Former hotel workers call for action in Thompson

Winnipeg Free Press

2 days ago

Former staffers at a Thompson hotel are calling for the general manager's removal following a Manitoba Labour Board decision that they'd been wrongfully terminated.
'She's still managing,' said Jmillson Santos, a former employee at the Best Western Thompson Hotel & Suites. 'How can she still be able to do (that)?'
Three Filipino migrant workers were found by the tribunal to be wrongfully terminated after they submitted a complaint about their employer to the federal government. The housekeepers had worked at the hotel on a closed work permit, meaning they were contractually tied to the company while in Canada.
The staff have alleged emotional abuse on the job, including being threatened by their former boss to be sent back to the Philippines.
The work environment caused them to apply for open vulnerable work permits — allowing them to seek employment elsewhere — and report Best Western Thompson to federal authorities.
In a May ruling, the labour board concluded the workers were fired, at least in part, because they reported their employer.
Remedies haven't yet been sorted. The board allowed for the hotel and its former staff to take remedial action together. The parties can also request for the board to settle the issue, but a request hadn't been made as of Wednesday morning, according to Manitoba Labour Board officer Dan Hodgert.
Former workers Abbygail Enriquez and Jamaicah Malindatu joined Santos in calling for the removal of Ethel Timbang, the Best Western Thompson's general manager.
'There is no point for us fighting this if she's still working there,' Malindatu said.
Neither Best Western nor the Thompson Chamber of Commerce, where Timbang is president, responded to Free Press requests by print deadline.
Timbang won't comment until a final resolution is reached, her lawyer, Kevin Tabachnick, wrote in an email.
'The company itself has no repercussions,' asserted Diwa Marcelino, an organizer with grassroots advocate Migrante Manitoba.
'The manager is playing a part that's being played out with migrant workers all over Canada,' he said. 'Because there's no repercussions, companies operate with impunity and workers suffer.'
A federal investigation of Best Western Thompson found the hotel was non-compliant in three regards, but the failure was 'compliant with justification,' meaning it was unintentional and no further action would be taken, per the Manitoba Labour Board decision.
Employment and Social Development Canada didn't provide details about the investigation Thursday.
The labour board decision should be made public on the entity's website within the next two weeks, Hodgert said.
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Gabrielle PichéReporter
Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.
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