Misclassified trucking employees need more than an ‘inspection blitz’ to recover lost wages

Truck drivers are calling for comprehensive reforms to address exploitation in the industry despite the federal government’s “inspection blitz” meant to crack down on worker misclassification. The misclassification of employee drivers as independent drivers has led to rampant wage theft, worker exploitation and health and safety violations within the trucking industry. 

“The millions of dollars to crack down on driver misclassification is very good,” Karanveer Karanveer, an Ontario truck driver who had to take action against two separate employers for wage theft, said in an interview with rabble.ca. “My only question to them is, why are you bringing a bulldozer to cut off a branch? If you have a bulldozer, you should uproot the whole tree.” 

In order to “uproot the whole tree” of truck driver exploitation, Karanveer is calling for changes to the Canada Labour Code, faster responses to reports of wage theft or other abuses, and enforceable pay orders on employers who steal wages. 

In the federal budget tabled early November, the government pledges $77 million over four years to implement a program that addresses non-compliance related to personal services businesses, as well as a lifting of the moratorium on reporting fees for services in the trucking industry. Last week, the government also announced it would undertake an “inspection blitz” in the Hamilton and Greater Toronto areas to identify non-compliance with federal labour standards and workplace health and safety requirements in the trucking industry. 

READ MORE: Workers ‘needed more’ from Budget 2025

These measures come after a years-long Justice for Truck Drivers campaign waged by Karanveer in collaboration with other truck drivers and labour activists. Since getting his trucking licence in 2021, Karanveer has lost out on almost $40,000 of wages he is owed. 

At his first trucking workplace, Karanveer faced illegal deductions from his paycheque for things like damage to the truck. Under Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, deductions for “faulty work” or damage to company property are prohibited.

At his second place of employment, Karanveer’s pay was delayed multiple times. When he requested his pay for urgent matters like groceries or rent, he said he would be given cheques that bounced. 

“A lot of common people think, ‘If they are doing this, why do you get hired?’” Karanveer told rabble.  “It’s because you really want to improve your whole life. But when you try to improve your life, this is what you encounter.”

After driving for almost half a decade, Karanveer said he realized these kinds of practices are the norm in the trucking industry, even if they shouldn’t be. He said these rampant abuses are pushing many to leave the trucking industry and find fairer employment. 

An exodus from the industry could harm the Canadian economy. According to Canadian Transportation Economic Account data from 2016, the transportation sector contributed $168.1 billion or eight per cent of GDP. 

“Canada’s trucking industry is built by devoted workers who keep our communities and economy moving,” Minister of Jobs and Families, Patty Hadju, said in a statement. “A strong and resilient workforce is built on equal opportunities, and fostering inclusivity is essential to strengthening Canada’s economy.”

Beyond a crackdown on misclassification, Karanveer said he wants to see a better process implemented for truckers who try to hold their employers accountable. In an effort to recover his own stolen wages, Karanveer filed two complaints in labour court against his first two trucking employers. However, the slow process at the Canada Industrial Relations Board left him without justice for too long. 

“Let me tell you exactly how it goes. If you file a case now, your application will sit for 12 months before an officer is assigned to you. Then they start the investigation, and that can take another one or two years. After two or three years, you might finally get a payment order. And then the employer can ignore it. After years of waiting, the labor office will tell you, ‘We can’t make them pay. File in federal court,’” he said. “Years wasted. Money gone. Lives broken.”

The Justice for Drivers coalition held a national townhall event on November 22 that attracted more than 200 truck driver registrants. At the event, organizers united under a call to end misclassification, to establish ​​minimum rates for drivers and owner-operators and pay for every hour worked so wages can become livable again. 

“There is a line I carry with me: ‘The true measure of any society is how it treats its most vulnerable members,’” Karanveer said to attendees at the townhall. “If that is true, then the measure of Canada is being decided right now — by how we treat truck drivers, by whether we protect migrant workers, and by whether we allow greed to win.”