh-tackles-racism-after-losing-new-brunswick-candidates">Public</a> and <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/8x8wap/jagmeet-singh-called-out-the-cbc-for-racist-questions">media treatment</a> of the first visible minority leader of a Canadian political party should have Canadians thinking seriously about the country’s purported multiculturalism. </p>
<p>But there’s also been a surprising lack of organization and mobilization by the NDP. While not entirely attributable to Singh himself, the difficulty the NDP has had filling each electoral riding with a <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2019/09/11/ndp-candidate-in-bc-resigns-and-apologizes-for-telling-energy-journalist-that-he-would-like-to-break-his-jaw.html">vetted candidate</a> hasn’t eased the party’s woes.</p>
<h2>Labour movement in decline</h2>
<p>The NDP’s lack of bold proposals directed toward strengthening and rebuilding the labour movement — the party’s natural constituency — is striking. To be sure, the federal New Democrats have put forward some <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ndp-singh-health-policy-federal-election-1.5175899?fbclid=IwAR1AUM2Xs1Pg1_meHEQGFhA2dVdEd-gVdFXpVUy45bqTDV6nOzSjodXE7dI">far-reaching policies</a>, such as enlarging Canada’s health-care system to include dental, hearing and eye coverage, Pharmacare and mental health services. </p>
<p>But when it comes to the labour movement, the NDP has less to offer. This is particularly troubling when contrasted with <a href="https://pressprogress.ca/parliamentary-budget-officer-1-tax-on-canadas-wealthy-elites-would-generate-nearly-70-billion-in-new-revenue/">persistent earnings and wealth inequality</a> in Canada, and the related <a href="https://pressprogress.ca/new-data-shows-wages-stagnated-and-inequality-grew-even-as-the-canadian-economy-boomed-in-2017/">wage stagnation</a> experienced by workers in the bottom 40 per cent of the income distribution since the 1980s. </p>
<p>It’s no coincidence that during this same time period, union membership rates have fallen from a high of 37.6 per cent <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2015005-eng.htm">in 1981</a> to just over 30 per cent today. Even this significant decline masks what has been a far more disconcerting weakening of unions in the private sector, where unionization now hovers at just under <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410013201">16 per cent</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/militant-unionists-are-striking-out-here-are-4-things-unions-can-do-to-stay-relevant-121040">Militant unionists are striking out: here are 4 things unions can do to stay relevant</a>
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<p>Given the role trade unions <a href="https://www.labourrights.ca/sites/labourrights.ca/files/documents/cflr_unions_matter.pdf">have historically played</a> in diminishing economic inequality, there should be more in the NDP’s platform aimed at making it easier for workers to form or join unions and to expand the scope of collective bargaining. </p>
<h2>A platform for labour?</h2>
<p>Perhaps the centerpiece of the NDP labour platform is the call for a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage, <a href="https://www.insauga.com/ndp-leader-jagmeet-singh-announces-plan-to-establish-living-wage-for-minimum-wage-workers">officially announced</a> by Singh on Labour Day. </p>
<p>There are two problems with this proposal.</p>
<p>First, because of the division between provincial and federal jurisdictions in Canada, where employment and labour law are mostly the purview of the provinces, a federal minimum wage would only cover approximately <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/labour-standards/reports/federal-minimum-wage.html">six per cent</a> of workers in federally regulated industries.</p>
<p>Currently, there’s no minimum wage in the federal industries; federal employees in the private sector are covered by the provincial minimum wage legislation in place in whichever province they happen to work. So although it would be a progressive measure to institute a higher federal minimum wage, the policy would have a limited reach. </p>
<p>Second, of those <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/labour-standards/reports/federally-regulated-private-sector.html">federally regulated workers</a> (who mostly work in banking, telecommunications, air, rail and road transportation, private courier services, uranium mining, grain milling and interprovincial bridge and tunnel construction), fewer than a quarter currently earn less than $20 per hour. </p>
<p>The federal New Democrats also propose to tackle the growth of nonstandard employment, such as part-time, contract and temporary work, by instituting policies designed to ensure workers are compensated equally to full-time permanent employees doing comparable work.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293063/original/file-20190918-187940-1d9wwx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293063/original/file-20190918-187940-1d9wwx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293063/original/file-20190918-187940-1d9wwx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293063/original/file-20190918-187940-1d9wwx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293063/original/file-20190918-187940-1d9wwx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293063/original/file-20190918-187940-1d9wwx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293063/original/file-20190918-187940-1d9wwx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293063/original/file-20190918-187940-1d9wwx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Workers in the gig economy would be compensated fairly under NDP proposals. But the Liberals are proposing the same safeguards.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>But it’s not clear how these proposals differ from what Justin Trudeau’s Liberals already introduced in 2018 through Bill C-86. These newest reforms to the Canada Labour Code — the legislation governing labour standards in the federal jurisdiction — already include a measure to help guarantee <a href="https://www.hrreporter.com/workplace-law/38932-bill-c-86-brings-major-changes/">equal pay for equal work</a>, regardless of whether an employee is full-time, part-time, contract or temporary.</p>
<p>The Trudeau government has also already signalled its willingness to make a number of positive reforms to labour standards in the federal jurisdiction, convening an <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/campaigns/expert-panel.html">Expert Panel on Modern Labour Standards</a> in 2017 to hold public consultations and make recommendations to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour. </p>
<p><a href="https://stewartmckelvey.com/thought-leadership/client-update-change-is-the-only-constant-bill-c-86-changes-in-federal-labour-and-employment-regulation/">Bill C-86</a> contains a number of labour standards improvements. They include paid personal leave days and additional vacation and vacation pay for employees with more than 10 years of service, and a “reverse onus clause” designed to place the burden of proof on employers in cases where workers claim to be misclassified as independent contractors. </p>
<h2>Growing the labour movement</h2>
<p>On the industrial relations side, the NDP’s main proposal involves banning the use of replacement workers during strikes. Such “anti-scab” legislation has long been on the agenda of organized labour. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293058/original/file-20190918-187974-1exrbrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293058/original/file-20190918-187974-1exrbrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293058/original/file-20190918-187974-1exrbrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293058/original/file-20190918-187974-1exrbrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293058/original/file-20190918-187974-1exrbrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293058/original/file-20190918-187974-1exrbrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293058/original/file-20190918-187974-1exrbrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293058/original/file-20190918-187974-1exrbrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Canada Post workers walk the picket line during a rotating strike in Halifax in November 2018. The striking postal workers were ordered back on the job.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span>
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<p>One important caution about anti-scab bills is that, while they ban companies from bringing in replacement workers, they do not necessarily stop companies from moving production out. Given the increasingly complex supply chains of our economy, outsourcing production during a labour stoppage is arguably a bigger problem for striking workers.</p>
<p>Additionally, the NDP’s <a href="https://www.ndp.ca/economy">election platform</a> indicates that the party will protect free collective bargaining. However, Canada’s system of worksite-based bargaining presents significant obstacles to union growth.</p>
<p>The rise of the “<a href="http://www.fissuredworkplace.net/the-problem.php">fissured workplace</a>,” with sub-contracting, franchising and other forms of divided ownership structures, creates a fundamental mismatch between worksite-level bargaining units and the organization of contemporary businesses. As many <a href="https://onlabor.org/this-labor-day-a-clean-slate-for-reform/">labour experts</a> have been pointing out, the only way to address these economic changes is through a system of broader-based <a href="https://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/about/cwr_interim/chapter_4_6.php">sectoral bargaining</a>, where unions bargain contracts to cover whole sectors, industries or regions. </p>
<p>Nothing of this order seems to be on the radar of the federal NDP. </p>
<p>Granted, the federated structure of Canada’s political system makes it difficult to roll out progressive legislation with a national impact, particularly when it comes to labour reforms. But a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/dec/17/the-next-left-socialism-in-the-uk-and-the-us">resurgent left</a> in the United States and United Kingdom, growing inequality in Canada and a Canadian public seemingly <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2019/08/27/majority-of-canadians-have-a-positive-view-of-socialism-poll-says.html">open to progressive change</a> present a promising political opening that the NDP is unfortunately squandering. </p>
<h2>A template from Bernie Sanders</h2>
<p>If the NDP is in search of an ambitious suite of labour proposals, they should look to Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders’ recently released <a href="https://berniesanders.com/en/issues/workplace-democracy/">Workplace Democracy Plan</a>. It’s a veritable labour wish list for the 21st century economy. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293065/original/file-20190918-187945-ymciy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293065/original/file-20190918-187945-ymciy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293065/original/file-20190918-187945-ymciy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293065/original/file-20190918-187945-ymciy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293065/original/file-20190918-187945-ymciy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293065/original/file-20190918-187945-ymciy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293065/original/file-20190918-187945-ymciy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293065/original/file-20190918-187945-ymciy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bernie Sanders’ list of labour proposals is a wish list for the decades ahead.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Eric Gay)</span></span>
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<p>Sanders’ plan includes lifting the ban on secondary strikes and boycotts, tackling various forms of employee misclassification, guaranteeing union successor rights that would prevent contract-flipping and business sales from undermining collective agreements, ending at-will employment (requiring “just cause” for dismissals), extending labour rights and protections to workers currently exempted (like domestic workers and farm labourers), and — most ambitiously — creating a system of national-level sectoral bargaining. </p>
<p>The breadth of Sanders’ plan is remarkable, particularly when compared to the tepid NDP platform. </p>
<p>At a time when economic polarization has contributed to a revitalized left in other industrial democracies, the NDP appears conspicuously out of step. </p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123398/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam D.K. King does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The federal NDP is missing an opportunity to put workers’ rights firmly on the agenda during this election campaign.Adam D.K. King, Post-Doctoral Visitor, Department of Politics, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/961732018-05-08T20:22:36Z2018-05-08T20:22:36ZThe preferred jobs of serial killers and psychopaths<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218671/original/file-20180512-184630-j6ffcd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">blank</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The recent and startling arrest of the elusive <a href="http://people.com/crime/golden-state-killer-behind-investigation-arrest/">Golden State Killer</a>, aka the East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker/Diamond Knot Killer/Visalia Ransacker in what was arguably the most vexing and disturbing constellation of interlinked cold cases in American history, has raised more questions than answers. </p>
<p>One question is how a serial burglar, rapist and murderer could operate in so many jurisdictions simultaneously and, much like <a href="http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/paul-bernardo-and-karla-homolka-case/">the case of Paul Bernardo</a> in Canada, have law enforcement officials so myopically overlook the connections among his crimes in several different cities.</p>
<p>Another question is, of course, how a police officer like <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5688023/Judge-OKs-taking-DNA-photos-Golden-State-Killer-suspect.html">Joseph DeAngelo</a>, the accused Golden State Killer who makes his next court appearance on May 14, could be capable of such sadistic brutality throughout a large portion of his brief and troubled law enforcement career. </p>
<p>Similar questions have been raised in the past about other serial offenders, killers whose innocuous and even virtuous jobs seemed to belie the horrors they committed while hiding behind a veneer of respectability. That includes the infamous Canadian <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/that-one-time-a-canadian-air-force-pilot-who-was-also-a-serial-killer-flew-queen-elizabeth-2015-9">Col. Russell Williams</a> (who once piloted a VIP aircraft whose passengers included Queen Elizabeth) to lesser-known computer store owner and prominent Nashville businessman <a href="https://casetext.com/case/state-v-steeples">Tom Steeples</a>, who killed three people for thrills before committing suicide while in police custody. </p>
<p>But in fact, occupations and serial murders are often linked, and some specific full-time and part-time jobs are strangely over-represented among serial killers. So much so, in fact, that over the last 50 years, some dominant patterns have emerged. </p>
<p>As detailed in my recent book, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/551497/murder-in-plain-english-by-michael-arntfield-and-marcel-danesi/9781633882539/"><em>Murder in Plain English</em>,</a> these same occupations are commonly broken down into four categories based on skill, training and turnover. Some of them might surprise you, others not.</p>
<h2>Serial killer job breakdown</h2>
<p><strong>—</strong> Top 3 Skilled Serial-Killer Occupations: 1. Aircraft machinist/assembler; 2. Shoemaker/repair person; 3. Automobile upholsterer</p>
<p><strong>—</strong> Top 3 Semi-Skilled Serial Killer Occupations: 1. Forestry worker/arborist; 2. Truck driver; 3. Warehouse manager </p>
<p><strong>—</strong> Top 3 Unskilled Serial Killer Occupations: 1. General labourer (mover, landscaper, et. al.); 2. Hotel porter; 3. Gas station attendant</p>
<p><strong>—</strong> Top 3 Professional/Government Serial Killer Occupations: 1. Police/security official; 2. Military personnel; 3. Religious official </p>
<p>Obviously, not everyone occupying these jobs is a serial killer, nor are they likely to become one.</p>
<p>But there’s something about these jobs that is inherently appealing to offenders, or that otherwise cultivates the impulses of serial killers-in-waiting and causes them to be curiously over-represented among this rare breed of murderer. </p>
<p>DeAngelo, the alleged Golden State Killer, for instance, actually held down three of these jobs over the course of his lifetime: Police officer, military personnel (he was previously in the U.S. navy), and, peripherally, truck driver, although his post-police career (he was fired in 1979 for shoplifting) was spent mostly as a mechanic for a fleet of grocery store freezer trucks. </p>
<h2>Bygone era</h2>
<p>A closer look at the these occupations reveals a bygone era in terms of available jobs — occupations that, while once common and accessible to killers in the ‘60s, '70s and '80s —are now largely obsolete. The job market is changing; with that, so is the disturbing but legitimate nexus between murder and labour. </p>
<p>The shift toward a service-based, tech-driven and typically contractual economy, what is often called <a href="https://www.laborrights.org/issues/precarious-work">precarious work</a>, along with the disappearance of once traditional career paths will obviously have profound effects not only on the jobs held by offenders but also how they acquire their victims. </p>
<p>As discussed in my forthcoming book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Monster-City-Murder-Mayhem-Nashvilles/dp/1503952886"><em>Monster City</em></a>, there was a precipitous surge in serial murder in Nashville with the rise of the “new” country music scene in the '80s and '90s, giving would-be killers access to new victims. </p>
<p>Serial killers once used the guise of their employment to stalk and acquire specific victims or types of victims (<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/btk-serial-killer-inside-confessional-new-book-w439143">Dennis Rader</a>, <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/29/local/la-me-i-5-strangler-20110629">Roger Kibbe</a> and <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-07-18/news/0707170835_1_truck-arrest-town">Bruce Mendenhall</a> all immediately come to mind). But <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01490400.2017.1384941">new research</a> suggests that leisure activities like music, including online interactions, may be the new avenue through which serial killers troll for their victims.</p>
<p>It’s also where they mentally rehearse their crimes amid a shrinking offline public sphere and work world. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this artist’s sketch, alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur makes an appearance via video in a Toronto courtroom in April 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alexandra Newbould</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The result is that we are likely to see, returning once again to alleged Toronto serial killer <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/alleged-serial-killer-bruce-mcarthur-s-latest-victim-came-to-canada-on-mv-sun-sea-to-protect-his-life-1.4622216">Bruce McArthur</a>, blurred occupational-recreational categories involving both online and offline dimensions — a new paradigm that will force us to adjust the list of the most common jobs among serial killers. </p>
<p>The caveat, of course, is that a single defining occupation is in continuous flux. Could “occupation,” for instance, denote a primary vocation, a part-time avocation or even just a paid hobby or pastime? </p>
<h2>Pastimes as well as professions?</h2>
<p>Might it also include an unpaid pastime by which a person defines himself or herself? </p>
<p>A quick perusal of top LinkedIn “influencers” and “open networkers,” for example, suggests many people actually list their passions or pastimes and not their paid jobs as their primary occupation.</p>
<p>In McArthur’s case, we see that while he conforms to the “general labourer” category, as a landscaper and not just a grass-cutter, as well as the owner of his own company, he also fits no clear vocational definition. </p>
<p>And yet, as we already know from the morbid mass grave recovered from a client’s home on Mallory Crescent in Toronto, the occupation of the accused was central to his alleged offences and how he reportedly disposed of victims — it was integral to his apparent modus operandi. </p>
<p>So while many killers use their employment as a pretext to acquire vulnerable victims, obtain information or cultivate violent fantasies for reasons we still don’t fully understand (“Milwaukee Cannibal” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/18/us/15-life-terms-and-no-parole-for-dahmer.html">Jeffrey Dahmer</a> once admitted that his work as a chocolate factory machinist awakened homicidal and necrophilic urges he had otherwise suppressed), in McArthur’s case, occupation was the back-end to his alleged crimes, not the inspiration for them.</p>
<h2>What about the psychopaths?</h2>
<p>As we begin to redraw the map of serial murder and career paths, it might also be useful to look at the otherwise better-known index of occupations over-represented among psychopaths. </p>
<p>While not all psychopaths are serial killers, psychopathy — or at the very least, the possession of psychopathic traits — is a common denominator among serial killers, sex offenders and most violent criminals. Have a look at the Top 10 occupations <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/these-10-jobs-attract-the-most-psychopaths-a6692656.html">according to an Oxford University psychologist</a>:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>CEO or business executive</p></li>
<li><p>Lawyer</p></li>
<li><p>Media personality</p></li>
<li><p>Salesperson</p></li>
<li><p>Surgeon</p></li>
<li><p>Journalist or news anchor</p></li>
<li><p>Police officer</p></li>
<li><p>Religious official</p></li>
<li><p>Chef</p></li>
<li><p>Miscellaneous civil servant (military, city council, corrections, etc.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>In overlaying the two lists, we can see that even amid a perpetually changing economy, certain jobs are always likely to appeal to those people we will later be stunned to learn managed to carry on that type of work while also being monsters in our midst. </p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published May 8, 2018. The earlier story described Bruce McArthur as a landscape architect instead of a landscaper.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96173/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Arntfield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The arrest of former cop Joseph DeAngelo in the Golden State Killer case raises questions about the common occupations of killers and psychopaths. Canada’s Russell Williams was a former military officer.Michael Arntfield, Associate Professor of Criminology & English Literature, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/952922018-04-26T22:16:01Z2018-04-26T22:16:01ZThe issues facing Canadian workers this May Day<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216127/original/file-20180424-57604-s5aaju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Organized labour held demonstrations in front of Tim Hortons franchises in Ontario in January 2018 to protest the actions some Tim Hortons franchises have taken in response to an increase in the province's minimum wage.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>May Day is upon us. What are the issues that have defined labour politics in the past year in Canada? </p>
<p>Minimum wage was certainly front and centre in many parts of the country.</p>
<p>But if May Day is a time to reflect on the radical labour struggles of the past and demands for the future, the minimum wage is not and should not be enough — not least because it cannot address the contradictions of Canadian capitalism. </p>
<h2>The politics of minimum wage</h2>
<p>The governments of British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario have raised or committed to raising the minimum wage for most workers to $15 an hour by 2018 (Ontario and Alberta) and 2021 (B.C.). </p>
<p>This has resulted in a predictable backlash. <a href="http://pressprogress.ca/news-coverage-of-ontarios-minimum-wage-increase-was-slanted-heavily-towards-business-interests/">Analyses of media coverage</a> have noted that business sources were overwhelmingly cited in stories rather than labour sources, negative impacts on employers were over-reported relative to positive impacts for workers and research findings were misreported to create the impression of damage to the economy. </p>
<p>The fact that politicians have been willing to advocate for minimum wage increases, however, points to several important trends in the Canadian economy and their implications for working people.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/democracy-freedom-and-cheap-stuff-can-we-pay-more-for-our-coffee-90621">Democracy, freedom and cheap stuff: Can we pay more for our coffee?</a>
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<p>First, income and wealth inequality have increased in Canada. The top one per cent of income earners took about a <a href="http://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/Details/society/income-inequality.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1.">third of all income gains in the decade from 1997 to 2007</a>. After an initial hit during the 2008 recession, this trend has again accelerated.</p>
<p>The effects on total wealth are even more striking. According to <a href="https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-006-x/2015001/article/14194-eng.htm#a5">Statistics Canada</a>, between 1999 and 2012, the bottom fifth of total families in Canada saw a 14.5 per cent increase in net worth, compared with a 106.9 per cent increase among the top fifth. </p>
<p>At the same time, the cost of living for workers — especially housing and child care — has increased. The stagnation of wages among low- and middle-income families and rising costs, of housing in particular, has led to record levels of consumer debt. <a href="https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-001-x/2012002/article/11636-eng.htm">Data show that residents of B.C., Alberta and Ontario held three out of four dollars of household debt</a> in Canada in 2012.</p>
<h2>Precarious employment on the rise</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, precarious employment is increasing in Canada, especially the proportion of self-employed workers and those in temporary jobs, and especially for younger workers. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216569/original/file-20180426-175069-1dm6y20.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216569/original/file-20180426-175069-1dm6y20.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216569/original/file-20180426-175069-1dm6y20.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216569/original/file-20180426-175069-1dm6y20.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216569/original/file-20180426-175069-1dm6y20.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216569/original/file-20180426-175069-1dm6y20.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216569/original/file-20180426-175069-1dm6y20.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A part-time shift worker at a grocery store, who wished to remain anonymous, is pictured in Toronto in August 2015. The rise of precarious employment in Canada - mainly work in the services and retail sectors - has brought with it questionable employer practices that have employees stressed out and labour activists fuming.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Research from a <a href="https://pepso.ca/">Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario (PEPSO)</a> project, which demonstrated the limitations of existing studies like Statistics Canada’s <a href="https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/survey/household/3701">Labour Force Survey</a>, show high levels of precarious work in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), with a range of negative impacts on workers, households and communities.</p>
<p>At a time of record low unemployment, then, the issues of income and wealth inequality, rising debt linked to housing and living costs and increasingly insecure employment have helped fuel minimum wage increases. These issues are highlighted by sustained, creative grassroots campaigning and community-union alliances like the <a href="https://www.fightfor15bc.ca">Fight for 15</a> movement. </p>
<p>There is also increasing media and political attention on these issues, despite some glaring failures to connect the dots. </p>
<p>The uncritical narrative of NAFTA, for example, <a href="https://www.hilltimes.com/2017/10/18/nafta-2-0-now-britain-boon-canada/122470">as a boon to all Canadians</a>, conceals the loss of Canadian manufacturing jobs and the decline in manufacturing wages as a direct result of trade policy (not an inevitable outcome of the natural forces of globalization). </p>
<h2>A racialized labour market</h2>
<p>Trade policy is only one area in which the contradictions underlying our economy are obvious. Another is Canada’s continued reliance <a href="http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/farmers-dismayed-as-government-begins-unannounced-temporary-foreign-worker-audits">on temporary foreign workers (TFWs).</a> </p>
<p>In my own research, I’ve addressed the continuum between precarious employment and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.01.008">unfree labour relations</a> in the Canadian economy. Temporary foreign workers hold work permits that are tied to an employer, which means they aren’t free to switch jobs if they are exploited. Many fear being deported if they report abuse or if they try to organize. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216568/original/file-20180426-175041-30wauv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216568/original/file-20180426-175041-30wauv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216568/original/file-20180426-175041-30wauv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216568/original/file-20180426-175041-30wauv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216568/original/file-20180426-175041-30wauv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216568/original/file-20180426-175041-30wauv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216568/original/file-20180426-175041-30wauv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Canadian flag flaps in the wind behind migrant worker Henry Aguirre of Guatemala during a demonstration in Montreal in July 2017. Activists and migrant workers say Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program doesn’t adequately protect the rights of vulnerable workers despite the laws in place.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s not only sectors like agriculture that are reliant on migrants who have no route to settlement in Canada. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program <a href="http://www.policynote.ca/temporary-foreign-worker-program-changes-who-do-they-help/">expanded fastest in sectors like accommodation services</a> and food services in the late 2000s. Temporary migration leaves these workers vulnerable by controlling the conditions of their work, and sets a dangerous precedent for all workers.</p>
<p>The second, related point is that labour market disadvantages in Canada are racialized. <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11f0019m/11f0019m2017397-eng.htm.">Data from the 2016 census</a> highlighted that immigrants, in particular immigrant women, are more likely to be low-income than Canadian-born workers. The PEPSO study found that racialized workers are also more likely to be in precarious employment. </p>
<p>The impacts, which include <a href="https://justlabour.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/justlabour/article/view/8">what’s known as <em>de-skilling</em> as well as poverty</a>, are felt by communities, not just households and individuals. De-skilling occurs when workers become trapped in jobs that don’t fully utilize their qualifications and experience — for example, when qualified Filipino nurses come to Canada to work as nannies and are unable to move back into nursing in this country.</p>
<p>For Black and Indigenous communities, meantime, labour market disadvantages shape and are compounded by disproportionately high rates of incarceration and the <a href="http://www.cwp-csp.ca/2017/01/criminalizing-poverty-a-national-trend/">criminalization of poverty</a>.</p>
<h2>Harder to unionize</h2>
<p>For unions and labour organizers, the changing economy creates additional challenges as class-based solidarities fray and the full weight of huge shifts in the composition of the labour market are felt.</p>
<p>As the labour movement well knows, unionism is now an uncomfortable fit for workers more likely to be employed in a branch of Tim Hortons than a branch plant.</p>
<p>Finally, and most fundamentally, Canada is far from grappling with the core contradictions of its model of economic growth. </p>
<p>Our economic policy continues to be based on what’s known as <em>extractivism</em> — the large-scale extraction of natural resources for the export of raw materials — which is at odds with the realities of climate change. And the wealth of the settler state, premised on that extractivism, derives directly from the expropriation and dispossession of First Nations and Indigenous peoples and their lands. </p>
<p>Here we see the shape of struggles to come — in the nascent alliances and tensions between the labour movement and those on the front lines of the struggle for climate justice. </p>
<p>This is about far more than a bigger slice of the economic pie, as important as better wages are. </p>
<p>It is about the definition and the goals of labour politics, and who counts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kendra Strauss receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). She is also on the Research Advisory Council of the BC office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.</span></em></p>May Day is a time to reflect on labour struggles of the past and demands for the future, and Canada’s move toward increasing the minimum wage is not enough. Labour politics is about who countsKendra Strauss, Director and Associate Professor, The Labour Studies Program, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/900832018-01-16T22:41:52Z2018-01-16T22:41:52ZThe cruel trade-off at your local produce aisle<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201820/original/file-20180112-101514-1r0lfpp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C29%2C4943%2C2975&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A migrant worker picks peaches in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., in the summer of 2015.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When we decide what fresh produce to buy, we check our fruits and vegetables for colour and blemishes, and we make sure the price seems fair.</p>
<p>We’re looking after our families.</p>
<p>But there’s a problem that is not necessarily apparent, even under the bright lights of the produce aisle — one that harms a set of people who are vital to getting Canada’s crops to our tables but get almost no public support.</p>
<p>We’re not looking after their families.</p>
<p>Very often, the farm workers who harvest Canadian apples, tomatoes, onions and other crops are from countries such as Mexico <a href="http://jis.gov.jm/300-farmworkers-leave-week-canada/">and Jamaica.</a> Countries where work is scarce and the standard of living is far lower than it is here.</p>
<p>Farm work is hard. It is heavy, it can be dangerous, and it often demands six or seven days a week. It pays poorly by Canadian standards — typically minimum wage.</p>
<h2>Work Canadians won’t do</h2>
<p>That’s not necessarily attractive to Canadians, who prefer other jobs.</p>
<p>But it does offer a chance for migrant workers to help their families back home.</p>
<p>Some consumers feel that it’s a fair bargain. Farmers get dependable, flexible and affordable labour while migrant workers make money to send home. On the surface, it might seem like everybody wins.</p>
<p>In fact, there is a hidden cost to those workers and to their families.</p>
<p>Most of them come here under the auspices of the federal <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/agricultural/seasonal-agricultural.html">Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program</a>, which allows farmers to bring labourers to Canada. About 53,000 temporary foreign agricultural worker positions were approved in Canada in 2015, of which 42,000 were through the SAWP.</p>
<p>The main goal of the program is to import labour, not people, creating a system that is flexible and sustainable. Instead, it is unbalanced and harmful to the people who do the labour we need them to do.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201821/original/file-20180112-101508-1jdta8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201821/original/file-20180112-101508-1jdta8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201821/original/file-20180112-101508-1jdta8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201821/original/file-20180112-101508-1jdta8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201821/original/file-20180112-101508-1jdta8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201821/original/file-20180112-101508-1jdta8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201821/original/file-20180112-101508-1jdta8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Mexican migrant worker trims the vines of a vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., in March 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Seasonal agricultural workers can only be here for eight months each year. They cannot stay on when they are finished. Their years and sometimes decades of hard work — and their contributions to feeding Canadians —do not earn them any extra right to settle here in Canada.</p>
<p>All the while, they are producing and collecting our food for us, and Canada is deducting taxes and Employment Insurance premiums from their pay without permitting them to access the insurance benefits or rights associated with citizenship.</p>
<h2>Cannot collect the EI they pay into</h2>
<p>The workers are forced to leave the country after eight months. No one can collect EI from outside the country, so it’s impossible for them to be eligible. </p>
<p>They used to be able to collect parental and maternity benefits through EI, but the Stephen Harper government <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/12/11/seasonal_migrant_workers_stripped_of_parental_benefits.html">removed this right in 2012</a>. The Trudeau government has yet to restore it, despite <a href="http://www.ufcw.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3915:ufcw-canada-and-official-opposition-call-on-government-to-end-great-canadian-rip-off-of-sawp-workers&catid=513&Itemid=6&lang=en">repeated calls</a> from advocates to do so.</p>
<p>The federal government collects mandatory Canada Pension Plan payments, too, but offers only meagre payback when those workers retire in their home countries after giving their bodies to working on our behalf.</p>
<p>The invisible costs, as we have recently described in a paper for the journal <a href="https://www.riir.ulaval.ca/en">Industrial Relations</a>, include the high price that families pay when husbands and fathers leave for months at a time to work. Almost all migrant agricultural labourers — 97 per cent —are men and the vast majority have spouses and children back home.</p>
<p>No one forces them to come to Canada, but lacking viable options at home, they don’t have much of a choice if they want to support their families. This leaves their children without fathers for months each year. And it forces their spouses to shoulder the entire burden of managing their households. </p>
<p>It’s a cruel trade-off. To help their families, these workers have to hurt them.</p>
<h2>Hardships for family back home</h2>
<p>Ultimately, these hardships can be measured in tangible terms. There are higher rates of illness among these migrant workers’ families back home. Their kids have more mental illness, behavioural problems and trouble in school. Spouses report high levels of stress. Families sometimes fall apart.</p>
<p>Any parent can imagine what it would be like to leave home for eight months, without any chance to return for major family events, including weddings, funerals and graduations. That has a tremendous impact on relationships.</p>
<p>It deeply undermines families.</p>
<p>Yet it’s all perfectly legal and fully sanctioned by our federal government. In theory, it’s all voluntary, but in reality, it’s clear these workers have little choice to take the jobs Canadians won’t do — at least not for the pay and working conditions being offered.</p>
<p>Agriculture is a big business, and certainly everyone who has a hand in providing safe, fresh produce to Canadians deserves to make a living. Farmers face the weather and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3865664/more-okanagan-fruit-growers-to-be-blocked-from-hiring-mexican-workers/">other challenges</a>, including sub-standard living conditions in some cases, for uncertain rewards. Wholesalers and distributors — who are invisible to most consumers — make a significant portion of the retail price. Retailers make almost all the rest.</p>
<h2>Cannot unionize</h2>
<p>The hands that pluck the fruits and vegetables — typically brown or black hands, which matters in the racialized calculus of food pricing where folks with darker skins often have to work harder for less — receive only a small fraction of the retail price. Some provinces, including Ontario —where over half the SAWP workers are employed — <a href="http://www.focal.ca/es/publications/focalpoint/457-june-2011-kerry-preibisch">will not allow agricultural workers to unionize</a>, either.</p>
<p>Fairer access to rights, benefits and job protections, including employment insurance and open work permits, would not make much difference to the retail price, if any.</p>
<p>This brings us back to the question of the true sustainability of our food. Is it a fair exchange when the fresh fruits and vegetables that we feed to our kids come at such a cost to other families and their kids?</p>
<p>Does it matter less to us because we can’t see those kids and their mothers? Or because we delude ourselves into believing their fathers and husbands are satisfied coming here, paying into benefit systems they can never access, leaving their families year after year, with no chance to ever immigrate and build a future together?</p>
<p>Does that apple still taste as sweet when we know that a poor person’s hardships subsidized it for us?</p>
<p>It’s worth thinking about. It shouldn’t be this way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90083/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Donald MacLean Wells receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). This research was funded by SSHRC as part of The Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario (PEPSO) <<a href="https://pepso.ca/">https://pepso.ca/</a>> research project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) as part of The Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario (PEPSO) <<a href="https://pepso.ca/">https://pepso.ca/</a>> research project.</span></em></p>Every year, migrant workers come to Canada to pick the fruits and vegetables we take for granted. They aren’t paid well and get none of the benefits they pay into. It’s time to treat them fairly.Donald MacLean Wells, Professor Emeritus, Labour Studies and Political Science, McMaster UniversityJanet McLaughlin, Associate Professor of Health Studies, Research Associate, International Migration Research Centre, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.