Justice for Migrant Workers

Defence Organizations Demand Protection for All Farm Workers

Organizations active in defending migrant workers are stepping up their fight in defence of all farm workers, whose most vulnerable section is made up of over 60,000 seasonal and temporary workers who come to Canada each year to work in the agriculture industry. Many arrive through federal programs such as the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP).

Last month the federal government granted farmers the ability to hire migrant workers throughout the pandemic, so long as they self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival. The regulation, however, does not apply to those deemed essential by public health officials. The federal government also shamefully washed its hands of the need to provide the ways and means through which migrant farm workers can practice social distancing at work and in their lodgings. Migrant farm workers are typically given inadequate housing that they must share with many others. Yet the federal government has decreed that farm businesses are the best positioned to provide adequate lodging in conjunction with the provinces.

According to a report published in July 2019 by the Canadian Agricultural Resources Council, the employment of temporary migrant workers increased from 45,600 in 2014 to nearly 60,000 in 2017. That means migrant workers made up one-sixth of all jobs in the Canadian agricultural labour force. In Ontario, 14,000 temporary migrants are hired to work in the agricultural sector each season. In southwestern Ontario, Leamington and the neighbouring municipality of Kingsville annually receive 5,000 to 6,000 workers, the vast majority of whom are from Mexico.

For close to 20 years now, Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW) has been advocating for the rights of not only migrant, but all farm workers and is stepping up its fight, under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, to demand urgent protection for these workers.

For example, the Ontario Ford government has announced a wage increase and special bonuses for some of the workers providing front-line services during the coronavirus pandemic, such as certain workers in hospitals, long-term care centres and emergency shelters, but it has not seen fit to include farm workers amongst those eligible for such measures. J4MW is demanding to know why farm workers, one of the most vulnerable and essential groups, are excluded from these income supports. In light of recent news reports about the spread of the virus to agricultural operations, J4MW is demanding that the province undertake measures to protect the interests of farm workers, as well as the food supply chain.

In an April 26 press release, J4MW urges the province and the Ministry of Labour to undertake immediate steps to ensure that all farm workers can be protected from the pandemic's spread. According to the press release, these steps should include the following measures:

- extend the wage boost to include all farm workers in Ontario;

- provide an expedited appeals process for migrant workers filing complaints with respect to occupational health and safety and employment standards;

- do not tie migrant farm workers to a single employer;

- extend occupational health and safety legislation to include agricultural dwellings;

- strengthen anti-reprisal protections to ensure workers are not fired for raising health and safety concerns or if they become sick or are injured at work;

- develop regulations to protect workers from heat stress, chemical or pesticide exposure, confined spaces, working at heights and other occupational hazards;

- increase proactive and snap inspections for all farming operations across Ontario;

- provide hazard pay, sick pay and other benefits to recognize the dangers associated with agricultural work;

- recognize pay based on a piece rate as an occupational health and safety hazard;

- develop and implement occupational health and safety legislation that recognizes racism and systemic discrimination and provides an equity analysis in determining which categories of workers are at greater risk of occupational hazards;

- communicate what protocols the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has in place to isolate infected workers (and protect uninfected workers) if there is an outbreak in a bunkhouse or workplace;

- end employer wage deductions for all personal protective equipment and develop regulations that ensure employers provide bathrooms, washing facilities and potable water for farm workers across Ontario;

- strengthen migrant worker protection against recruitment fees by holding employers and recruiters jointly liable; and

- end the exclusions to holiday pay, overtime pay, minimum hours of work provisions and the myriad of regulations that deny fairness to farm workers.

"These are long-standing requests that farm workers have been bringing up for decades" said Moilene Samuels, an activist with J4MW. "If we want to stamp out the spread of this pandemic then we need structural changes to address the systemic power imbalances that exist in our field," Samuels added.

J4MW and many organizations fighting in defence of migrant workers are also demanding that the Canadian government provide residency status for all migrant workers.

The press release quotes University of Windsor law professor Dr. Vasanti Venkatesh. He notes that "migrant farm workers have been the lynchpin of the harvesting season and their contributions have become more crucial than ever as they provide Canada with food security during the pandemic. Yet, it is during harvesting season that the workers are given [the] least protection, as they work numerous overtime hours without pay under hazardous living and working conditions."

Venkatesh also notes that "the structural inequities in agriculture work are exacerbated under the twin forces of the pandemic and harvesting pressures. It has therefore never been more imperative to provide the workers with all the rights and protections. Farm employers are receiving several benefits in the form of subsidies and other grants and other regulatory exemptions. It is time that the workers receive the benefits that are due to them and are valued for their essential labour."


This article was published in

Volume 50 Number 15 - May 2, 2020

Article Link:
Justice for Migrant Workers: Defence Organizations Demand Protection for All Farm Workers


    

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