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CANADIAN GOVERNMENT MUST DEAL WITH ISSUES FACED BY MIGRANT FARM WORKERS: JUSTICIA FOR MIGRANTS WORKERSJ4MW Responds to comments made by Canadas High Commissioner to Jamaica Claudio Valle
Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW), an advocacy group for the rights of
migrant farm workers in Canada is demanding that the Canadian government
take immediate action in response to comments made by Canadas High
Commissioner to Jamaica Claudio Valle. In a statement on Tuesday December
3, 2003, Mr. Valle suggested that the government of Canada may bar
Jamaican migrant farm workers from coming to Canada due to allegations of
drug smuggling and a high desertion rates by Jamaican workers.
J4MW finds the comments made by Mr. Valle mask the real issues faced by
migrant farm workers in Canada. Issues such as wage discrimination,
workplace exploitation, lack of health and safety protection, overtime
work without overtime pay are some of the serious problems faced by
workers while they are in Canada.
It is absurd that representatives from the Canadian government would
threaten the people of Jamaica which such statements without acknowledging
the abysmal living and working conditions that many migrant farm workers
must endure during their terms of employment here in Canada says David
Melville a member of the Justicia for Migrant Workers Collective.
Mr. Valles comments are symptomatic of a larger ignorance of the
importance migrant farm workers contribute to the Canadian agricultural
industry. Since 1966 tens of thousands of migrant farm workers have worked
in Canada. In 2001 alone approximately 20,000 migrant farm workers came to
Canada to work under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker program (SAW). Since
1966, these workers have been integral to the survival of the Canadian
agricultural industry but have been denied basic rights enjoyed by
millions of workers.
Workers from the Caribbean and Mexico come to Canada for up to eight
months of the year but are treated like second class workers in every
sense of the word. Mr. Valles comments are insulting and indicative of the
underlying racial discrimination that permeates the SAW program says
Nicole Wall a member of Black Youth United.
Justicia for Migrant Workers is demanding that the Canadian government
immediately take steps to address the exploitation faced by migrant farm
workers in Canada. Enclosed is a list of demands that the Canadian
government must undertake.
For More Information Please Call: Chris Ramsaroop 416-832-4932,
[email protected]; www.justicia4migrantworkers.org ,
or 416-329-6844, [email protected]
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Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) demands that the Canadian Government
take immediate steps to address issues faced by migrant farm workers.
Issues must include the following:
*Health and Safety legislative protection: Thousands of farm workers are
not covered by health and safety legislation. This means that workers do
not receive adequate health and safety training, and they do not know what
pesticides or dangerous chemicals that they are working with. In 2002
Jamaican farm worker Ned Livingstone Peart died while working in the
tobacco fields near Brantford, Ontario. There still has not been a
coroners investigation into his death.
*Job discrimination: Workers have told representatives of Justicia for
Migrant Workers (J4MW) that they receive less pay than Canadian workers
working side by side with them in the fields of southern Ontario.
*Right to Employment Insurance: In 2001 it was estimated that migrant farm
workers put into the EI fund over $11 million a year yet they are denied
the right to apply for returns from this program. The federal government
must create a regime whereby migrant farm workers can claim employment
insurance.
*Right to regularization: Workers must have the right to apply for
citizenship in Canada. Since 1966 workers have been simply seen as a
labour force that is brought in and then returned after their contract is
over. Many workers want the right to apply for Canadian citizenship. The
government must listen to their needs and implement a process whereby
workers can apply for Status in Canada
*The Right to be treated with respect and dignity: Workers consider
themselves to be an invisible workforce that have little clout when
dealing with either employers or governmental officials. It is essential
that migrant farm workers be covered by legislative protection that
guarantees minimum labour standards. This must includes full coverage
under Ontarios Employment Standards Act, fair and decent housing, the
right to form unions and the right to social and economic mobility in
Canada.
*Right to Appeal: Workers have complained that they work in virtual
bondage. Several workers have documented cases where their colleagues have
faced reprisal for standing up to demand better work and living
conditions. Reprisals take the form of premature repatriations where
workers are sent home usually at their own expense. An appeal process must
be implemented to guarantee that migrant farm workers have the right to a
fair and impartial process where they can tell their side of their story.