Two labour unions want a federal court to overturn temporary work permits issued to Chinese workers at a coal mine in northern British Columbia, arguing that there are unemployed Canadians who could fill the jobs.
Permits have been granted under the federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program to 200 Chinese workers to conduct exploration work at HD Mining International Ltd.'s Murray River mine near Tumbler Ridge. The company said it was not able to find workers in Canada with the specialized skills necessary.
But the court action filed by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115 and the Construction and Specialized Workers Union Local 1611 maintains that is not the case.
"There is no evidence of a labour shortage nor is there an absence of suitable Canadian citizens or permanent residents for the jobs," said the application.
It says HD Mining received 300 applications to work at the underground coal mine "despite the fact that HD Mining did not advertise widely and imposed unreasonable and unnecessary requirements on Canadian applicants."
Those requirements have not been imposed on the Chinese workers, the court documents allege.
The documents also accuse the company of paying wages to the Chinese workers that are about $10 an hour below the prevailing wages in the industry in Canada, and no benefits.
Calls to officials with the unions involved were not returned.
In a statement, Brian Cochrane, business manager of the operating engineers, said there are 474 miners on their dispatch list who are out of work, 100 of them in northeast B.C. "There are members in our union who are ready, willing and able to do these jobs," Cochrane said.
The unions say the permits for the Murray River workers were approved in violation of the federal regulations, which stipulate foreign workers can only be used in situations where a labour shortage exists.
They want the court to declare the permits invalid. The application also seeks an order preventing Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Citizenship and Immigration from issuing any further offers of employment or permits to HD Mining until the court matter is resolved.
The mining firm had no comment. HD Mining is a partnership between China-based Huiyong Holding Group, which owns a 55 per cent stake in the mine, and Canadian Dehua International Mines Group Inc.
The company has said before the Murray River mine uses a long-wall technique not used at any other operation in Canada and, therefore, there are no workers with the skills.
In long-wall mining, coal is extracted along a wall in large blocks and then carried out on a conveyor belt. The majority of underground mines in North America use the room-and-pillar method, in which rooms are carved out of the coal bed.
The unions say there is very little training required for long-wall mining.
While the Federal Court decides if it will hear the case, the Murray River project is undergoing an environmental assessment.
The company has been allowed to continue with preliminary sampling in the interim and the temporary workers have arrived from China to work.
Human Resources announced last week that it is reviewing whether the permit applications met federal requirements. The department is responsible for assessing the labour market with respect to temporary foreign workers.
