A hotel chain in Manitoba has been ordered to compensate three foreign workers with over $100,000 after the province’s labor board dismissed the company’s appeal. The Manitoba Labor Board stated that Western Star Inn & Suites presented unreliable witnesses and failed to provide supporting documents for claims against the workers at its Melita location. The ruling came following a series of hearings where concerns were raised about the employees’ working conditions, including long hours, stress, and inadequate training and staffing.
Last year, CBC News reported that some foreign workers at the hotel chain were working excessively long hours, including seven days a week and up to 12 hours per day on average. One of the workers, Victor Padilla Ruiz from Mexico, alleged that the hotel exploited him by failing to fulfill promises of assisting him with legal status in Canada. While witnesses testified about unmet promises regarding work permits and safety issues, the labor board’s jurisdiction was limited to Manitoba labor code violations and unpaid wages.
The labor board highlighted discrepancies in the testimonies provided by witnesses called by Western Star, describing their statements as unreliable. It was noted that the payroll manager’s statements were deemed illogical and inconsistent with proper operational practices. The board also criticized the lack of essential witnesses presented by Western Star during the proceedings.
The compensation owed to the workers was determined based on calculations by an employment standards officer who investigated the hotel in 2024. Western Star was directed to pay Padilla Ruiz over $86,500, while two other workers, Montserrat Del Toro and Rajbinder Gill Mathias, were slated to receive around $23,100 and $28,300, respectively. Del Toro, a Mexican national, was found to have been paid below the minimum wage and irregularly, with some payments made in cash for her work at Western Star.
In addition to the compensation, the company faced penalties and was deemed ineligible to hire temporary foreign workers due to unpaid monetary penalties. Immigration and Citizenship Canada’s records show that Western Star failed to meet the requirements for employing foreign workers and violated laws related to hiring practices. The company incurred a fine of $3,250 for these violations.
Rajbinder Gill Mathias, one of the affected workers, emphasized the need for stronger oversight to prevent similar exploitation of foreign workers in the future. She shared her experience of being moved across multiple locations without proper compensation and expressed concern for other immigrants facing similar challenges.