Manitoba Labour Board rules against Thompson hotel in Temporary Foreign Worker program case

A Thompson hotel has been found guilty of wrongfully firing temporary foreign workers who contacted Ottawa about alleged mistreatment.

The Manitoba Labour Board ruled against the Best Western Thompson Hotel & Suites last month. The 34-page decision, reviewed by the Free Press, hasn’t yet been made public.

“We thought that we were not gonna win this,” said Jamaicah Malindatu, one of three Filipino migrants to see their case through the Manitoba Labour Board. “(I’m) so happy.”

She and colleagues filed identical applications in May 2024. The workers had been terminated from their housekeeping roles that April and May.

The cuts came shortly after their manager learned the trio had sent a complaint to the federal government’s tip line for temporary foreign workers, the labour board decision reads.

Tensions had been building, the workers testified.

Malindatu was one of at least five Filipinos hired during the summer of 2023. She and peers came on closed work permits, meaning they were tied to employment at the hotel.

The group came from China; they’d worked as hotel staff in the region of Macau.

Jmillson Santos, one of the crew, knew the Best Western Thompson’s general manager. The manager contacted him looking for staff, the labour board report reads.

Neither manager Ethel Timbang nor her lawyer responded to interview requests by print deadline Wednesday. Timbang is president of the Thompson Chamber of Commerce.

“We thought that we were not gonna win this.”–Jamaicah Malindatu

Best Western didn’t answer questions by print deadline.

Timbang told the Manitoba Labour Board the housekeepers didn’t meet the daily room cleaning quota they were expected to, nor did they sufficiently track time spent cleaning each room.

She cited cellphone use during work hours, unnecessary overtime, purposefully working slow and disrespect to another staffer as strikes against the Filipino workers.

Meanwhile, the workers alleged emotional abuse. Timbang monitored them over security footage and yelled at them via radio call that other staff could hear, they said.

Relations worsened after a Feb. 12 meeting where the manager swore and threatened to send the workers back to the Philippines, the workers testified.

Timbang denied uttering the threat.

Afterwards, Malindatu and colleagues Abbygail Enriquez and John Rafael Maravilla applied for open vulnerable work permits, which would allow them to seek employment elsewhere in Canada. All three were granted such permits.

The trio also contacted Ottawa’s tip line for temporary foreign worker abuse despite being scared of repercussions, the labour board document reads.

A federal government staffer called the hotel on April 15, 2024. Within two weeks, the general manager had given “letters of direction” to the trio, alleging they’d challenged the employer’s right to discipline and schedule, among other things.

Both Malindatu and Enriquez were terminated — on May 1 and 2, 2024, respectively — for not meeting a 16-room cleaning standard earlier that week. Maravilla’s job ended late April, after he refused to sign a letter of direction from Best Western, the labour board decision reads.

The trio took their experience to the Manitoba Labour Board that May. They believed the terminations violated the Labour Relations Act — and ultimately, the tribunal sided with them.

It’s unlikely the workers would apply for vulnerable open work permits and contact the feds if there weren’t a threat of being sent back to the Philippines, the board reasoned.

“This is a very typical case in terms of exploitation.”–Diwa Marcelino

“The issues raised in (the manager’s) letters of direction seemingly were not borne out by the evidence or at least were not present in the evidence that was before the Board,” the document says.

For example, the allegation of deliberately working slowly to incur overtime wasn’t corroborated or even testified to. A 16-room requirement wasn’t documented as being an unmet standard until late April, the board said.

“The board finds that the timing of the letters of direction and the letters of termination and the stated reasons therefore are more than coincidental,” the decision reads.

As such, the tribunal ruled the workers’ complaint to Ottawa “at the very least” influenced Timbang’s decision to terminate the staff, which violates the act in question.

Labour board remedies for the workers are still being considered.

Canadian residents and people with open work permits can leave a bad employer. It’s not so easy for closed work permit users, said Santos, 38.

“We (had) to find a way on how we (could) get out of the hotel,” he said.

He testified at a labour board hearing earlier this year. He’d filed his own case, but it didn’t move forward; he believes it’s because he became a permanent resident before his termination.

“This is a very typical case in terms of exploitation,” said Diwa Marcelino, an organizer with grassroots advocate Migrante Manitoba.

“It’s also a very rare case. We usually don’t reach this far and have the exploitation … verified and also recognized by the government.”

Migrante advised the Filipino workers during the labour board process. The workers represented themselves; Best Western Thompson used a law firm.

An Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada investigation found Best Western Thompson was non-compliant in three regards, but the failure was “compliant with justification” — meaning it was unintentional and no further action would be taken, a Manitoba Labour Board document reads.

Neither IRCC nor Employment and Social Development Canada responded to questions by print deadline.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is calling for a “more proactive system” provincially to investigate Labour Relations Act infractions and greater access to open work permits, said Niall Harney, a senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Manitoba branch.

Santos now works at a hospital and as a flight attendant in Thompson. All three migrants who successfully filed with the Manitoba Labour Board have jobs, he added.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com