As of fairly recently, migrant workers from South East Asia are migrating to Canada for work in the agricultural industry. Little research has been conducted on migration routes and recruitment patterns of these migrant workers. Interviews with 13 workers and three support workers were conducted between May and July 2011 to learn about this process; specifically with how these individuals are getting to Canada, and how they maintain (or do not maintain) relationships with the private intermediaries and employment agencies that facilitate this movement. This research will fill a gap in the literature by describing the recruitment processes of ‘low-skilled’ workers into Canada and, more importantly, it will provide a much-needed space for South East Asian migrants to share their experiences about working in Canada.

Ce mémoire présente une analyse comparative exploratoire de la non-utilisation de l’appareil juridique étatique trinidadien en cas de conflit de travail pour les travailleurs migrants temporaires et les travailleurs trinidadiens au sein de French Touch Construction, filiale d’une entreprise française de construction à Port of Spain (Trinidad et Tobago). C’est à travers une perspective foucaldienne que sera examinée la question de la non-utilisation de l’appareil juridique étatique trinidadien en cas de conflit de travail. Cette non-utilisation de l’appareil juridique étatique est étudiée comme un effet des migrations internationales de travail, et ce, à l’encontre des travailleurs migrants (Sud et Nord) et des travailleurs locaux trinidadiens. Ainsi, je propose que nous assistons à une transformation des conditions de travail et des droits accordés aux employés trinidadiens et non pas uniquement à l’encontre des travailleurs temporaires migrants. En effet, le phénomène des migrations internationales de travail dégrade également le statut social de l’employé local qui est concurrencé par cette main-d’oeuvre étrangère, en provenance des pays du Sud ou du Nord et qu’il doit lui aussi être plus flexible et moins exigeant sur ses droits pour être inclus dans cette nouvelle économie du travail. / This research focuses on an exploratory comparative study on the non-accessibility to justice in labor dispute for temporary migrant workers and local workers, based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Port-Of-Spain (Trinidad and Tobago) in a French construction company named French Touch Construction. Building from Foucault's thought, I analyze the non-accessibility to justice as a negative effect of the international labor migrations on temporary migrant workers (North and South) and Trinidadian workers. As a result, I argue that the transformation of work and workers’ rights are not only an issue for temporary migrant workers but also for Trinidadian workers. Effectively, international labor migration involve competition between employees and thus deteriorate the social status of Trinidadian employees in the French Touch Company. Indeed, employees have to be more flexible and less demanding of their rights to be included in this new work economy. To sum it up, I suggest that the international labor migrations, which encourage the worker to perceive himself as a holder of limited rights, also favor a managerial conflict resolution that is unfavorable for the employee.