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Plant owner charged
Leamington man facing six sex assault charges released Tuesday

WHEATLEY - The owner of Presteve Foods Ltd., Joe Pratas, has been charged with six counts of sexual assault after representatives of CAW Local 444 took four current and two discharged Presteve employees to Chatham-Kent police on Sunday.

Local 444 president Rick Laporte said Tuesday the union became concerned while conducting interviews into the recent firing of four workers.

"In the process we stumbled over some information of inappropriate behaviour," Laporte said as he and other union supporters gathered outside the fish processing plant on Erie Street.

An arbitration hearing in May resolved a dispute over hiring foreign workers, Laporte said, adding there are 34 workers from Thailand and four from Mexico at Presteve, with many living in a bunkhouse attached to the plant.

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[ 17 September 2008: Message edited by: windsorworker ]

So since you seem to think you know the facts tell me how big was the kitchen, how many people shared the same kitchen, was there working hot water, how much counter space was there for cooking and cleaning, how many mice were resident in the shack before it became a bunkhouse, how about rats, was there a washer and dryer available to wash clothes, how many hours a day did the workers work, how big was the fridge, are you a bachelor, if yes may I inspect your house when 3 dozen of your buddies have been over for a week. .

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Originally posted by joe macdonald:
just in....i heard from an employee at presteve foods that the thai girls cant wait to get back to the bunker. they are staying at the sun parlor motel in leamington and hate it.
so now what, huh?

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[ 19 September 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]

Don't come back again.

For everyone else's information? All three banned accounts in this thread (joe macdonald, bob123, and PFL) are from the same IP address.

[ 19 September 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]

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Originally posted by captiain kirk:
And for me saying this, I will be banned.

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Stupid move, using your real e-mail address to sign up for babble. You just outed all of these accounts as management from the plant by using the same computer for all four of them.

Duh.

But please do keep on keeping on, and saying all sorts of offensive things about your workers - I'm sure it'll really help things along in your dispute now that everyone knows who you are here.

[ 19 September 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]

[ 19 September 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]

[ 19 September 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]

[ 19 September 2008: Message edited by: mr spock1237384 ]

[ 19 September 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]

[ 19 September 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]

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Originally posted by kropotkin1951:
So since you seem to think you know the facts tell me how big was the kitchen, how many people shared the same kitchen, was there working hot water, how much counter space was there for cooking and cleaning, how many mice were resident in the shack before it became a bunkhouse, how about rats, was there a washer and dryer available to wash clothes, how many hours a day did the workers work, how big was the fridge.

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Originally posted by mr spock1237384:
Hey by the way Michelle you obivously did not read the Private Policy of babble did ya?

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Sure I did:

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We reserve the right to suspend posters who have provided false information for their profile. We reserve the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you.

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I got a complaint from babblers here. Furthermore, you kept coming back with new accounts after being explicitly told not to.

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We reserve the right to suspend posters who have provided false information for their profile. We reserve the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you. We reserve the right to read private messages when necessary to investigate complaints about inappropriate or abusive messages.

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Originally posted by mr spock1237384:
For one i used my real information so no violation there and for 2 the complaints where not from my posts and what complaints are you people referring to anyway. For real what has been said here that is so offensive to you people please let me know because i am completely lost with your way of thinking. Doesn't everyone have a right to his or her own opinion and the right to express them right or wrong. Why would you start this sight if you didn't want people on here to argue with what you are writing?

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[ 19 September 2008: Message edited by: mr spock1237384 ]

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Originally posted by mr spock1237384:
For one i used my real information so no violation there and for 2 the complaints where not from my posts and what complaints are you people referring to anyway.

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Actually, you raise a really good point. You did use your real information on the one account, and it was the other two accounts that people had a problem with and complained about, not yours. And I suppose there IS a possibility that other people started those accounts and not you.

So, fair enough. I will remove your name and e-mail from all of the posts other than your own, and you can choose to edit your own posts if you'd like to remove it from yours.

You can do that by clicking on this icon:

[ 19 September 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]

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Presteve Foods Ltd. was hit with more than 50 orders from Ontario Ministry of Labour inspectors Thursday covering a wide range of alleged defects in the fish processing plant's equipment and buildings.

The orders cap a turbulent week in which the 67-year-old company owner Joe Pratas was charged Monday by Chatham-Kent police with six counts of sexual assault allegedly involving foreign female workers.

Labour inspectors called for a police escort to get into the plant Tuesday.

A crowded bunkhouse adjacent to the plant used by 26 female workers from Thailand was then ordered closed Tuesday by Chatham-Kent building inspectors.

Canadian Auto Workers Local 444 president Rick Laporte is now calling for an investigation into how the federal Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program is supervised.

Laporte said he discovered foreign workers in the plant also had passports and other personal documents held by management and were being charged for housing that should have been free.

The bunkhouse should have housed no more than 20 workers although there were beds for 36, Laporte said.

Laporte understood the bunkhouse was closed mainly for safety reasons because of fire hazards and an alarm system, which while working, wasn't an appropriate design for the building.

Presteve employs 34 women from Thailand. Two more are from Mexico and the rest of its 60 workers are Canadian. They work two shifts a day, mostly filleting fish, paid from $8.53 to $13.80 an hour.

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Originally posted by Michelle:
Same IP address, everyone. Clearly management from Presteve Foods.

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My question to you is, if you understand the exploitation that these people suffer, why defend Presteve Foods?

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Originally posted by mr spock1237384:
So the next time you eat a hothouse tomato or cucumber or have some ketchup on your french fries, just think of these poor migrant workers who stay here for 8 months of the year and how much they suffer when they come here, only to make to lifestyle for their family at home better

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But you forgot to mention the part where the employer illegally keeps the passports and other legal documentation belonging to the employees, so that they can't leave, making them essentially feudal serfs entirely dependent on the employer.

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Based on pay stubs he's looked at, Laporte said significant amounts of wages were being withheld for housing, contrary to the seasonal worker regulations in Ontario.

The mostly female workers were being paid less than $9 an hour but on some pay stubs, Laporte said he saw a $140 deduction for housing. He's still trying to sort out the reasons for various deductions.

Laporte said passports have now been returned to all foreign workers, and only two still have complaints outstanding about personal documents being held.

According to the Human Resources Canada website explaining the seasonal workers program, "employers are not permitted to take away and keep workers' passports, medical cards or other personal documents for any reason. If this occurs, workers should contact their government liaison officer immediately."

The program also requires employers to provide free housing, except in British Columbia. Employers who provide meals to their foreign workers are allowed to deduct $6.50 per day.

Laporte said the bunkhouse provided by Presteve had stoves and fridges so the workers could cook their own meals.

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However, this really brings up how the Liberals and now the CPC have created/sustained slavery conditions through the guest worker program.

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Originally posted by Stargazer:
Okay, how long is this person staying? I mean seriously, what a horrendous individual. His faux concern is just that - fake. It is quite clear he is here to bash immigrants, bash unions and protect a sleazy company.

Can we not bid this person adieu?

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these migrant workers from the plant are aleady unionized

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Calling job conditions dirty, difficult and dangerous, three former co-workers from a mushroom plant are trying to change legislation – and decades of labour relations history – that prevents Ontario farm workers from unionizing.

While most Ontario workers have been allowed to join unions and engage in collective bargaining since 1943, farm workers have been largely excluded because agriculture has been seen as unique – sensitive to time and weather, dominated by family farms and needed to ensure food production isn't disrupted by strikes.

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Originally posted by mr spock1237384:
do you understand English?

...how is that fair that they get to vote...when they are not even Canadian. By the way are you?

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This is a pro-union, pro-worker discussion board. You seem to have a lot of inside information. I question whether some of it should be made public, such as the number of votes in a decertification meeting. I would assume that meeting was for workers only, not management. So someone, maybe a mole, told you the results? From what I understand this isn't supposed to be public information and it's not cool for you to post that here.

But whatever. You are clearly very close to this issue and are offering one side only. Generally when we criticize unions on babble, it's with the understanding that workforces are better off with them than without, but as institutions they are not above being criticized for their flaws. This isn't what you're doing.

If you could admit your position, (as someone who's a manager or owner it seems) who's invested in placing the blame on the union only, that would aid in your credibility. Not by much though. Nonetheless, I really don't think you have much else to contribute here, since you clearly joined just to post in this thread.

Some facts for you: Migrant workers are rarely represented by unions. The needs of the migrant workers should not have been situated in opposition to the needs of the "Canadian" workers. If they were, yes, that's a legitimate issue to discuss. But not the way you've done it.

And, the detail in which you described the living areas tells me that you may have had a role in setting it up AND that you yourself don't have to live there. Sorry, you don't get praise from us on this site for providing (maybe) livable housing for your workers. The fact that the workers don't earn enough to allow them to rent a room in town, and the ability to transport to and from work, means that you are exploiting their work and labour, which is what most bosses/owners do.

"Offering" to keep valuables in a locked safe (because you're so nice?) in which adult workers need to ask for permission to access their own property should tell you how unjust and humiliating, never mind controlling, and, as already pointed out, illegal, such a practice is. Imagine if you had to do that. Such a practice is indefensible, and the fact that you continue to defend it speaks to your place of power in the relationship with the workers.

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how is that fair that they get to vote...when they are not even Canadian. By the way are you

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The real issue is that it is the companies that need to bend. They need to bend in their belief that they are intitled to ever increasing profit margins, at the expense of the workers, and indeed the environment.

Moreover, employess that have worked at a place of employment, no matter their status, have an absolute right to have say in unionizing. And those "guest employees", that have worked for 2 years, actually have 2 years senority, which would make them have senority over those "Canadians" who may have worked there less time, than 2 years.

As to your response

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no i am not saying that you are not entiltled to your opinion, of course you are

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You tried to infer that I did not know English, and then asked in another post, if I was Canadian, after insisting, wrongly, I would add, that Canadian employees have a right to have a say in employment conditions, while guest employees do not.

What then was the reason for asking if I was Canadian, if not to suggest, either some type of bias, or no right to be expressing an opinion on this topic?

My Canadianess, or lack thereof, has nothing to do with this topic, nor in fact do I as a person.

This has actually made me a bit ashamed to be a Trekkie. You would have been more honest naming yourself after a Ferengi character.

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Originally posted by oldgoat:
If any purpose has been served here, it is to underline and obviate the need for strong unions.

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You see they had a vote to get rid of the union there and mostly all of the Canadian workers did not want them there anymore. I guess i need to back track a little bit, the union had gone to court and because the Thailand girls had been there for over 3 months the union had them deemed union workers. Ok so back to what i was saying the Canadians were ready to vote the union out and they went and had a secret meeting with the Thailand workers and well because of their votes we lost.

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Originally posted by Frustrated Mess:
It ain't? Don't visit Leamington. That would really burst your illusions.

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Another work camp situation in Ontario is the northern bush camps. I read about them, it was actually a post on an Internet Forum. You are paid well, work all the time and don't spend any money. The guy I was posting with said they are a great experience, very healthful. It's good for a young guy trying to save up some money. This would be what farm labour would have to become if it wasn't for Caribians.

[ 20 September 2008: Message edited by: bruce_the_vii ]

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bruce: This would be what farm labour would have to become if it wasn't for Caribians.

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bruce if you're quoting someone saying racist shit, do us a favour and don't. If you yourself are saying this you may have earned yourself a week off babble.