Housing Conditions for Temporary Migrant Agricultural Workers in B.C. - 2007
Letter
of protest by migrant workers in BC
April 2006
BC
provincial government is violating Canada Health Act
March 2006
Resources:
NEW J4MW ARTICLE:
Harvest of Injustice:
The Oppression of Migrant Workers on Canadian Farms
by Adriana Paz
BC SAWP Guidelines for Employers
2007 [PDF]
What is the Seasonal Agrucultural Workers Program (SAWP) [PDF]?
Justicia
for Migrant Workers:
Reflections on the Importance of Community Organising
By Evelyn Encalada Grez [PDF]
Oct 2007 - Housing Conditions for Temporary Migrant Agricultural Workers in B.C.
J4MW
BC Report
Conservatives scapegoat migrant workers
Radio interview with Adriana Paz, J4MW BC
April 18, 2009
The Canada Border Services Agency raided three Ontario food processing plants at the beginning of April arresting more than 100 people. Adriana Paz is with Justicia for Migrant Workers. She says the Conservative government sees the recession as opportunity to push hardline immigration policies.
Listen to the full interview here
NEWS:
BC Agrobusiness continues its anti union tacticts, while government washes its hands:
Setback for Historic Effort to Unionize Guest Farm Workers
Shuffled work force votes to decertify UFCW.
By Tom Sandborn
Published: June 29, 2009
TheTyee.ca
Foreign crop pickers in Surrey made history last summer when they voted to unionize. Labour activists sensed a new pool of workers was now ripe for organizing.
But those gains are on the verge of being wiped away as labourers at Greenway Farms have filed to withdraw from the union certification won by the United Food and Commercial Workers.
Farm workers' right to unionize protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms according to Ontario Court of Appeal
Decision leaves BC agrobusiness isolated in their effort to prevent BC workers from joining unions
Ontario farm workers can join unions, court rules
Tracey Tyler
Toronto Star
Nov 17, 2008
In a 3-0 decision today, the Ontario Court of Appeal struck down sections of the Agricultural Employees Protection Act, which prevent farm workers from engaging in collective bargaining.
ALERT!
B.C. agrobusiness lobby launches attack on the basic right
of migrant workers to unionize
Migrants' bid to unionize contested
B.C. labour board certifies unions at two farms - but employers say labour code does not give them that right
Jessica Smith
The Globe and Mail
October 23, 2008
The British Columbia Agriculture Council, which represents the interests of the agriculture industry, questions the right of migrant workers to unionize under the B.C. Labour Relations Code.
B.C. farm employers launch legal attack on migrant workers
Two Agricultural Employer Groups Go To Labour Board In Effort To Prevent Migrant Farm Workers From Unionizing
VANCOUVER, B.C.--(Marketwire - Oct. 1, 2008) -
Two agricultural employer groups claiming to represent farm employers are going to the British Columbia Labour Relations Board (BCLRB) in an effort to prevent migrant farm workers from having the same protections that apply to Canadian workers.
Foreign Farm Workers Unionize: A First in BC
Seasonal labourers in Surrey claim bad conditions,
vote to join UFCW.
August 21, 2008
For the first time, foreign workers imported to pick B.C. crops have been allowed to join a union.
Migrant workers at Greenway Farms in Surrey have voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) of Canada.
Alberta leads BC in providing support services for Migrant Workers:
Alberta beefs up support for temporary foreign workers
Pilot project offers immigration support services
July 30, 2008
The government of Alberta has quietly launched a new initiative to provide immigration support services to temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in the province.
The move is designed to augment already existing services.
Late last year, the Alberta government opened two TFW worker advisory offices in Edmonton and Calgary at a cost of $1 million a year.
80 Mexican migrants detained and deported from Vancouver
June 24, 2008
Eighty Mexicans who were cheated into paying up to $3,000 each on
the promise of a job in Canada were deported from Vancouver yesterday
after spending a weekend in detention centres.
More...
Manitoba Migrant farm workers sign first collective agreement
June 25, 2008
Migrant workers at a farm in Portage La Prairie have agreed to a three-year collective agreement, the first of its kind for migrant workers in Canada.
More...
NEW J4MW ARTICLES:
Migrant Workers Reap Bitter Harvest in Ontario
Women in particular find themselves vulnerable to violence and intimidation
October, 2008
Evelyn Encalada Grez
"Laura's crime was to have been injured at work. She lost her balance, fell off a tractor and her legs were crushed by its wheels. As soon as she regained consciousness after her first surgery, an official from the Mexican consulate in Toronto started harassing her."
Harvest of Injustice:
The Oppression of Migrant Workers on Canadian Farms
June 2008
Adriana Paz
"My first observation was that brown bodies are the pickers and white bodies are the managers. I naively asked my boss why there are no Canadians picking tomatoes. He answered me simply, "Because this is not a job for them."
- MAJOR
REPORT ON THE CONDITION -
- OF
FARM WORKERS IN BC -
CCPA, labour, academic and grasss roots study:
Farmworkers relegated to second-class status
Proposed changes would end exploitation of immigrant and migrant farmworkers
VANCOUVER, June 18 /CNW/ - A new study of farm work in BC reveals systematic violations of employment standards and health and safety regulations, poor and often dangerous working conditions, and dismal enforcement by government agencies. The study's authors propose comprehensive policy changes that would ensure farmworkers - most of whom are immigrants and temporary migrants - are no longer relegated to second-class status.
"Farmworkers are at the mercy of a complex and confusing system that exploits, threatens and silences them while putting their lives in danger," says study co-author Arlene McLaren, Professor Emerita of Sociology at Simon Fraser University.
Among the key findings:
- Farmworkers are routinely exposed to pesticides, gases used for ripening in greenhouses, and other chemicals without appropriate protective gear or training.
- Immigrant farmworkers are regularly transported by farm labour contractors in vans that violate safety regulations. Participants worried about their safety, but depend on contractors' vans to get to and from work. They did not report vehicle or other safety violations for fear of losing their jobs.
- Health and safety standards are routinely violated. For example, nearly 1 in 4 survey respondents rarely or never had access to a washroom on the worksite, and one in three rarely or never had access to any water for hand washing.
- The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), a federal-provincial program BC joined in 2004, brings a growing number of primarily Mexican migrant workers to Canada under conditions that amount to indentured servitude.
You can
read the complete release and dowload the full study at:
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/News/2008/06/farmworkers
Related stories in the press:
Report on B.C. farm workers' conditions describe unsafe work conditions
Canadian Press - June 19, 2008
VANCOUVER — For the past four years, Juan has come to British Columbia from Mexico every spring to work on a farm.
The 38-year-old, who didn't want his real name to be used, says he knew the money was better in Canada but the working conditions didn't meet the high standards he had expected.
Farmworkers suffer lack of protection, Valley study
finds
Brian Morton, Vancouver sun
Published: Thursday, June 19, 2008
B.C. farmworkers face system-wide violations of employment standards and health and safety regulations, poor working conditions, and low enforcement by government agencies, according to a study released Wednesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Farmworker exploitation
A new B.C. study criticizes how migrant workers are treated
Paul J. Henderson
Chilliwack Times, Friday,
June 20, 2008
A study of farm workers in British Columbia released this week reports serious violations of employment standards and health and safety standards, often dangerous working conditions, and dismal enforcement by government agencies.
Abuse in our own backyard
By Siobahn Rowe
24 Hours, June 23, 2008
British Columbians are continually urged to buy locally grown produce in preference to food shipped over massive distances from overseas. This is a suggestion many do their best to follow.
Poor Safety, Health Standards for B.C. Farmworkers: Study
Farmworkers 'a particularly vulnerable group' of low-wage workers
By Joan Delaney
Epoch Times Staff
Jun 26, 2008
Farmworkers in British Columbia are treated like second-class citizens who live and work in unsafe conditions and are paid inadequate wages, according to a recent study.
|
J4MW
BC Housing Conditions for Temporary Migrant Agricultural Workers in B.C. |
RECENT EVENTS
February
22, 2008
Justicia for Migrant Workers and Café Rebelde Present:
Written
and directed by Arturo Perez Torres, the film chronicles the perilous
journey of migrants from Central America and Mexico as they make their
way north to the US, along the way facing encounters with corrupt Mexican
border guards, predatory Mara Salvatrucha gangs, and racist Minutemen
vigilante groups.
 |
December 19, 2007 Justicia for
Migrant Workers A 42 minute documentary by Aaraon Diaz Mendiburo on the often hidden human cost of temporary worker programs. More info on the film, including how to obtain a copy, can be found here. Also: 7:00
PM @ |
Vancouver Screening of El Contrato
July 26, 2006
Justicia for Migrant Workers BC presents the acclaimed NFB documentary "EL CONTRATO”, a powerful film that traces the lives of migrant Mexican farm workers in Ontario and their quest for dignity and respect amidst poor working conditions.
Click here for more information on the film.
The film will be followed by a panel discussion about the ongoing struggles of migrant farm workers in BC.
J4MW
BC and KAIROS presented the Vancouver screening of
Borderless
Friday, June 2
7:00-9:00pm
St. Andrew's Wesley United Church
1022 Nelson Street, Vancouver
Borderless is a twenty-two minute documentary poem about migrants living and working without status in Canada. Told in their own voices, the stories of Geraldo, an undocumented Costa Rican construction worker, and Angela, a second-generation Caribbean domestic worker, bring to life serious problems of labour exploitation and family separation caused by restrictive immigration legislation. Viewers are introduced to an often invisible workforce and invited to reflect on the hidden costs of sustaining our first world economy.
Directed
by Gemini nominated filmmaker Min Sook Lee and narrated by poet Dionne
Brand, winner of the 1997 Governor General's Literary Award.
Borderless is a production of KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives.
The video will be followed by a moderated discussion about the exploitation of undocumented workers happening in cities like Vancouver and Toronto. The BC Launch of the video is hosted by KAIROS, Justicia for Migrant Workers-BC & the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada.
LETTER OF PROTEST BY MIGRANT WORKERS IN BC
April 7, 2006
This letter of complaints was written by the Mexican agricultural workers from the Golden Eagle Group farm in Pitt Meadows, BC, in response to the fact that a series of grave concerns have not been addressed by their employer nor by Mexican consular authorities. This in spite of repeated attempts by the workers to find a solution to their legitimate demands for:
1. Bathrooms, drinking water and a place were they can find cover from the rain while they eat during working days in the fields.
2. More working hours. Currently the workers are being given insufficient working hours that rarely cover the minimum living expenses in Canada, and leave little or nothing to send back to their families in Mexico, which is the main reason why the workers come here in the first place.
3. Fair and respectful treatment by the supervisors and employers.
4. A response to their demands for medical attention without having to pay for it as they are not covered by B.C.'s Medical Services Plan but by RBC Insurance that is limited and insufficient.
5. Compliance with their written work contract which says that they were to work in a greenhouse and not in outdoor blueberry and cranberry farms.
The Mexican workers are employed under Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) negotiated between the governments of Canada and Mexico. Each worker has a contract and is in Canada on a temporary working visa. The migrant Mexican workers are compelled to come to work in Canada as a result of the devastating impact of economic agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on the Mexican countryside. Upon arrival in Canada the workers often find themselves in precarious working, living and health situations and routinely face abuse and mistreatment from their employers, who appear to almost completely forget to respect the workers' fundamental labour, economic and human rights such the access to healthcare. The workers' complaints are rarely heard or addressed by either their employers or the Mexican consulate.
The situation exposed in this letter by the workers of Golden Eagle farms is not limited to this particular group of workers but can be considered part of a generalized condition of lack of justice, dignity and respect for the temporary agricultural workers that toil in the majority of Canadian farms, even when those workers come through programs negotiated between both governments to satisfy a need for labour in the agricultural sector. - J4MW BC
Download
letter in English [PDF]
Download
letter in Spanish [PDF]
MEXICAN MIGRANT WORKER THREATENED WITH FORCED REPARTIATION FOR VOICING CONCERNS ABOUT WORKPLACE AND LIVING CONDITIONS
 J4MW and the BC Federation of Labour held a press conference on May 24, 2006 to denounce the arbitrary termination of Marcos Baac. From left: NDP MLA and Labour Critic Chuck Puchmayr, BC Fed President Jim Sinclair, Marcos Baac, and Pablo Irriberne from the law firm Suleman and Co. |
VANCOUVER - May 19, 2006) - Marcos Baac, a Mexican migrant farm worker who was employed by Golden Eagle Farms in Pitt Meadows through a contract under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program, received notice on May 9th that he would be sent back to Mexico immediately.
Baac believes that this forced repatriation is a reprisal for being vocal in raising concerns about the farm’s poor working and living conditions. In April 2006, after failed attempts to bring their concerns directly to the employer and the Mexican consulate, Baac, along with 31 other workers at the farm, wrote a public letter outlining several workplace and living condition grievances.
Full
press release [PDF]
Press release in
Spanish [PDF]
Press package
[PDF]
About the Seasonal Agricultural
workers Program - SAWP [PDF]
BC
PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT IS VIOLATING
CANADA HEALTH ACT
For Immediate
Release
March 22, 2006
(Vancouver) - Migrant farm worker advocates are accusing the BC Liberals of violating Canada's Health care act by denying migrant farm workers access to health care in BC. Justicia for Migrant Workers, an advocacy group fighting for the rights of migrant farm workers in BC is demanding that migrant farm workers from Mexico be immediately included under the province's MSP health insurance scheme, so that they can be given basic health coverage. Mexican workers have already started to come back to BC for the third year in a row, and up to a couple thousand workers are expected this year throughout BC...
Full
press release [PDF]
Full press
release in Spanish [PDF]
Updated June 29, 2009