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CJLO News - April 9 2013
Hosted by: Gabrielle Fahmy
Stories by: Danny Aubry, Jenna Monney-Lupert, Nikita Smith and Carlo Spiridigliozzi
Produced by: Brendan Adams
RBC hires foreign workers to replace Canadian employees
The Royal Bank of Canada is under investigation by the federal government after former employees explained that they had been fired so that foreign workers could come to Canada and take over their jobs.
According to the CBC, in February RBC told 45 employees working on the regulatory and financial application teams that their jobs would be terminated by the end of April. The foreign workers who will be working in Toronto are from a large outsourcing company from India that has a contract with RBC to supply IT work.
A RBC spokesperson stated that the foreign workers will be working in the bank’s offices until 2015. According to RBC, the work will then be transferred abroad, though some foreign workers will stay permanently.
Canada’s largest bank says the work is being outsourced for effectiveness and to save money.
It is against federal law for companies to bring foreign workers to Canada, even temporarily, if it forces Canadians to lose their jobs. RBC has refused to answer when asked how the work visas for the workers were approved, and stated that it is trying to find new positions for the Canadian employees affected by the decision. Only five out of the 45 workers have found new jobs within the bank.
Hundreds of RBC customers have criticized the bank, calling for a boycott and stated that they will move their accounts to another bank in support of the Canadian workers.
Flickr photo: Francisco Diez
New anti-government protest in Bangladesh
New protests against the government erupted in the Bengali capital city, Dhaka on Monday.
Al-Jazeera news reports, Bangladesh’s main opposition party along with their seventeen allies staged the protest. They are also calling for a nationwide strike.
The protestors are demanding for the release of more than one-hundred-fifty of their members arrested during previous uprisings.
There have been on and off-again protests against the ruling government since the arrest of the leader if the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party in January.
Most often protestors would clash with government loyalists.
Thirty people were injured during Monday’s protest.
Flickr Photo by: bengal*foam
Chez Soi project dismantled by P.Q.
Quebec is planning to dismantle the five-year At Home/Chez Soi program in Montreal
According to the Montreal Gazette, Quebec is dropping the $18.4 million federal project because health falls under provincial jurisdiction.
Several sources claim that the province had no say in how this project was set up or run.
Chez Soi is program that aims to help homeless people manage mental health problems by giving them a stable place to live.
Quebec health officials, however, say that the project is not going to be immediately dissolved.
Participants can still expect a monthly supplement toward their rent for one year.
Advocates working with the homeless say problems have already begun.
Participants started leaving their apartments in the fall after hearing rumours about the project’s end.
Chez Soi housed and was caring for about 230 clients in July. Last week the numbers have dropped to 160.
The Mental Health and social Services Agency is now handling the transition from chez soi’s mental health teams to service provided by programs in CSSS community health Clinics.
Marc Boutin, coordinator of mental health services at the Montreal agency, says their goal is to make sure that no one ends up on the street because of the end of Chez Soi.
A final decision on the program’s status has yet to be made.
STORY WRITTEN BY: JENNA MONNEY-LUPERT
Concerns over Montreal health care cuts
The Quebec government`s decision to cut millions of dollars from Montreal health care has become a growing concern for health care officials.
According to CBC News the Quebec government has decided to cut the health care budget by $100 million for 2013 and 2014.
the President of the Coalition of Physicians has stated that this decision is a complete outrage.
He is deeply concerned that this multi million dollar cut will have a negative impact on patient services.
He also stated that the government is not making enough of an effort to find other cost saving solutions.
CJLO News - April 8 2013
Hosted by: Aisha Samu
Stories by: Saturn de Los Angeles, Natasha Taggart, Kurt Weiss & Nikita Smith
Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi
Croatians angry over Cyrillic signs in war town
Around 25,000 people took to the streets in protest on Sunday to voice their anger at plans to have street signs written in the Cyrillic alphabet in the Croatian town of Vukovar.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, many Croatians are opposed to street signs in Cyrillic that will serve the Serbian minority living in Vukovar because they feel it shows a lack of respect to the victims killed by Serbs during the Croatian war of 1991-95. Vukovar, which is seen as a symbol of the war of independence, was captured and held during a violent siege by Serbians for three months, and many Croatians were killed.
Cyrillic, which is the alphabet that Serbians use, is required by law to be on street signs in towns wherever a Serbian minority resides. In Croatia, if ethnic minorities make up more than a third of the population, then they have the right to use their language for public institutions or streets.
Serbs make up four percent of Croatia’s population, which make them the country’s largest minority.
Protestors are asking the government to exempt Vukovar from the law due to the town’s history.
Anarchopanda may lose the panda head during marches
The infamous panda mascot often seen at student protests around Montreal might be going headless from now on.
The Gazette is reporting that police seized the head of the Panda, known as Anarchopanda during a protest against municipal bylaw P-6 on Friday night.
Police spokesperson says the mask was taken because it could be used as an exhibit in court.
The CEGEP professor who was wearing the costume is facing two fines of over 600-dollars for violating laws banning the wearing of masks and taking part in an illegal demonstration.
STORY WRITTEN BY: NATASHA TAGGART
Silenced migrant workers speak up
Last Friday, several grassroots organizations held an open forum together to demand for workers rights.
The Temporary Workers Association, Dignidad Migrante, PINAY, and the Mexicans United for Regularization
were among the groups represented.
Reporter Saturn De Los Angeles tells us what happened.
STORY WRITTEN & PACK PREPRED BY: SATURN DE LOS ANGELES
Layoffs announced at Canada's largest bank
Around forty-five workers at Canada’s largest bank will soon be out of work.
According to CBC News, the RBC employees have been told their jobs will be terminated as of April 30th.
Affected employee Dave Moreau says the new employees are all being brought in from India, reportedly from the California-based iGate Corporation.
And he is wondering how they got work Visas.
The minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada said in a statement that if it’s true RBC is replacing Canadian workers with temporary foreign workers ... the situation is unacceptable.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said it’s against federal rules for any company to bring foreign workers into Canada temporarily if it leaves workers unemployed.
But in a statement yesterday, the RBC denied the reports that said they are hiring foreign workers in place of Canadian workers.
The feds have recently announced they are tightening rules for the Temporary Foreign Worker program because of criticism over foreigners taking jobs from Canadians.
Meanwhile, Moreau says him and the rest of his colleagues will be training the new foreign workers to do their jobs.
Flickr Photo by: mariacasa
STORY WRITTEN BY: KURT WEISS
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