Thanks to what's being hailed as a "landmark" victory in a human rights case, a Quebec aluminum plant will no longer be able to discriminate against student workers when it comes to salary matters.
Quebec's Human Rights Tribunal ruled that ABI aluminum, a smelter in Becancour, violated Article 19 of Quebec's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, which outlines the payment of equal wages for personnel who perform the same work as full-time employees.
The complaint was filed on behald of 157 student workers at ABI, who were paid - on average - 30 per cent less than regular and occaisonal employees performing the same work.
"The distinction undermines their dignity based on the fact that it did not respect their right to equal pay for equal work," Judge Magali Lewis wrote in her ruling.
ABI had previously made the demand to implement a two-tier pension system within the company - which would discriminate against new hires.
"This company has made multiple attempts to discriminate against various categories of workers," said Clement Masse, President of United Steelworkers Local 9700, which represents over 1,000 unionized employees at ABI. "Let's hope that this ruling will serve as a lesson: in Quebec, equal pay for equal work is an important principle."
