AWA Blog

AWA Virgil and Simcoe Offices host their Annual Open Houses

2011-07-18T14:47:00.000-04:00

AWA Virgil and Simcoe Offices host their Annual Open Houses

On July 8^th and July 10^th the AWA Offices of Simcoe and Virgil respectively held their annual Open Houses in order to welcome migrant farm workers from the Caribbean, Mexico, Guatemala and other countries back into their regions for the 2011 season.

Both centres had an amazing turn out of worker at their events. Virgil’s event was also highlighted by the participation of OPRIG, CUPE Local from Brock University and by the presence of Father Hernan Astudillo from San Lorenzo’s Anglican Church in Toronto. The festivities culminated with Father Astudillo celebrating a service for the workers at the end of the event.

The AWA team would like to thank UFCW Canada Local 175/633 for providing the centres with their BBQ trailer.

Workers pose for a group picture at the AWA Simcoe Centre

Banner displayed at the AWA Virgil Centre

Visit our web site for more pictures of these two events and many more.

AWA - Virgil Office Open House

2011-07-07T11:07:00.001-04:00

Migrant workers applaud Grapes of Wrath

2011-07-07T11:05:00.000-04:00

Recently, fact met fiction when two dozen migrant farm workers in southern Ontario attended a theatre performance of The Grapes of Wrath at the Stratford Festival. The play is adapted from John Steinbech's acclaimed 1939 American novel of the same name, which went on to win both a Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize for Literature for its portrayal of the abuse and hardship faced by migrant farm workers during the Great Depression.

Migrant workers rally for human rights on Father’s Day

2011-06-22T10:49:00.000-04:00

Migrant workers from Mexico and the Caribbean gathered under the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA) banner on June 19 in Toronto and Kelowna, B.C., to rally for their rights and to “celebrate” another Father’s Day apart from their families.

To read the full story and see pictures of the event click here.

Migrant Scholarship Winners Announced

2011-04-27T12:59:00.000-04:00

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

2011-04-27T11:29:00.001-04:00

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

2011-04-20T10:15:00.000-04:00

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

2011-04-20T10:14:00.000-04:00

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

2011-04-20T10:13:00.000-04:00

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

2011-04-20T10:12:00.000-04:00

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

2011-04-15T11:48:00.002-04:00

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.

National Rep Yeager appointed to Alberta farm safety council

2011-03-21T13:33:00.000-04:00

UFCW Canada national representative Devin Yeager is one of 15 Albertans who will sit on a new panel established by the Ed Stelmach government to look at ways to improve the safety of the province’s agriculture industry, which produced 22 deaths in 2010 – up from 13 the year before.

More ...

AWA efforts bring justice to Ghesquiere farm workers

2011-02-25T16:23:00.001-05:00

TORONTO - Thanks to the efforts of the Agriculture Workers Alliance/UFCW Canada, the door has been opened for about 130 migrant and domestic farm workers to get the back pay they were owed when the Ontario farm they worked at declared bankruptcy last fall.


(L-R) Fanny Belcoski, coordinator AWA Simcoe centre; Stan Raper (centre), national coordinator AWA; and Carolina Ramirez, whose successful test claim filed by the AWA has opened the way for other Ghesquiere workers.

Carolina Ramirez, a landed immigrant from Colombia who worked at the farm, recently received a cheque for more than $1,400 after the staff at the AWA centre in Simcoe, Ontario filed a test claim on her behalf under the Wage Earner Protection Act (WEPA).

Read more about the story here ...

Statement by UFCW Canada President Wayne Hanley on World Day of Social Justice – February 20

2011-02-16T12:32:00.000-05:00

The World Day of Social Justice – first observed in 2009 and every year since on February 20 – traces its roots back to the United Nations World Summit for Social Development held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1995. At the summit, Canada and 117 other nations made a social justice pledge to reduce poverty; to create jobs and full employment; and to respect equity, justice, human rights, and a safe and healthy community as fundamental to public policy.

To read the full statement click here ...

UFCW Canada leads training session in Tapachula, Mexico

2011-02-14T16:12:00.002-05:00

UFCW Canada’s outstanding commitment to empowering workers through training and education recently went global with its participation in the first-ever Global Workers Defenders Network Forum, held in Tapachula, Mexico from January 24 to 28.

To read the full story clik here ...

2010-2011 Migrant farm workers report published

2011-02-11T09:47:00.001-05:00

Report finds federal government complicit in Canada’s abuse of migrant farm workers.

Canada’s most comprehensive annual report on the challenges facing migrant farm workers has been released. It confirms that abuse and exploitation of migrant farm workers are rampant in Canada’s agriculture industry.

To read more about the story or to get a copy of the report click here ...

Migrant Workers File $10 Million Lawsuit against Denny’s in British Columbia

2011-01-17T10:57:00.000-05:00

More than 50 Filipino migrant workers recruited to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) program have filed a $10 million class action suit against Denny’s restaurants in British Columbia, charging the company did not live up to the employment contract the workers signed before they arrived from the Philippines. The suit was filed in the B.C. Supreme Court on January 7, on behalf of the Filipinio migrant workers employed at Denny’s from 2006 until the present.

Read more ...

Media stories:
CBC
BC NDP Press Release

Tens of Thousands of Immigrants victims of Harper cuts to settlement services

2011-01-17T10:52:00.000-05:00

The decision by the Harper government to slash funding to immigration settlement agencies is “a cynical attack on new immigrants and their communities,” says Wayne Hanley, the national president of UFCW Canada. The ten percent cutback in funding was quietly announced just days before Christmas, with most of the cuts falling in Ontario where at least 10 Toronto-based agencies had their funding cut altogether, and 35 other Ontario agencies had their budgets reduced.

Read more ...

International Migrants Day

2010-12-09T13:34:00.004-05:00

December 18, 2010 — International Migrants Day

The AWA and many of its allies are participating and some instances are hosting different activities and events to commemorate the 10^th International Migrants Day. You can also get the posters commemorating this day below in English, French, Spanish, Tagalog and Mandarin.

The United Nations' (UN) International Migrants Day is annually held on December 18 to recognize the efforts, contributions and rights of migrants worldwide. To read more about this day from the UN click here.

Here is the list of events commemorating this day across Canada:

1. Vancouver, British Columbia:

Sunday December 19, 2010

From 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm

At Our Lady of Sorrows

555 Slocan Street, Vancouver, BC.

2. Toronto, Ontario

Saturday December 18, 2010

From 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm

At George Brown College, St. James Campus in the Centre for Financial Services Education Building

290 Adelaide Street East, 3^rd Floor in Room 303

3. Quebec, Quebec

Thursday December 16, 2010

From 8:30 am to 5:00 pm

Au Centre justice et foi

25 rue Jarry Ouest

Quebec, QC

Veuillez confirmer votre présence par courriel à l'adresse suivante:
16decembre2010@gmail.com

Equal rights NOW for Ontario agworkers Camaign

2010-11-30T10:09:00.000-05:00

The men and women who harvest our food and feed our families need your help because fear, danger and oppression are daily realities in our food production system — and government is guilty of promoting it.

Help Canada’s agriculture workers by sharing this story — online and in person — with your friends, family and coworkers. Send a message you can’t accept a food system tainted with abuse, or a government that is guilty of allowing it to continue.

Read more about this campaign ...

MIgrant workers left unpaid at Ontario, Canada farm — Video

2010-11-26T13:50:00.002-05:00

More than 130 migrant agriculture workers from Mexico and the Carribean were stranded and shortchanged at an Ontario farm when the farmer left town — and left the workers unpaid. Each season more than 28,000 migrant workers toil in Canada's fields, greenhouses and orchards. They come to Canada under a federal program that offers them little protection against abuse, exploitation or not getting paid.

What Recourse For Migrant Workers? (7:41) audio

2010-11-25T17:24:00.000-05:00

A farmer from the Simcoe area who failed to pay his seasonal help has filed for bankruptcy protection. Stan Raper of the Agricultural Workers Alliance talks about what can be done to offer more security to migrant workers here in Ontario.

Listen to the interview by clicking here: CBC Radio - Ontario Morning

Migrant workers pay the price once more

2010-11-24T10:32:00.004-05:00

136 migrant workers at a farm near Simcoe, Ont., say they are owed tens of thousands of dollars after their employer ran into financial trouble and left the country without paying them.

The 136 workers came to Ghesquiere Plant Farm from Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados. They are among thae 20,000 migrant workers who come to Ontario every year to plant and harvest fruit, vegetables and other crops — work that, at $10.25 an hour, most Canadians don't want.

Read the full story at CBC News

UN Finds Canada and Ontario Violate Human Rights

2010-11-18T11:45:00.000-05:00

The International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations has ruled a ban on farm unions violates the human rights of Ontario’s 100,000 migrant and domestic farm worker

Read the full story here: http://ufcw.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2149&Itemid=290&lang=en

Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA) Year of Action Video

2010-11-05T16:02:00.002-04:00

The Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA), in association with UFCW Canada, is Canada's largest national organization and support network for both domestic and migrant agriculture workers.

On the farm, in the courts, in the streets and across all borders — in 2010 the AWA and UFCW Canada stood
shoulder-to-shoulder with all farm workers in Canada in their struggle to have their labour rights and human rights upheld.

UFCW Canada has led a campaign for the rights and safety of farm workers in Canada for more than two decades.

This video reflects only a portion of what the AWA has done over the last year. Enjoy and don't forget to share with all your contacts.

THANK YOU!!!

2010-11-05T11:41:00.000-04:00

About 300 people filled the OFL hall Wednesday night to participate in the 11th Annual Cesar E. Chavez Black Eagle Awards Dinner.

Thank you to all of the sponsors and to all of our allies that came together to celebrate the outstanding work of all the award receipients. Looking forward to see you next year at the 12th edition of the dinner!

Stay tuned for video and pictures from the event to follow on the coming weeks.

11th Annual Cesar E. Chavez Blak Eagle Awards Dinner to be held TODAY!!

2010-11-03T09:48:00.000-04:00

Reminder to all ticket holders to the 11th Annual Cesar E. Cahvez Black Eagle Awards Dinner to be held tonight at the Ontario Federation of Labour building starting at 5:30 pm.

The UFCW Canada, the AWA and the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation would like to thank the following sponsors:

Canadian Labour Congress

Public Services Alliance of Canada

Ontario Public Services Employees Union

Services Employees International Union - Canadian Council

Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association

Workers Health and Safety Centre

Canadian Auto Workers - Social Justice Fund

United Food and Commercial Workers - Local 401

National Union of Public General Employees

Canadian Auto Workers - Local 414

Communications, Energy and Paper Workers of Canada - Ontario Region

Thistle Printing

Peace of Knowledge Inc.

United Food and Commercial Workers - Local 175 and 633

Cavalluzzo, Hayes, Shilton, McIntyre and Cornish Barristers and Solicitors

International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers

United Food and Commercial Workers - Local 1997

Canadian Union of Publick Employees - Local 4400

United Food and Commercial Workers - Local 1993

United Steelworkers - National Office

Canadian Union of Public Employees - National Office

United Steelworkers - Toronto Area Council

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - Local 353

Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario

Canadian Union of Postal Workers - Nationa Office / Ontario Local

The Cesar E. Chavez Black Eagle Award was established 11 years ago to recognize exceptional activists who make outstanding contributions to the fight for justice in Canada’s agriculture industry.

Every year, Black Eagle Award recipients are named in several different fields of activism that include Labour, Legal, Political, Cultural, International, and Academic categories.

On the 2010 Cesar E. Chavez Black Eagle Award Dinner we will be honouring the following recipients:

Leoney Godoy, Governor of the State of Michoacan, Mexico

Olivia Chow, National Democratic Party MP

Gil McGowan, Alberta Federation of Labour

Kerry Preibisch, Academic

Paul Cavalluzzo, Legal

Vincenzo Pietropaolo, Artist

AWA and Headlines Theatre to stage dramatic night at Langley Church, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m.

2010-10-29T12:10:00.003-04:00

Migrant farm workers to tell their own story in Langley, B.C. audience participation event

LANGLEY, B.C. - On Friday, October 29, the first-person accounts of migrant farm workers will be part of “Us and Them” — a participatory theatre production by the acclaimed B.C. Lower Mainland
community-based theatre company Headlines Theatre.

The Agricultural Workers Alliance (AWA) is a partner in this interactive, evening of theatre at the Langley United Church. The AWA operates three agriculture workers support centres in British Columbia which are part of the largest national organization for agriculture workers in Canada.

The Langley event is one of twenty-one “Us and Them” public events exploring all points of view regarding important community issues through audience participation in an open theatrical dialogue.

The October 29^th event is the only one focused on migrant workers and BC agriculture. More than 6,000 migrant agricultural workers are employed each season at BC agricultural operations.

More than 30 migrant workers are expected to participate in the Langley theatre without a play. There will be no script: just the stories told by the migrant workers participants — as well as participation from farm employers, suppliers, and community leaders.

This evening of dramatic dialogue will be facilitated by David Diamond, the artistic director of Headlines Theatre. “The goal is create bridges and raise awareness about what goes on between farm owners and agriculture workers in BC’s fields,” says Diamond.

“The idea is for all members of the audience to get involved around the issue. Everyone has a story to tell, and “Us and Them” is a chance to tell it.”

The Langley show starts at 7:30 p.m. Admission is by donation. The Langley United Church is located at 5673 200 Street, in Langley.

Also see:

http://www.langleyadvance.com/entertainment/Show+explores+divisions/3727587/story.html

For more information contact:

Raul Gatica,
AWA Surrey office
Surrey, BC
778 -578-9411
surrey@awa-ata.ca

McGuinty Plantation Video.wmv

2010-10-28T10:02:00.000-04:00

Health & Safety and WCB Conference

2010-10-27T11:37:00.003-04:00

The Ontario Federation of Labour will be hosting a Health & Safety and WCB Conference from November 25 to 27 at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto.

Stan Raper, the National Coordinator of the Agriculture Workers Alliance along with Janet McLaughling from the department of International Migration Centre of Wilfred Laurier University, will be part of a panel discussing Health & Safety and WCB issues around migrant farm workers.

To participate on this conference or their panel discussion follow this link for more information:

http://ofl.ca/index.php/html/index_in/joint_ofl_and_ontario_network_of_injured_workers

Headlines Theatre presents: Us and Them (the inquiry)

2010-10-27T11:22:00.001-04:00

“The well-being of our grandchildren is directly linked to the well-being of our enemy’s grandchildren.” John Paul Lederach.

What makes it possible for us to compromise the well-being of humanity and the planet? What compels society to create, over and over again, the ‘other’: the creation of the ‘them’ in us and them?

Come and help imagine ways to challenge and transcend the false notion of us versus them as played out in BC’s fields between farm owners and agriculture workers.

Participate in this collective, engaging theatre experiment to build bridges between all of us.

October 29, 2010 at 7.30pm
Langley United Church, 5673 200th St , Langley
Reservations recommended: 604-871-0508
Admission by donation

Organized by the Langley United Church and the Agriculture Workers Alliance

For more information on venue and date listings, please visit:
http://headlinestheatre.com/ (Click “What’s New”)

Headlines gratefully acknowledges:: Operating Support: Canada Council for the Arts + Catherine Donnelly Foundation + City of Vancouver + We acknowledge the financial assistance of the Province of British Columbia + BC Arts Council + Melusine Foundation + Hamber Foundation :: Thank you to our Media Sponsor: WestEnder

Guatemalan Migrant Workers Deserve our Respect

2010-07-27T12:23:00.001-04:00

No more Injustice and Oppression against Migrants!
Would you be willing to waive your human rights to get a job that most Canadians don’t want?

That’s what 4,000 Guatemalan men and women are asked to do when they come to work in the Canadian agriculture industry.

Before they’re allowed to make our food, Guatemalan migrant workers have to sign a contract that orders them to:

“During your stay in Canada, you should only do the activities you are assigned to and should not distract yourself with any group or association”
“Reasons to exclude you from the program that will force you to pay your plane ticket: alcoholism, theft, lack of respect and sexual relations”
“Upon arrival at the farm, the employer will keep your passport for the duration of your stay in Canada”
“Use deodorant before the flight and every day you stay in Canada”
“Beware of having relations with women”
“In case you needed to go back to Guatemala before ending your contract, you will have to prove that you have a good reason. Even then, the employer can choose whether to hire you the next season”
“You should keep your hair short to avoid lice”

The dehumanizing terms of this contract were drafted by the Canadian agri-business employer group FERME and – more shockingly – the International Organization for Migration – an intergovernmental agency dedicated to “promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all.”
Guatemalan migrant workers seal the contract with a $400.00 (CDN) deposit – which is the equivalent to 17% of the average annual income for Guatemalans.
Can you imagine losing nine weeks of pay for demanding to be treated like a human being?
Stop the Injustice Of Migrant Contracts! CLICK HERE to send a quick protest letter to the politicians, bureaucrats and employers who are forcing these inhumane conditions on the people who make our food.
It only takes 30 seconds and it makes a real difference!

Migrant workers gather at historic Toronto forum

2010-06-24T09:39:00.001-04:00

More than 300 migrant agriculture workers – the largest gathering ever of migrant workers in Canada – travelled to Toronto on June 20 to participate in No Rights, No Rules: Migrant Workers in a Globalized World — an international forum on the challenges, obstacles and exploitation faced by migrant and temporary workers in Canada.

The forum was hosted by UFCW Canada and community partners at the University of Toronto – just a block away from the Ontario legislature, where the McGuinty government continues to deny agriculture workers in Ontario the right to unionize.

Just before the forum began the workers assembled shoulder to shoulder, as a vast human billboard, holding signs in English and Spanish declaring “I’m a father too!” — putting a face to an exploited workforce that most Canadians aren’t aware of.

Minutes later the migrant workers joined hundreds of other participants and community activists inside the University of Toronto’s Great Hall, where migrant worker panelists recounted the abuse and discrimination they face evey day under the federal governemnt’s temporary foreign worker programs.
But the Father’s Day forum was also about solutions, empowerment and continued solidarity with migrant and temporary workers in Canada.

“As we move forward and reach out today, we pledge our commitment to continue the work that we do,“ said National President Wayne Hanley in his welcoming remarks. “It is truly a privilege to see the faces of so many fathers, and mothers, with the determination to ensure that a human being is treated as such, and that the era of exploitation and abuse of the fundamental rights of migrant workers comes to a rapid end, and it all starts here today.”

The international forum was held just a week before the G20 Summit in Toronto — in part to raise awareness about the G20 globalization agenda to push down workers rights across all borders.

One participant who couldn’t cross the border was Max Correa, the General Secretary of Central Campesina Cardenista (CCC) – one of Mexico’s largest farm workers organizations. Brother Correa had been scheduled as a panelist but he could not attend due to delays in processing his visa. Instead he participated via video — sharing with the audience the history of struggle of everyday workers and peasants in Mexico.

Along with the CCC, other forum coalition partners included the Latin American Trade Unionists Coalition (LATUC), the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), Migrante Canada, Caregivers Action Centre, the Workers Action Centre, No One is Illegal, the Mennonite New Life Centre, and SAME (Students Against Migrant Exploitation).

“This event has been a call that the coalition for change moves forward,” said Naveen Mehta, UFCW Canada’s Director of Human Rights. “We must continue to move together as activists, advocates and trade unionists until migrant and temporary foreign workers in Canada have the justice and equality they rightfully and legally deserve.”

Migrant workers protest at Canada’s embassy in Mexico

2010-06-16T15:25:00.006-04:00

Workers call for stop to exploitation of migrant workers on Canadian farms under federal government’s Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program

Under the flags of the Agriculture Workers Alliance, more than 300 Mexican migrant farm workers descended on the Canadian embassy in Mexico City on June 15, to denounce their working and living conditions as migrant agriculture workers in Canada under the federal government’s Seasonal Agriculture Workers Program (SAWP).

The protest parade started at the Tamayo Museum, marched down Reforma Avenue and arrived at the front steps of the Canadian embassy, where the workers demanded a complete reform of SAWP which currently leaves workers vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and unsafe living and working conditions.

The peaceful protest brought together both current and veteran members of SAWP fields who sang on the steps of the embassy together – No more fear, no more discrimination: equality and justice for migrant workers.

“In Canada the government doesn’t listen. Neither does the consulate. They pretend the problems with SAWP don’t exist, said a worker at the Mexico City protest. “But the abuse is real and we know it”.

Under SAWP, migrant agriculture workers are typically paid minimum wage and are often subject to working and housing conditions that Canadian residents would find intolerable. SAWP workers have historically been hesitant to report dangerous working conditions or hostile employers for fear of being sent home or blacklisted from returning the next season.

“Canada says SAWP is a ‘model’ program but the model is broken,” says Andrea Galvez, co-ordinator of the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA) in Quebec, who joined the workers in Mexico City for the protest. “These workers have come from all over Mexico today to tell the real story about SAWP and the changes needed to make it a fair system for everyone.”

While protest songs and traditional music filled the air, the protesters distributed pamphlets describing those changes: the right to have a voice in negotiating their working and living conditions; stepped up enforcement of health and safety regulations; respecting all the human and labour rights that every worker in Canada is guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including the right to unionize.

Every year more than 15,000 Mexican workers come to Canada under SAWP. For three decades UFCW Canada has led the campaign for justice for migrant and domestic agriculture workers in Canada. In partnership with the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA), UFCW Canada operates ten AWA worker support centres across Canada.

SAME in Simcoe

2010-05-28T19:03:00.000-04:00

The Students Against Migrant Exploitation (SAME) along with youth volunteers from UFCW Canada Local 1977 are at the AWA Simcoe Centre today.

The SAME students are there as part of their outreach caravan that kicked off this week to promote the AWA to community members and agriculture workers in general in the Niagara and Simcoe regions. The youth group from Local 1977 visit the centre to get a first hand idea about the issues surrounding agriculture workers in Canada.

Both groups are an extension of the efforts of UFCW Canada and the AWA team to get university students and high school students involved in social justice issues and specially about migrant agriculture workers.

We will continue updating this story over the weekend with some of the important work these groups of students are providing the AWA centres of Simcoe and Virgil.

Ag Worker in Critical Condition: UPDATE

2010-05-26T11:10:00.000-04:00

For those following this story, we are happy to report that our brother Trinidad Mendieta is now conscious after a couple of days in comma.

Staff from the AWA Team had the opportunity to talk to family members about the condition of Mr. Mendieta yesteday afternoon and to provide support and advise about the rigths of Mr. Mendieta under his circumstances. The main concern for Mr. Mendieta's family was his legal situation in Canada now that he is not able to work again.

One of his family members expressed that "if he suffered the accident here, then he must be looked after and treated here [in Canada]."

We here at the AWA and UFCW Canada agreed and we will continue to work in order that his needs are met.

Mr. Mendieta's family have as one would imagine in this circumstances a lot of unanswer questions. Yet, all of them are positive and they are happy to report the support of the community of migrant workers who know Mr. Mendieta and many community members.

Mr. Mendieta's family said that his employer is in the process of setting an account so people can make donations to Mr. Mendieta's family back in Mexico.

The AWA team will continue to update everyone on this case as more information comes available.

Documenting Worker's Case

2010-05-20T14:31:00.001-04:00

Today our AWA Team had the privilege to listen and document the story of our friend Esteban Rivera, whom in 2009 lost his arm while cleaning a machine.

He is still going to therapy and is continuing with his recovery at a hospital in Toronto before returning to his homeland later this month.

Still fresh in his memory, recounting that horrible day was not an easy task for our friend. Yet, he bravely volunteered to talk about his case in the hopes that his story could be told to other workers and perhaps in some ways encourage his "compañeros" (comrades) to stand up for their rights and voice their concerns with unsafe farm equipment or lack of it.

More importantly he challenged government authorities to really look at the current Health and Safety regulations and asked them to make the necessary adjustments to protect this vulnerable group of workers.

Thank you Esteban and we wish you the best as you return home.

The AWA Team

Ag Worker in Critical Condition After Tractor Crash

2010-05-19T17:31:00.000-04:00

The AWA Team along with its members unite in prayer for our fellow brother Trinidad Mendieta Cuaxilotl whom is in intensive care at Hamilton General Hospital.

It is unfortunately that this tragedy had to happen in order to highlight the need for the Ontario government to look seriously at the lack of regulation in the agriculture sector.

Read more about UFCW Canada National President, Wayne Hanley, comments on this tragedy by clicking on the Twitter link on the right side.

In solidarity,

The AWA Team

Agriculture Workers Alliance Blog Arrives!!!

2010-03-26T09:26:00.000-04:00

The Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA) is proud to introduce it's Blog to anyone interested in talking about the issues surrounding agriculture workers in Canada whether they are foreign or domestic.

It has been along road of struggles for our brothers and sisters in the most dangerous and precarious sector. There has been victories and there have been disappointments along the way. Yet, one thing still remains, the resilience of these workers to continuing fighting for dignity, respect and overall the recognition of their hard labour in the Canadian Fields.

We proudly continue to fight alongside them and we hope that you will too.

The AWA in association with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Canada, the country's largest private-sector union, operates ten agriculture worker support centres across Canada, including AWA centres in Surrey, Abbotsford, and Kelowna, BC; Portage la Prairie, Manitoba; Leamington, Simcoe, Virgil and Bradford, in Ontario; St. Eustache and St. Remy in Quebec.