Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Canadian miners won’t be at B.C. coal mine for another four years, documents say

VANCOUVER—Court documents reveal that a company planning to bring 201 Chinese miners to a project in northern B.C. would be using temporary foreign workers in its transition plans for the next 14 years.

Two unions are in court challenging temporary foreign worker permits obtained by HD Mining for its Murray River underground coal mine near Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

Documents tendered in the case include the company’s previously unreleased transition plan outlining that it won’t be hiring Canadian miners for more than four years.

The plan says temporary foreign workers will be used for 30 months of construction and then for two more years as they set up a training school and start recruiting and training Canadians.

After that, the plan indicates it will take another decade to shift the work to Canadians at a rate of 10 per cent of the mine’s workforce per year.

The company has already said it will take 10 years to transition work to Canadians, but it has not said it will take more than four years for that process to begin.

The International Union of Operating Engineers and the Construction and Specialized Workers Union are in Federal Court this week asking for an injunction to stop more foreign workers from arriving until the unions larger challenge against the permits is heard.

Original Article
Source: the star
Author: CP

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