“Class-action claims foreign workers exploited by Quebec recruiter, airline caterer”

…The Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal is seeking authorization to launch the suit against …placement firm Trésor and inflight catering company Newrest, along with several affiliated companies.

The workers centre is acting on behalf of more than 400 people since 2021 who it says were falsely promised they would be given work permits and legitimate jobs in Canada by Trésor — but were instead encouraged to work illegally.

"The defendants treated the members of the class like objects…”, says the request for authorization filed by lawyers with Montreal law firm Trudel Johnston & Lespérance.

"In particular, the express or implicit threats of deportation and criminalization wielded by the defendants terrorized the members of the class. Their irregular status — a situation orchestrated by the defendants despite the efforts of members to obtain legal permits — remains a profound source of stress and anxiety," the application says…

Most of the workers recruited by Trésor were placed at Newrest production facilities, where they prepared meals for flights leaving from the Montreal-Trudeau International Airport. The proposed suit alleges that Newrest was fully aware the workers did not have permits and that the vast majority would never get them…