Foreign worker says trucking company broke promises on wages

A man who left Spain hoping to find a better job opportunity and help fill the demand for commercial truck drivers in Canada says his experience in Manitoba was marred by broken promises.

Mario Martinez Diaz answered a Manitoba company's online ad in 2013, looking for truck drivers, and was happy when he got a job offer.

But he says the company that hired him, 4Tracks Ltd., didn't deliver on the wages spelled out in the employment contract he signed.

He and his wife, Maria Da Costa Moreda, say the company should compensate them about $10,000 for unpaid wages and other expenses that were not part of the contract.

"Everyone talk like these things don't happen in Canada and I want everyone [to know] that, yes, they happen," said Moreda.

4Tracks general manager Jasvir Brar told CBC News the company doesn't owe Diaz anything and said he has a decision from the Canada Labour Program supporting that view.

Signed 2-year contract

Diaz's journey began in June 2013 in Madrid, when two Manitoba trucking companies were on recruiting trips in Europe. After job interviews, Diaz signed a two-year contract with 4Tracks.

The employment contract said he was to work 50 hours a week transporting goods between Canada and the United States, at a minimum guaranteed wage of $4,250 per month.

That wage offer was confirmed in a Labour Market Opinion issued to the company by the Canadian government under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

"The first day was wonderful. The boss comes to the airport waiting for us, they drive for us to the hotel," Moreda said, describing the couple's arrival in Winnipeg.

"The next day, somebody for the company come, invite us for lunch."

But soon after, Diaz said things started to go wrong.

Even though the employment offer said he would start working as soon as he was legally entitled to work in Canada, he was told by 4Tracks that he would have to go to driving school and get a Manitoba driver's licence before he would start getting paid.

"They told me, 'Get the driver licence and when you get the driver licence, call us again,'" he said.

That took two months, during which time the couple had no income and had to draw on their savings.

'I know how to drive'

Diaz said since he was already a truck driver in Spain and the Manitoba company was aware of that, he couldn't understand why he was being told to go through the training course and pay for it himself at a cost of $1,100.

"I know how to drive. I'm not stupid," said Diaz.

He said the employer told him to take the driving course at a specific training school, which he learned was owned by the same company.

4Tracks' Jasvir Brar confirmed that he owned G&T Class 1 Training Ltd. and directed Diaz to train there. He did not explain to CBC News why Diaz was required to take the training course.

Once Diaz finished the training program, he said he passed his driver's licence test on the first try.

He then began driving for 4Tracks, but not to the United States, and not for the money promised in the employment contract, he said.

"The first two months I was working with another guy. We spent a lot of days on the road. Thunder Bay, Marathon [Ontario], Vancouver.  And they paid me $800 for 15 days, working six days per week. Even once, seven days," Diaz said.

He said the company's explanation for the lower pay rate was that he was in a training period.

The employment contract, however, makes no mention of a training period with lower wages.

Diaz left 4Tracks in March 2014 after four months of work.

He filed a complaint with the federal government to recoup some of the wages that he claims 4Tracks owes him.

The investigator for the Canada Labour Program ruled the complaint was unfounded on the grounds the employer met the minimum requirements under the Canada Labour Code.

Brar said that investigation cleared 4Tracks of owing Diaz any money.

"Not so fast," said Winnipeg lawyer Mark Toews, who specializes in labour law.

"That doesn't mean that they have complied with the employment agreements," Toews said, after the CBC News I-Team showed him the documents in the case.

'A contract's a contract,' says lawyer

"The mandate of the Canada Labour Board is to ensure that an employer has met its minimum obligations," he explained.

"They do not police anything above and beyond that has been agreed to through the employment agreements. That is enforced through the courts."

Toews said Diaz could pursue his case in small claims court, depending on the amount of money he's seeking.

"I think he does have a case," said Toews.

"A contract's a contract. You should be paid what's in accordance with your contract and if you're not, that's potentially actionable."

A spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada told CBC News that unless the approval document issued by the government explicitly allows for a reduction of wage during a training period, the employer must continue to pay the wage as stipulated.

The Manitoba Labour Department says it received two other formal complaints by workers against 4Tracks for unpaid wages in 2012-13, but it referred those cases to the Canada Labour Program because the company is under federal jurisdiction.

The federal government wouldn't provide CBC News with the outcomes of those complaints.

Despite the difficulties with his first job, Diaz said he and his wife still want to stay in Manitoba.

With help from the Manitoba government, he applied for permanent resident status and both have found work here. Diaz is working in construction and his wife is working in early childhood education.

The trucking sector is one part of the Canadian economy that used the foreign worker extensively due to a shortage of drivers.

A February 2013 report by the Conference Board of Canada said the labour shortage in trucking is particularly acute because truckers "are aging significantly more rapidly than the rest of the workforce."

The report also said Manitoba and Saskatchewan have the highest proportion of drivers reaching retirement age.

Winnipeg-based Bison Transport told CBC News it has used the foreign worker program with great success, having hired more than 200 drivers from all over Europe since 2005. Bison said European countries have similar transportation regulations as well as a prevalence of the English language, making the transition to Canada successful for drivers.

The company said more than 150 of the foreign drivers it hired chose to stay in Manitoba.

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