In 2006, forty Latin American tunnel workers building Vancouver's Canada Line discovered they were paid far less than Canadian and, later, European workers doing identical work underground. With help from Local 1611 of the Labourers' Union and researcher Joe Barrett, they unionized, survived a failed strike vote and a decertification attempt, and ultimately won a landmark BC Human Rights Tribunal ruling for wage discrimination. The five-year fight ended with a settlement that changed workers' lives back home in Costa Rica — and, as the episode reveals, quietly reset pay practices for foreign tunnel workers around the world. 

Topics covered: Temporary foreign workers Canada, Tunnel workers union, Canada Line construction, Vancouver labour history, Migrant worker rights, Labourers' Union Local 1611, Union certification foreign workers.

Hosted and written by: Rod Mickleburgh

Guest: Joe Barrett

Technician: John Mabbott

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode music: "Five Long Years of Fighting", written and performed by Bill Hood and the Gram Partisans, 2026.

Sources: 

Joe Barrett. Interview by Rod Mickleburgh, August 2026. 

Barrett, Joe. A Fight for Justice: The Compelling Story of Temporary Foreign Workers & Human Rights. [Publisher: Ronsdale Press], 2026. 

• Follow us https://www.facebook.com/LabourHistoryInBC/
• Browse https://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/
• Find us on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/bclhc.bsky.social
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bc_lhc/
• Send your feedback info@labourheritagecentre.ca
• Thanks for listening!