Convoy protests ignoring real hardships truckers face, Peel drivers warn

Truckers in Peel Region say the convoy protest that has gripped Ottawa for more than a weekisn't addressing the real problems they face and they'retrying to shift the conversation away from COVID-19 vaccine mandates and toward stopping abuse and wage theft in the industry.

Attar Sodhi, a 37-year-old Brampton resident and truck driver, says very few of the protesters in OttawaareSouth Asians, who make up more than half of the truckers operating in the Greater Toronto Area, according to some estimates.The protests are sparking debate across the country, but especially in Peel, where trucking and warehousing account for a large percentage of local jobs.

"Something else is happening behind the scenes, because the real issues are completely different," Sodhi told CBC News.

With 90 per cent of truck drivers vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance, the majority of the industry is sitting outthe convoy protest, which startedin response tovaccine mandates imposed onessential workers crossing the Canada-U.S. border. Another convoy protest has set up this weekend in downtown Toronto.

The Peel drivers' concern is reflected in arecent Toronto Star investigation, whichshowedlong-haul truckers have filed thousands of complaints about shady labour practices, abysmal safety standards and missed wages from companiesthat sidestep all regulations.

Sodhi is part of the Naujawan Support Network,a grassroots organization in Peelthat aims to help international students and other young workers dealing with mistreatment and exploitation. The group hasbeen highlighting the issue of lostwages for truck drivers and other vulnerable groupsfor months.

He says the Ottawa convoy is missing a crucial opportunity to talk about companiesthat get away withmisclassifyingtruck drivers as contractors so they don't have to give them things likeovertime pay and benefits.

Arshdeep Singh, 30, is also a truckerand a member of the Naujawan Support Network.He saystruckers also deal withthreats of deportation from employers, whosend themout onlong assignments despite rough weather conditions and lack of rest.

"These are the issues that have been here since the last 10, 15 years," said Singh. "I do not know why the government is not looking after these issues."

According to Sodhi, the support network has more than500 members and has heard of over 900 cases of documented wage theft from truck drivers and other vulnerable groups.He says more protests aimed at wage theft by big truck employers arein the works.

'We have to take care of other people'

Some truckers say it's been difficult watchingthe protesters inOttawa speak out against vaccinesand other public health measures, whenthey got immunized againstCOVID-19 so they couldprovide for their families and protect the widercommunity.

"I support truckers all the time, but ...this is a totally different matter. This is a matter of security and safety," said Nachhattar Singh Chohan, the owner ofa freight company in Mississauga.

"We have to take care of other people too."

Chohan started an organization called the Indian Trucking Associationin 2009 and saysit had up to 2,000 members at its height, althoughit's now inactive.Throughout the years, he's heardof problems such as unsafe driving conditions for drivers and inconsistent and unfair inspection standards. He says these abuses are still going on..

"Nothing [has been] done up to now."

Tackling abuse 'critically important'

Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra met with truckers in Mississauga on Friday ahead of theplanned convoy demonstration in Toronto.

"All credible trucking organizations have distanced themselves from the protests in Ottawa," he said.

The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) and the Canadian Alliance of Truckers (CTA) are two of those organizations.

OTA president Stephen Laskowskisays abuse and mistreatment of truckers is a rapidly growing problem and affects at least 20 per cent of the industry.

"These carriers are using this underground economy with labour misclassification and labour abuse, [as] a way to grow very fast and profitably," said Laskowski.

"And if it's not being stopped, then others get involved in it, as well."

He says while the federal and provincial governments are making progress, they need to do more to speed up change.

"It's a critically important issue for governments to deal with labour issues to stop the abuses and to make our industry stronger," said Laskowski.

"Growth of the underground economy and labour abuses shouldn't be tolerated by anyone in government."