Premium
Migrant worker experiences in Atlantic Canadian fish processing plants
Author(s) -
Marschke Melissa,
Kehoe Courtney,
Vandergeest Peter
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the canadian geographer / le géographe canadien
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.35
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1541-0064
pISSN - 0008-3658
DOI - 10.1111/cag.12466
Subject(s) - migrant workers , agency (philosophy) , negotiation , fish processing , fish <actinopterygii> , work (physics) , business , demographic economics , labour economics , fishery , political science , economic growth , sociology , economics , engineering , social science , law , mechanical engineering , biology
Low‐skilled migrant workers provide an important labour source in Atlantic Canada's seafood industry. This research unpacks the experiences of 22 workers from Thailand and the Philippines working in one Atlantic Canadian seafood processing company. We pay particular attention to migration routes, labour conditions, and worker mobility, along with worker reflections on their experiences landing a Canadian job. We also consider the perceptions of migrant workers among company staff. We argue that despite the various unfreedoms associated with migrant worker programs, migrant workers in this particular facility have demonstrated agency in negotiating the program to their advantages. The success of the workers, however, is contingent on a conjuncture of elements that are not necessarily found elsewhere in the seafood processing industry. Worker experiences, both with other Canadian employers and elsewhere, offer a stark contrast to their current situation: migrant workers often experience significant unfreedoms to gain relatively free working conditions.