SkyTrain workers paid $10,000 for injured dignities

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal says two companies building the new Canada Line in Vancouver discriminated against foreign workers.

The ruling says that SELI Canada and SNC Lavalin treated the foreign workers differently than other workers on the SkyTrain project.

And it says the foreign workers from Latin America were discriminated against in terms of salaries, accommodation, meals and expenses.

The tribunal ordered the companies to pay each worker the difference between the salary paid to them and the salary paid to others and the difference in paid expenses.

They must also pay $10,000 to each worker for injury to their dignity.

The companies are working on the 19 kilometre Canada Line that will link downtown Vancouver to Richmond and Vancouver International Airport. Service is expected to begin in November 2009.

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  SkyTrain service, which moves residents across the region with 33 stations and approximately 50 kilometres of lines, is seen in this image courtesy TransLink.