By CJ Chanco Farmworkers and migrant rights activists have reached the midpoint of a month-long caravan they call Harvesting Freedom. Calling for permanent legal status for the tens of thousands of farmworkers across the country, they began their march in Windsor and Leamington, aiming to reach Ottawa by October. At the heart of the campaign Continue readingHarvesting Freedom: Farmworkers march to Ottawa
Temporary Foreign Workers
In Episode Three, RankandFile.ca’s West Coast Correspondent Daniel Tseghay interviews Hessed Torres of Migrante BC and Raul Gatica of the Migrant Workers’ Dignity Association about how Canada treats its migrant workers through its different temporary foreign worker programs and the challenges they face working in Canada as some of the most precarious workers within Canada’s Continue readingR&F.ca Podcast Episode 3 – Migrant Workers in Canada
By Alia Karim Since 1966, workers of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) have left their families to toil on farms and greenhouses up to twelve hours per day, six to seven days a week, in order to supply the fruits and vegetables Canadians enjoy. As many as 110,000 low-skilled migrant workers come to Canada Continue readingFilm Review: Migrant Dreams
By Daniel Tseghay and Samantha Ponting Like many others, Jhing came to Canada from the Philippines to work. She came after paying for her own flight, and she expected stable employment through Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers’ Program as a live-in caregiver. She was overcharged by recruiters. After being placed with an employer, her salary was Continue readingFeds’ TFW review laced with failures: process erases the facts
By Samantha Ponting On Feb. 17, the federal government announced in mainstream media that it will conduct a full-scale review of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). The Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada (CMWRC) is calling on the Liberal government to reveal details of the review process, and prioritize the voices of migrant workers. Continue readingLiberals announce review of Temporary Foreign Worker Program, migrant coalition calls for consultation
By John W. Warnock Southwestern Ontario is the historic home of Canadian tomato growers. The bulk of the crop goes to processing, and since 1909 the dominant corporation had been H. J. Heinz, a food giant based in Pittsburgh. But in 2013 the Heinz Corporation was bought by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (26 per cent) Continue readingGrowing tomatoes in the era of free trade
By Gerard Di Trolio South Korea has seen the the largest crackdown on labour and civil rights since the end of the military dictatorship in the late 1980s. Protests led by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) against reforms that would weaken labour protections were repressed by police. The KCTU leader Hang Sang-gyun has Continue readingTime for Canada’s Labour Movement to Think and Act Globally
By Daniel Tseghay A new study, released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), provides an in-depth look into the conditions of exploitation facing BC migrant workers, and makes substantive recommendations for federal and provincial policy change. The report, “Citizenship and Precarious Labour in Canadian Agriculture.” published by Gerardo Otero and Kerry Preibisch, is Continue readingStudy puts BC migrant work under a microscope
By Natalie Childs When I decided that I wanted to be a farmer, organic farms were the obvious place to look for work. Conventional farming aspires to produce the cheapest possible food for a globalized system, which I believe severely undermines the health of the soil, the health of farmers and eaters, and the resilience Continue readingThe fruits of unpaid labour
By Karl Flecker Daniel is suffering from a repetitive strain injury. Working at Costco, stocking shelves, moving large boxes of everything he never eats, he jokes, is not what he planned to do with his European based training in logistics management. New to Canada, he realized a survival job was likely necessary until his credentials Continue readingNew country, new job – new risks
By Daniel Tseghay In the year of Vancouver’s incorporation as a city in 1886, industrial unionists formed a local branch of the Knights of Labor. The union, which sponsored the Asiatic Exclusion League, played a prominent role in the riot that erupted the following year. Three hundred white workers expressed their animosity towards the Chinese Continue readingA history of migrant work in BC: Labour’s choice between exclusion and solidarity
By Dan Darrah “Those dreams of staying in Canada are now gone,” said Marco Lucinao of migrant work advocacy group Migrante Alberta. The April 1, 2015 deadline for citizenship sent scores of temporary foreign workers back to their home countries. The Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) program was instituted in 1973 as a way to alleviate Continue readingWhile the TFW program has to go, the workers deserve the right to stay