Migrant day laborers among Canada’s most abused workers: UFCW

Agribusiness in Canada “operates in a business environment that promotes the use of cheap labor” from migrants, the Union of Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) says in a report. Migrant day laborers they suffer abuse, live in unsanitary accommodation, work too much and do not always earn their fair share.

“Los migrant farm workers they are among the most vulnerable and abused workers in Canada,” notes the UFCW. Their lack of labor mobility, immigration status, language barriers and lack of union representation exposes them to wage theft and social isolation, among other problems, he adds.

According to the report The situation of migrant farmworkers in Canada 2022every year that country receives more than 50,000 personas who travel to work temporarily in their fields. 48% go from Mexico; the rest, from 11 other countries.

“The pandemic has further compounded the serious risks to migrant workers who grow and pick our fruits and vegetables, and who are essential to maintaining food security in Canada,” the document says.

However, the two temporary farm work programs grant very few powers to day laborers from abroad. Instead, employers are the ones who have the greatest power over the work and, often, the destiny of those people. Something similar occurs in the H-2A temporary work program of the United States government.

For the UFCW—the largest private sector union in Canada, with more than 250,000 members in that country and 1.3 million internationally—“the only way to address the imbalance of power and obtain protections and benefits is to have a collective agreement”. But to do that, Canadian law must allow temporary migrant workers to unionize.

Current temporary employment programs

Agriculture contributes 7.4% of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which represents more than 143,000 million dollarsaccording to the report.

“Bringing in workers from abroad should be a temporary solution to the shortage of manpower” in the 1960s, “but this practice has continued for more than 55 years” because they became essential to the agricultural industry and thus to the economy and food supply of that country.

There are two schemes for the labor migration regulated. One of them is the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (PTET), which was to be used as a “last resort” to fill jobs “for which there are no qualified Canadians.”

The other is the Program for International Mobility (PMI), which was to “promote Canada’s broad national economic and cultural interest.” Mexico, Guatemala y Jamaica They are the three countries that contribute the most agricultural labor to Canada.

In general, all migrants earn less than minimum salary, according to the UFCW report. What happens is that “they are forced to reach established quotas”, so what they should do in two hours they do in only one, but “they do not earn more if they manage to reach or exceed the established quota”.

In the pandemic “thousands of migrant farm workers they contracted covid-19.” One of the main causes of the outbreaks was the overcrowding in which they spent the night on agricultural farms. “In Ontario, about 20,000 workers live in employer-provided housing, sharing accommodation with up to 20 workers per household.”

People who travel to work in the Canadian fields through one of these two programs do not have a choice of the company or the activity they will carry out. “Local workers, on the other hand, can choose where to work. They have other, less dangerous options than working in agriculture for less than minimum wage.”

Punctual requests from the union

A series of urgent reforms to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (PTET) and the laws are required in order not to continue violating the human rights of migrant farm workers, says the union.

The first one he lists is “make the union representation a necessary condition” of the PTET. Another urgently requested change is to eliminate employer-specific work permits and replace them with open or sectoral permits. In other words, work only in agriculture, but if the company fails to meet its obligations, have the option of changing to another that offers decent conditions.

They also request to “immediately compel employers using the program to prioritize the hiring of migrant workers with open work permits to vulnerable workers”.

They also ask to inspect the houses in person before and during the occupation. The union has been able to document cases where migrant day laborers live in rooms with damaged heaters and pests, endangering their health.

Lastly, they recommend immediately withdrawing from the PTAT and PTET any employer who retains the personal documents of migrant workers. Especially passports and health care cards.