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Yessy Byl
As an advocate with the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), she’s had a front row view of the problems within Canada’s ‘Temporary Foreign Workers Program’.
Yessy sheds light on the oft-hidden problem of ‘recruiters’ – intermediaries who match foreign workers with local employers – who in many cases, bypass the system for a quick buck, sometimes charging immigrants exorbitant fees for jobs:
“The really tragic thing is people … spend their life savings [believing it a way to] eventually immigrate to Canada.”
The creation of her position by the AFL in early 2007 was an attempt to provide much-needed support to foreign workers in dealing with employers and/or employment brokers. No one could have imagined the overwhelming response to this services – Yessy oversees a massive intake, helping workers file complaints, deal with health and safety or immigration issues, understand their rights, and navigate provincial and federal bureaucracies.
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