Migrant Scholarship Winners Announced

Five extraordinary students from across the globe are the first-ever recipients of the UFCW Canada Migrant Workers Scholarships.

Launched in May 2010, the UFCW Canada’s Migrant Workers Scholarships program generated over 4,000 applications from temporary foreign workers in Canada, who under the unique scholarship program can nominate their children, grandchildren, sisters, brothers, or nieces, and nephews as scholarship applicants.

Read the full story here.

SUPREME COURT OF CANADA -- JUDGMENTS TO BE RENDERED IN APPEALS

OTTAWA,  2011-04-26.  THE  SUPREME  COURT  OF  CANADA  ANNOUNCED  TODAY  THAT  JUDGMENT  IN  THE  FOLLOWING  APPEAL  WILL  BE  DELIVERED  AT 

9:45  A.M.  EDT  ON  FRIDAY,  APRIL  29,  2011.

FROM:  SUPREME  COURT  OF  CANADA  (613) 995-4330

OTTAWA,  2011-04-26.  LA  COUR  SUPRÊME  DU  CANADA  A  ANNONCÉ  AUJOURD’HUI  QUE  JUGEMENT  SERA  RENDU  DANS  L’APPEL  SUIVANT 

LE  VENDREDI  29  AVRIL  2011,  À  9h45  HAE.

SOURCE:  COUR  SUPRÊME  DU  CANADA  (613) 995-4330

Attorney General of Ontario v. Michael J. Fraser on his own behalf and on behalf of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada et al. (Ont.) (32968)

Read the London Free Press Article on this story.

Another transportation accident, another worker dead

A minibus transporting migrant workers had a road accident April 18 afternoon on Highway 20 near Montmagny in Quebec killing one Guatemalan agricultural worker and leaving 7 others seriously injured.

Read more about this story here: The Gazette, Montreal or CBC News

Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Publishes Studies on Migrant Workers Health

Jenna Hennebry PhD from the International Migration Research Centre at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo and Kerry Preibisch PhD from the University of Guelph wrote the first study published in the CMAJ Monday. The second study was written by Dr. Michael Pysklywec, Janet McLaughlin PhD, Michelle Tew RN and Dr. Ted Haines.

Both studies highlight the health problems that migrant workers, especially those in the agriculture industry, encounter while working on the fields of Canada. A lot of the issues highlighted were related to housing and labour conditions along with language barriers.

Read the first study.
Read the second study.

Read media articles about this story: The Toronto Star or The Canadian Press

A new coalition is formed in British Columbia to protect migrant workers

Raul Gatica from the AWA – Surrey is part of a newly formed coalition of 12 provincial advocacy organizations working with agricultural migrant workers. 

"The Coalition for Migrant Workers Justice B.C." aims to give voice to the thousand of migrant workers that arrive in that province to harvest the food around issues of health, working and housing conditions.

Read more about this story here: The Vancouver Sun

OLAS's "Sounds of Solidarity: Voices of the Migrants" Event

Thursday April 21, 2011
JJR Macleod Auditorium, University of Toronto
1 Kings College Circle
6:30 PM
Come out and support UFCW Canada and the Organization of Latin American Students as they fundraise. The money raised will be used by OLAS to buy the following and other merchandise:

• Proper winter clothing.
• Bicycles to travel to and from the workplace (many of the workers do not live near their workplace and bicycles are the main form of transportation among migrants.)
• Information packages to educate the migrant workers on their rights and the services they have access to (to prevent exploitation).

For more information visit the OLAS Facebook Page

Town offers financial support to offshore farm workers’ welcome

Disconnect between offshore farm workers and community largely due to lack of opportunity to interact

By Sarah Ferguson

An evening of fun, music and cultural awareness will celebrate the arrival of migrant workers from Jamaica, and the town has agreed to help pay for it.

Jane Andres, one of the organizers of the event, came to council in March asking for some help with funding the event that is held to welcome back the offshore workers who come to Niagara-on-the-Lake to work on local farms.

Read the full story.