International Migrants Day Posters

International Migrants Day – December 18

Toronto – December 16, 2013 – International Migrants Day – December 18, annually commemorates the adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of Rights of All Migrant Workers and their Families by the United Nations on December 18, 1990. 

Human Rights Day Poster

International Human Rights Day 2013

Toronto – December 8, 2013 – International Human Rights Day is commemorated annually on December 10^th. Sixty-five years ago, on this date, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR) was born, as a mechanism to promote human rights for all people.  

UFCW Canada brings comfort to flood-stricken migrant communities in Mexico

Guerrero, Mexico – November 27, 2013 – Last September, two powerful tropical storms hit the Pacific and Atlantic coast of Mexico, leaving behind an unspeakable amount of destruction. The state of Guerrero was particularly hit. The storms took away 40 years' worth of infrastructure in the region. Months after the tragedy, and after having lost almost everything, people are working together to rebuild their homes and communities.

In the wake of this tragedy, and as a token of respect for the unbelievable strength of migrant rural communities, UFCW Canada recently partnered with the state and municipal authorities to deliver blankets in the communities of Acalco, Coamancingo, Xalocan, San Marquitos, Amolixtlahuacán, Tepexaxococtitlán, Tetitlán, La Villa and Hueytepec. Around 1,000 families benefited from this donation and have expressed their gratitude toward Canadian workers, and UFCW Canada members in particular.

The delivery of the donations was made possible thanks to the support of Netzahualcoyotl Bustamante, Director of the Secretariat of International and Migrant Affairs (SEMAI), and Francisco Javier Garcia, Municipal President of Chilapa de Álvarez. UFCW Canada signed a mutual cooperation agreement with SEMAI in January 2012, as well as with the municipal administration of Chilapa in March 2013. The aim of the agreements is to improve the lives of migrant workers and their families in Guerrero by developing better practices and policy development regarding migrant workers, while providing support, training and assistance to workers abroad.

UFCW Canada is the country’s leading and most progressive private-sector union with more than 250,000 members across Canada, working primarily in the food production and food retail sectors. UFCW Canada, in association with the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA) also operates ten agriculture worker support centers across the country.

Canada’s leading voice for migrant farm workers “commends” Manitoba government for extending healthcare coverage

Winnipeg – May 16, 2013 – Canada’s leading voice for agriculture workers, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada), is applauding the Manitoba government in response to its decision to extend public health care coverage to migrant farm workers: the people who make the country’s food supply and production system possible.

“As Canada’s strongest voice for migrant workers, UFCW Canada is very pleased to joinManitobans, and all Canadians, in commending the Greg Selinger NDP government for extending public health coverage to migrant farm workers in the province,” says Wayne Hanley, national president of UFCW Canada.

For the past several years, UFCW Canada has a led a wide-spread and popular campaign throughout the province, and across the country, dedicated to informing the public about the urgent need to grant provincial healthcare to migrant farm workers.

“We also applaud the Manitoba government for recognizing the essential role that migrant workers play in the province’s economy, and for acknowledging the difficult and dangerous conditions that migrant farm workers endure in producing our food, thereby, making full access to public healthcare all the more essential,” adds Hanley.

Effective this summer, seasonal agricultural workers will become eligible for Manitoba Health coverage while they work in the province, waiving wait times for eligibility which is consistent with the approach used in Saskatchewan. Currently, migrant agriculture workers are required to have health insurance through a private insurer and pay out of pocket for it. 

"Seasonal agricultural workers work hard to grow the food that Manitoba families enjoy and as taxpaying residents of Manitoba, they deserve the same public health care that other taxpayers already receive," says Jeff Traeger, president of the UFCW Canada Local 832. "On behalf of these workers,UFCW thanks the Manitoba government for extending provincial health coverage."

We Remember! April 28 – Day of Mourning for workers killed and injured on the job

Toronto – April 25, 2013 – On April 28, as we remember workers who have been killed or injured on the job, we must also remember to keep up the fight for the living.

Tragically, thousands of workers, every year, have their life changed because of a major injury while hundreds more lose their life because of their work. No job is worth dying for, yet 919 people lost their lives in 2011, the most recent year for which we have statistics. These are not accidents, they can be prevented. It is important to remember that Canada still has one of the highest rates of workplace deaths in the industrialized world, and even one death is still one too many.

Nothing can bring back those who have died, but a message has to be sent that cutting corners on health and safety and employees being killed is not acceptable. If and when an employer willfully neglects health and safety, knowing that someone can be injured or killed – they should be held criminally responsible. Corporations and their representatives need to be held accountable. 

As members of Canada’s largest private-sector union, it’s essential for us to be leaders in the movement to make sure our governments are responding to negligent employers with a very strong, clear message: “Kill a worker, go to jail.”

Another step forward for rights of Quebec agriculture workers

Montreal – April 18, 2013 – In the wake of a historic victory at the Quebec Superior Court,UFCW Canada Local 501 has welcomed the announcement by the Quebec government that it will not appeal the March 11, 2013 decision. The legal fight, to uphold the rights of seasonal agriculture workers to unionize, was commenced almost five years ago.

The successful outcome, and the government's decision not to appeal, means that seasonal agricultural workers in Quebec will have the same rights to unionize as all other workers in Quebec. In its ruling, the Superior Court gave the Quebec government twelve months to amend its legislation to conform to the court's March 2013 decision.

"We are very pleased to finally close an important chapter in the legal battle," says Louis Bolduc, Executive Assistant to the National President of UFCW Canada. "The government's decision not to appeal is of particular importance since it opens the door to discuss and address what has been a discriminatory situation faced by all seasonal agricultural workers."

To this end, a meeting was held on April 12, with Quebec Minister of Labour Agnès Maltais. At the meeting, Brother Bolduc and UFCW Canada Local 501 Secretary-Treasurer Mario Délisle had a positive discussion with the Minister regarding issues and priorities in the wake of the ruling. "By initiating this new chapter of dialogue with the government," says Bolduc, "we have moved one step further in ensuring the rights of agriculture workers in Quebec."

UFCW Canada and Mexico's CNC sign historic agreement

Cuernavaca, Mexico – April 11, 2013 – The National Farm Workers' Confederation (CNC) and UFCW Canada have signed an historic agreement to ensure that the rights of migrant agriculture workers are protected and defended in Mexico, Canada and the United States. The Mexican Secretary of Labour and Social Welfare, Alfonso Navarrete Prida, and Graco Ramirez, the governor of Morelos, attended the event and were honorary witnesses to the agreement.

The mutual cooperation agreement, which was signed on Tuesday by UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley and Senator Gerardo Sanchez, President of the CNC, will result in better conditions for migrant Mexican agriculture workers in North America. 

Labour rights training, and proactive monitoring and advocacy are cornerstones of the agreement. To this end, UFCW Canada and the CNC will also be developing a comprehensive database and analytical reports on the conditions facing migrant agriculture workers in Mexico, United States and Canada. This research and analysis will also be used to develop programs to improve access to social programs and benefits such as health, housing, and educational subsidies for the workers and members of their families.

As strategic allies, UFCW Canada and CNC will also share their experience and political strength to give a voice to the concerns of Mexican migrant agriculture workers internationally.

“As farm workers' unions, we understand that migration has historically been linked to the abuse and exploitation of migrant agriculture workers," said the UFCW Canada national president. "Together, UFCW Canada and CNC will fight to make sure that the rights of Mexican migrant agriculture workers are protected, and that they get their fair share for their work, whether they own the land or not.”

UFCW Canada is the country’s largest private-sector union and has led the fight for the workplace and safety rights of migrant agriculture workers for more than two decades. In association with the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA), UFCW Canada operates ten AWA agriculture worker support centres across the Canada.

Hundreds of foreign farm workers delayed from entering Quebec - Montreal - CBC News

Hundreds of foreign farm workers delayed from entering Quebec - Montreal - CBC News

Alberta Primetime - Alberta Farm Workers Fall Short in Provincial Labour Law Coverage

Alberta Primetime - Alberta Farm Workers Fall Short in Provincial Labour Law Coverage
SEE VIDEO!

In the News!

Ontario’s migrant workers fly under health radar

Fitzroy’s choice was simple — tell his boss a tractor had run over his foot and he needed a doctor, or grit his teeth and keep on working.

In the end, he chose to keep working, knowing if he didn’t, there was a good chance he’d be sent back to Jamaica before the harvest was over, and that would mean a hungry winter for his family.

Choices like that are made every day by the estimated 30,000 foreign workers Ontario imports annually to tend Niagara’s vineyards, to pick Leamington’s tomatoes and harvest Norfolk’s field crops.

“These workers are very much an invisible population,” American expert Bruce Gould told a Hamilton conference Monday. “They are essentially indentured servants and they’re afraid to make trouble.”

Gould is founder and director of a mobile free clinic in Connecticut that aims to help the state’s migrant farm workers get basic medical care during the months they add millions of dollars to local economies by harvesting tobacco leaves that are exported to the Dominican Republic to be turned into cigars.

His clinic is one of a growing number of initiatives throughout North America’s farm communities where doctors and others try to sell farmers on the idea it’s in their best interest to keep their temporary workers healthy.

“We can either look at the growers as the enemy or we can try to convince them that healthy workers are more productive,” Gould told his audience of doctors, nurses, labour activists and others. “We’re dealing with everyone from Archie Bunker on one end to articulate people who really care about their workers on the other.”

Studies in Connecticut show just over half of the state’s migrant farm population is from Mexico, 61 per cent are in the sexually active 21-44 age group, 14 per cent are under 20 years old and 67 per cent of them are men. On average, they have only six years of formal education.

Workers like Fitzroy — a real case cited by one of Monday’s presenters — represent a growing issue for Ontario’s health-care system, and one that’s not fully understood.

Jackie Barrett-Green, chair of the health subcommittee of the Niagara Migrant Workers Interest Group, told the gathering there are about 7,000 official migrant workers in Niagara Region and Norfolk County, but the actual number may be twice as high because not all of the workers come through official channels.

“They’re on nobody’s radar and there’s no money to provide services to them even though they contribute millions to the economy,” she said. “They’re just not part of the scenario, but they are part of our community.”

Most of those in Ontario come from Mexico and the Caribbean, and reaching them with messages about health care is not always easy.

One American program that has been successful in reaching that vulnerable population is the Promotores de Salud (Promoters of Health) effort operating in five states that make heavy use of migrant farm labour.

Colleen Reinert, the program’s national capacity building director, said reaching workers requires overcoming barriers of language and culture, lack of transportation, poverty and isolation.

Her program kicks down those barriers by training people from within migrant groups to carry the message to the people they work beside, helping them find the treatment they need when they’re sick or hurt and training them, as far as possible, to avoid problems.

“They become a bridge over which the community can access health care,” she said. “We’re not asking them to diagnose problems and be a doctor, we’re asking them just to provide information and education.”

The conference was organized by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers.

sarnold@thespec.com

905-526-3496 | @arnoldatTheSpec

© 2013 — The Spectator