Posted by ReyFort Media
We are a group called Justice for HHIS 17, victims of a fraudulent recruitment agency named Helping Hands Immigration Services.
We are 17 Filipino migrant Overseas Filipino Workers/Temporary Foreign Workers who came from Taiwan to work in Newfoundland for more than four months as seasonal seafood workers. We took the risk to work abroad. We left the Philippines to provide a better future for our families and children.
After four months in Newfoundland, we looked for new employers; with our closed work permits, it was hard to find new employers. One of our coworkers referred us to two recruiters named Cherry May Ricafort and Vincent Macalipay in Vancouver, BC. We later learned that Ricafort and Macalipay were fraudulent recruiters who took advantage of our situations.
Ricafort and Macalipay promised us a 2-year- approved LMIA and work permits with initial fees from CAD $5,000 to $8,000, which we e-transferred directly to Ricafort’s personal bank account and to the registered business bank account of Strive Employment and Labour Contractors Services Ltd (Business #745000836).
We were told to go to Vancouver to sign an agreement that we had to undergo a ‘probationary period’ that we were capable of farm work. Some of us were brought to hotels and some of us went to farms in Keremeos.
Exploitation in the Hotels — Five of us were assigned as housekeepers at the Best Western Plus in Marine Drive and others at the Grand Park Hotel downtown. We were instructed not to talk to others at the hotel about our situation. We worked for around two months and then we found out that we were only being paid $7.50 per room cleaned, and not at an hourly rate.
When we found out that they didn’t have LMIAs, we decided not to continue with the application and requested a refund of the initial fee. Macalipay insisted it was non-refundable, got angry and threatened that if we did not leave our accommodations, he would call the police and report us for trespassing, and call the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) because we lacked legal status in Canada and could be deported.
We felt scared and pleaded with them for even a partial refund of the money we paid. To this date, nothing was given it to us, including the wages of more than two weeks work at the hotel.
Exploitation in the Farms — Twelve of us worked at Lidhar Farm, Lasser Produce, and Mom and Pops Farm Market in Keremeos. We were told not to talk to anyone and that Macalipay and Ricafort were the only ones who could talk to our employers.
We were all forced to work long hours, sometimes 80-100 hours per week, our salary did not reflect the actual number of hours we worked, and there were also deductions. We experienced extreme exhaustion, sleep deprivation, and stress.
At Mom and Pops Farm, Macalipay told the employer that we had a 2- year- work permit, even though we did not. We found out that the employer never planned to file the LMIA. All of us had the same experience with those in the other farms.
At Lidhar Farms, some of us questioned Macalipay about our LMIA papers, our salary, and the deductions. We were told once we have our work permit, we will be paid in full. However, the employer said that was all they could afford to pay us and we were forced to continue working. We didn’t have enough money or a car to get out of the farm and look for a new place to stay. We felt a lack of agency and intense anxiety regarding our situation.
At Lidhar Farms, our employer angrily confronted us and told us to leave the farm. We connected with Migrante BC and Damayan BC and they helped us. Their volunteers picked us up and helped us leave safely.
Callout for Support .– We are asking for your help and support because we are currently in a difficult and vulnerable situation as Filipino migrant workers in Canada. We are doing this campaign to share awareness of our experiences and get justice and protection as victims of illegal recruitment and labour trafficking.
We call on the authorities to investigate Ricafort and Macalipay for their deception and violations of labour and workers’ rights.
We call on the authorities to investigate the employers and their practice of exploiting newly arrived Filipino migrants.
Thank you for listening to our experiences and supporting us. We hope you can share our story to your networks, community, social media accounts, and help us achieve justice.
Please follow our case at the FB page Justice for HHIS 17 : 17 Stories, 1 Stand
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