Two migrant workers from Mexico are suing a New Brunswick seafood processing company for what they allege was “widespread exploitation” and mistreatment.
Toronto-based advocacy organization Migrant Workers Alliance for Change says the lawsuit was served to LeBreton & Sons Fisheries on Tuesday.
Juan Pablo Lerma Lopez and Adriana de Leon Silva are seeking wages that they say they are owed under a six-month contract they entered into last year.
They are also seeking $12,500 each for the “great emotional pain and stress that LeBreton inflicted” on them.
Lopez, 27, spoke to reporters Tuesday at a news conference. In Spanish, he explained that coming to Canada was a different experience than what he had envisioned.
“My reality is that I have to support my family so I came to Canada. But here, life is hard, too, but we have to keep going,” he said, as interpreted by Niger Saravia with Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.
Lopez alleges that he lived in a hotel with poor ventilation, for which he had to pay $300 in rent, with two other workers. The accommodations were so bad, he says, there was mould on his clothes and belongings.
He and De Leon Silva allege they were promised an average of 30 hours a week of work over six months. However, a statement of claim says the two only received work from May 7 to Aug. 18, 2023. It’s alleged Lopez worked an average of 19 hours per week and De Leon Silva worked an average of 20.5 hours per week.
They allege not only were their jobs terminated after four months, there were several work interruptions, which meant they lost out on wages.
“Having only arrived in Canada two months earlier, the Plaintiffs were under tremendous amount of stress,” the statement of claim read.
“During these interruptions in work the Plaintiffs could not afford to buy food, pay their rent, or send money home to their families, who were relying on them.”
The statement says LeBreton loaned the plaintiffs money to buy food, which was deducted from their next pay period.
Since they had a closed work permit, they were not able to seek out other employment to supplement their income.
“Some of the conditions that migrant workers are experiencing on a daily basis are hunger because when they don’t work they don’t get paid. Reprisals, deportations and evictions,” said Saravia with Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.
The organization is calling on the federal government to grant permanent residency to temporary foreign workers in order to put an end to what Saravia calls “an abusive system.”
LeBreton & Sons Fisheries, which is based in Grand-Anse, N.B., declined to comment to Global News. A spokesperson said the company is reviewing the lawsuit with its lawyer.
The allegations have not been tested in court, and the company has not filed a defence yet.
In April, Immigration and Citizenship Canada fined LeBreton $365,000 for failing to provide a work environment free of harassment and reprisal.
The company has also been banned from hiring temporary foreign workers for two years.