An Ottawa woman claims she was paid under the table in cash after working at the prime minister's residence at 24 Sussex Dr.
Diego Mendez, a spokesman for Service Employees International Union, said the single mother of four works for a company that has "numerous government contracts in Ottawa," but was tasked in late 2010 to clean 24 Sussex Dr. He would not provide the name of the woman or a specific date. The woman, a Canadian citizen who emigrated from Somalia, is scheduled to attend a news conference Wednesday to discuss the situation.
Mendez said the woman's supervisor paid her in cash after cleaning 24 Sussex, adding there's no indication Prime Minister Stephen Harper or his staff were aware of the situation.
"She was temporarily removed from her normal workplace -she also works at a federal building in Ottawa -and taken to clean the prime minister's residence," Mendez said Tuesday. "While she was working there, she was paid in cash. She was quite surprised to learn she would be paid in this form."
"If this can happen in the house of the most powerful man in Canada, it can happen anywhere in the country," Mendez said, noting the issue highlights frequent complaints of cleaning staff who are lobbying for fairer treatment by the employers.
He said when workers are paid in cash, they lose out on other benefits and are not covered by Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance. Mendez said a legal complaint is also being filed against the woman's employer -which was also not named Tuesday -for threatening workers who wanted to form a union recently.
Representatives from the Prime Minister's Office were not available for immediate response Tuesday.
In addition to the woman at the centre of the complaint, a representative from the Ottawa Justice for Janitors Council is expected to attend Wednesday morning's news conference.
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