A new report reveals rampant verbal abuse, dangerous working conditions, overcrowded housing and exploitative recruitment practices among migrants working in seafood plants in New Brunswick during the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when the industry saw record profits.
The new report, based on interviews with 15 migrant workers who arrived in New Brunswick after the start of the pandemic in 2020, described a widespread atmosphere of verbal abuse and harassment in fish plants, a lack of health and safety training, few breaks during long shifts, and bosses who used threats of deportation to stop people from complaining about the working conditions.
In the same time span, New Brunswick made record profits on seafood, exporting $2.2-billion in seafood in 2021. More than half of that was lobster, the province’s top exported seafood product, according to government numbers. In a statement, the federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough said the findings are disturbing and describe contraventions of the temporary foreign workers program, which she vowed to review further and forward if necessary to the RCMP. “The mistreatment and abuse of temporary foreign workers is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Ms. Qualtrough wrote.