For Shame!
Pretty rough when you have to start from day one to establish yourself in a new country, to find employment, to reach for security and independence without being fully aware of your legal and social rights. Particularly when you're an enterprising, ambitious and proud individual accustomed to looking after yourself and the needs of your family.
Although there are social services available to help immigrants adjust, to assist with language, with employment searches, personal initiative is also required to help pave the way to success.
The trouble is, in any society there are always those whose interest it is to take advantage of peoples' desperation to find a place for themselves. They violate the social contract by acting as social predators, by claiming to want to be useful to those requiring assistance, but in the end victimizing the anxious immigrant looking for paid employment by thinking nothing of cheating them and leaving them without the promises given.
At a time when Canada is gradually rising out of a recession and employment levels are slowly surging upward, those seeking meaningful paid employment still find it difficult to secure even entry-level positions when they have had no previous experience in a new country. They are often uncertain, concerned that they must prove themselves, and easily taken advantage of by the unscrupulous.
And sometimes the unscrupulous just happen to be those who have earlier emigrated to the country.
There is the unfortunate experience of Mizanur Choudhury originally from Bangladesh, formerly an assured businessman, but now, as a newcomer, looking for any opportunity to start anew. Hard enough adjusting to the brutal winters in Canada after having lived all his life in Bangladesh, but he was willing to take two buses to travel across the city to a position working the cash register at a Shell gas station, as a starter job that would give him a modest salary.
Mr. Choudhury, at 60, was not too proud to work at any job that would give him a wage, albeit not a living wage. He has children attending university and working part-time jobs themselves to help make living ends meet. For two months Mr. Choudhury travelled back and forth to work the cash register of a gas bar, wearing a uniform and looking after customers.
For that two months of working daily he was informed that as he was 'in training', the operator of the gas bar had no intention of paying him. "Every time I asked about money, I was told 'In a few days, in a few days'", he explained.
The man who operates three other gas bars in Ottawa insists that Mr. Chouldhury never once requested a salary. That out of a sense of compassion he allowed the immigrant to work for him to gain experience and improve his English. "I forgot about the old guy. It wasn't even training. He never asked me for money. It doesn't make sense to pay him for training for two months. It wasn't even training", explained the retailer, Gamal Abdelhakam.
And he went on to disparage Mr. Choudhury's work ethic, abilities and enterprise. Mr. Choudhury's 23-year-old daughter explained "We didn't know the system because we are pretty new here, just a year. But every day, my father was spending five dollars on bus fare at a time when we are still struggling to settle our life here. Wo when I learned about the law, we started asking about the money because he worked for it."
It was she who contacted the Ottawa and District Labour Council, and from them she learned that employers are required by law to pay for training. A position that the Ministry of Labour confirmed. Mr. Abdelhakam now insists he might have made an honest error. And he is now prepared to pay Mr. Choudhury the grand total sum relating to a week's work.
Mr. Choudhury worked two solid months of six-hour shifts. He is still awaiting payment for his honest efforts. Seems there is an epidemic of human rights violations that this family is being exposed to. One of Mr. Choudhury's sons looked for a second part-time job at night to help pay the family's bills.
Applying at a corner store he was informed he would be hired, but not to expect to get paid while he was in training.
Although there are social services available to help immigrants adjust, to assist with language, with employment searches, personal initiative is also required to help pave the way to success.
The trouble is, in any society there are always those whose interest it is to take advantage of peoples' desperation to find a place for themselves. They violate the social contract by acting as social predators, by claiming to want to be useful to those requiring assistance, but in the end victimizing the anxious immigrant looking for paid employment by thinking nothing of cheating them and leaving them without the promises given.
At a time when Canada is gradually rising out of a recession and employment levels are slowly surging upward, those seeking meaningful paid employment still find it difficult to secure even entry-level positions when they have had no previous experience in a new country. They are often uncertain, concerned that they must prove themselves, and easily taken advantage of by the unscrupulous.
And sometimes the unscrupulous just happen to be those who have earlier emigrated to the country.
There is the unfortunate experience of Mizanur Choudhury originally from Bangladesh, formerly an assured businessman, but now, as a newcomer, looking for any opportunity to start anew. Hard enough adjusting to the brutal winters in Canada after having lived all his life in Bangladesh, but he was willing to take two buses to travel across the city to a position working the cash register at a Shell gas station, as a starter job that would give him a modest salary.
Mr. Choudhury, at 60, was not too proud to work at any job that would give him a wage, albeit not a living wage. He has children attending university and working part-time jobs themselves to help make living ends meet. For two months Mr. Choudhury travelled back and forth to work the cash register of a gas bar, wearing a uniform and looking after customers.
For that two months of working daily he was informed that as he was 'in training', the operator of the gas bar had no intention of paying him. "Every time I asked about money, I was told 'In a few days, in a few days'", he explained.
The man who operates three other gas bars in Ottawa insists that Mr. Chouldhury never once requested a salary. That out of a sense of compassion he allowed the immigrant to work for him to gain experience and improve his English. "I forgot about the old guy. It wasn't even training. He never asked me for money. It doesn't make sense to pay him for training for two months. It wasn't even training", explained the retailer, Gamal Abdelhakam.
And he went on to disparage Mr. Choudhury's work ethic, abilities and enterprise. Mr. Choudhury's 23-year-old daughter explained "We didn't know the system because we are pretty new here, just a year. But every day, my father was spending five dollars on bus fare at a time when we are still struggling to settle our life here. Wo when I learned about the law, we started asking about the money because he worked for it."
It was she who contacted the Ottawa and District Labour Council, and from them she learned that employers are required by law to pay for training. A position that the Ministry of Labour confirmed. Mr. Abdelhakam now insists he might have made an honest error. And he is now prepared to pay Mr. Choudhury the grand total sum relating to a week's work.
Mr. Choudhury worked two solid months of six-hour shifts. He is still awaiting payment for his honest efforts. Seems there is an epidemic of human rights violations that this family is being exposed to. One of Mr. Choudhury's sons looked for a second part-time job at night to help pay the family's bills.
Applying at a corner store he was informed he would be hired, but not to expect to get paid while he was in training.
Labels: Ontario, Ottawa, Social-Cultural Deviations
posted by Pieface @ 6:05 PM
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