The Need to Enforce the Rights
of Migrant Workers
Call to Reverse Ontario's New Guidance Allowing Some Workers Who Test Positive for COVID-19 to Keep Working
On June 30,
a group of medical professionals published an
open letter to the Chief Medical Officer of
Health for Ontario, calling for him to use his
powers under the Health Protection and
Promotion Act to
immediately reverse the new public health
guidance announced on June 24 by Premier Doug
Ford.[1]
They are inviting other medical professionals
to add their names to the letter. The letter
can be signed here.
Dr. David Williams
Chief Medical Officer of Health
Re: Public health guidance on testing and
clearance
Dear Dr. Williams,
We are health care professionals writing to
express our concern at the guidance provided by
your office on June 24th that asymptomatic
workers who test positive for COVID-19 may
continue to work if they are deemed "critical to
operations." In particular, we are concerned
that this guidance puts migrant agricultural
workers at specific, preventable risk of harm.
We urge you to act in your capacity as Chief
Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) as outlined in
the Health Protection and Promotion Act (77.1)
to immediately reverse this guidance.
By now it is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic
has disproportionately harmed migrant
agricultural workers, with large outbreaks on
farms across Southern Ontario and the deaths of
three workers: Bonifacio Eugenio-Romero, Rogelio
Muñoz Santos, and Juan López Chaparro. The
public health response to these outbreaks must
be grounded in their root causes: poor working
and living conditions. The guidance provided by
the CMOH cannot be safely followed or
consistently applied, and does little to address
the root causes of these outbreaks.
The guidance states that asymptomatic workers
may continue to work if they "adhere to public
health measures." However, migrant agricultural
workers consistently report that physical
distancing is difficult in the fields,
greenhouses, and bunkhouses of Ontario. Media
reports describe poor access to the necessities
for hygiene and personal protective equipment on
some farms. In the absence of change to the
material conditions of these workers, it is
unlikely that workers can adhere to the
recommended public health measures.
 As a result, the
guidance poses a specific and demonstrated
public health risk to migrant agricultural
workers and the communities in which they live.
It is well-established that a large proportion
of individuals with COVID-19 who are
asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis go on to
develop symptoms. In addition, we know that
individuals can infect others while
asymptomatic. We are not aware of another sector
that routinely permits asymptomatic workers to
return to work immediately following a positive
test result. Given the working and living
conditions of migrant agricultural workers, we
are concerned that asymptomatic spread of
COVID-19 will result in further outbreaks and
additional deaths.
The guidance also places the burden of risk and
adherence on migrant agricultural workers -- a
population with minimal workplace protections or
autonomy, while failing to ensure that employers
directly address the conditions which exacerbate
the spread of COVID-19. Workers may not feel
safe to disclose symptoms if they fear loss of
income or retribution from employers, including
the fear of removal from Canada. Workers who
wish to report symptoms and seek health care
often have limited or no access to
language-concordant care. The guidance does not
clearly outline the responsibilities of
employers to ensure that recommended public
health measures are enacted or to improve the
working and living conditions of their
employees. Public health guidance stating that
asymptomatic workers can return to work may also
undermine their ability to make legitimate
workplace insurance claims.
Moreover, we are deeply concerned by your
statement suggesting that this guidance was
prompted, in part, by employers' concerns that
mass testing of workers could lead to the
detection of a large number of asymptomatic
cases of COVID-19. This argument clearly trades
the health and safety of employees for the
interests of their employers. We are troubled by
media reports that the guidance was constructed
to garner buy-in from employers and designed to
be a compromise. It is clear that the voice,
autonomy, and dignity of workers were not
considered in this guidance. Our public health
leaders are entrusted with a broad range of
powers which they must exercise in service of
the health of all those who reside in Ontario.
We are concerned that the guidance was informed
by considerations other than sound public health
principles and that the independence of the
decision-making process may have been
compromised.
We ask you to focus your efforts on
establishing the workplace conditions and
protections required for migrant agricultural
workers to protect their own health and that of
their communities using your powers under
Section 77 of the Health Protection and
Promotion Act. These efforts should at a
minimum include:
1. Revoking the guidance that permits migrant
agricultural workers with COVID-19 to continue
to work if they are judged to be asymptomatic;
2. Expanding access to testing for all workers;
3. Ensuring access to paid sick leave for all
essential workers at high risk of experiencing
outbreaks (including migrant agricultural
workers and undocumented workers);
4. Providing specific mechanisms for
self-isolation through funded programs of
voluntary self- isolation in hotels or other
temporary housing and advocating for long-term
improvements in living conditions;
5. Protection from employer retaliation for
missed work due to these precautions.
The growing season is long, and we have already
borne witness to the deaths of three migrant
workers. The immediate return to work of any
person with COVID-19 threatens the health and
safety of workers and the entire community. We
therefore ask that you exercise your powers as
Chief Medical Officer of Health and reverse the
guidance to help ensure that we see no further
outbreaks or deaths among migrant agricultural
workers.
Note
1. Test
Clearing Cases Guidance Version 8.0, June 25,
2020. Relevant section is titled Work
Self-Isolation in Non-Health Care Settings
This article was published in
Number 49 - July 16, 2020
Article Link:
The Need to Enforce the Rights
of Migrant Workers: Call to Reverse Ontario's New Guidance Allowing Some Workers Who Test Positive for COVID-19 to Keep Working
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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