Migrant Workers Speak Out
On August 8,
some 250 protesters participated in a rally outside Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau's constituency office in Montreal, demanding status for
all migrants and that nobody be left behind. The action anticipated
announcements by the federal and Quebec governments that provide the
possibility of permanent status to only a small section of the
essential workers who continue to work during the pandemic. The event's
main organizer was Solidarity Across Borders. The
action began with representatives from Solidarity Across Borders
explaining how those without permanent status are pushed into hard
labour under dangerous and dismal working conditions, without health
care, benefits, or emergency relief. In particular during the pandemic,
while many Canadians were provided the opportunity to stay home and
protect themselves, they were forced to face the dangers and thus
allowed Canadian society to continue functioning at the risk of their
own lives.  "All we want is
to live in dignity and be safe," said one of these workers, noting that
the undocumented continue to be excluded from all government programs,
such as employment insurance, health care, emergency benefits, social
assistance and a work permit, amongst other things.
"It's
as if we don't exist," said another. "We have worked outdoors as
security guards in -40 degree weather, made masks for everyone, cleaned
private and public residences, worked at grocery stores, as care givers
[...], in the fields, in meat-processing plants etc. both before and
during the pandemic. We're continuously placed in harm's way to pay the
rent and our expenses. We even pay taxes!" Noting
that people apply as refugees for good reason and asserting that no one
should be left behind, one worker remarked: "Refugees, students, farm
workers, care workers, we are all working and should not be
criminalized." Commenting that many have been living in Quebec for over
a decade, he added: "We're being neglected. We are part of this
society. We left our families and our homes without anyone to take care
of them, putting ourselves and them at risk. Now it's time to take care
of us. This urgency has come because of the virus ... we are not
objects that you throw away after using them. We are people, we deserve
dignity and respect... We are all essential. All is all!" 
A woman
originally from Cameroon said: "My status is precarious. I'm an
orderly. Recently I was assigned to health screening... I've done all
kinds of painful, difficult and dangerous essential work over the past
four years." She spoke of the pain that comes with work in cold-storage
rooms or in fields for eight hours without the time to even stand up
and stretch. She demanded that the discrimination being meted out
against these workers and attempts to divide them be brought to an end.
"All human beings have the right to equality, respect, dignity, to the
same privileges in building a better world." "We
are the backbone of this country, of its economy," said another,
commenting that that backbone must be "given an honest priority."
A machine operator employed in the agri-food industry
remarked: "What we realize today is that the government is attempting
to divide workers by saying that a certain category of workers, the one
that provides care is more important than the one that feeds." Despite
the fact that he and many others worked both before as well as during
the pandemic, he commented: "When we arrive here, the government gives
us a work permit that it is possible to renew year after year after
year after year. However, they refuse to give us a status so that we
can live calmly, peacefully, freely and in dignity; so that families
can be reunited." "Today we are experiencing a
modern form of slavery," he continued. "It's as if you're one of the
machines, you must work without letup. Everyone's stressed out!"
Wilner Cayo, President of Stand Up For Dignity, stated: "The
next three weeks are going to be critical. The government is preparing
to make an announcement on regularization. However, if we're not
careful, that announcement may very well involve only a small number of
people, leaving many other essential workers who have risked their
lives behind." He went on to say that recently, he had met with migrant
workers employed by Olymel, a Canadian meat-packing and food processing
company. He informed that these workers are picked up by a yellow bus
and driven to the company's plants and slaughterhouses in different
towns. "They never stopped working during the pandemic," he remarked,
"although others were provided with relief. These people must also be
recognized and given permanent residency." At
first, he explained, his organization had only called for permanent
residence for those working in CHSLDs (long-term care facilities) and
seniors' residences. However, "as our relations developed amongst all
our friends and the other organizations, we understood that without
these people who work in the fields, in food processing, as security
guards, those in the CHSLDs and seniors' residences would not be able
to function. We are all essential." "Make no
mistake," he continued, "they will have no other choice than to listen
to us. The more we exert pressure, the more they will have to listen to
us. Together, it's possible!" Frantz
André, of the Action Committee on Non-Status Persons, also
encouraged everyone to step up their struggle. "How many of us came
here in search of a life, of hope? And you deserve it, you pay for it
each and every day when you venture out and take risks. You and those
who came before you have enriched Quebec's culture. We no longer have
to prove anything," he stated. André
then invited everyone to participate in Stand Up for Dignity's
encampment outside Prime Minister Trudeau's constituency office, which
began August 9, to send the message to the Trudeau government that its
present treatment of Canada's thousands upon thousands of migrant
workers is criminal indeed. 
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 32 - August 29, 2020
Article Link:
Migrant Workers Speak Out
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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