Quebec Agribusiness Ramps Up “Exploitation Express” With Honduras Migrants
Federal Government Asked to Intervene After Quebec Agribusiness Owners Cut a Deal With Honduras Under Federal Temporary Foreign Workers Program.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC–(Marketwire - Aug. 31, 2010)
Migrant agricultural workers from Honduras began toiling in Quebec fields this week, after a Quebec farm lobby group and Honduran officials cut a deal to bring the workers to Canada under the federal government’s controversial Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) program. The TFW program provides no oversight to prevent the abuse of foreign workers contracted to Canadian employers, yet it is a program the federal government has aggressively been expanding by the tens of thousands of workers.
code>http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Quebec-Agribusiness-Ramps-Up-Exploitation-Express-With-Honduras-Migrants-1311866.htm
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Shortage of pickers
Canada: Early start to bumper apple season
The apple harvest has come early for growers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island this year. This because of a mild winter and good summer weather, it is the earliest harvest since 1946.This does not come without it’s problems though, the growers rely on migrant workers to pick the fruit and they are not expected to turn up until at least the third week of September. These workers come from Quebec, Newfoundland and as far away as Jamaica. code>http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=67880
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22 Migrant Farm Workers Escape Fire Unharmed
Posted: 19/08/2010
Candler, NC– Fire officials in Candler said that early Tuesday morning 22 people living in a house for migrant farm workers were able to escape a fire unharmed. The blaze destroyed the split-level home located near the Haywood County line. Battalion Chief Woody Trotter told the Asheville Citizen-Times that the fire broke out about 4:45 a.m., and it took firefighters from several departments about 30 minutes to put it out.
code>http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=146761&catid=57
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Farm safety issue should be tilled the Alberta way
Posted: 17/08/2010
If there is one issue that seems to drag on forever it is the Alberta government’s reluctance — better yet pigheadedness — to address farm worker safety and workplace rules. No amount of shame, human misery or common sense seems to be enough to move government politicians and bureaucrats to do the right thing.
code>http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Farm+safety+issue+should+tilled+Alberta/3407143/story.html
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Alberta government heads down dangerous path with farm-worker discrimination
Posted: 17/08/2010
Excluding farm workers from workplace protections a legal minefield -
allows unsafe work to continue
Reports that the Conservative government is likely to ignore an Alberta judge’s recommendations to include farm workers in health, safety and employment standards legislation is a step down a dangerous path, says Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour.
code>http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2010/05/c8782.html
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Grocery chain tries to emulate farmers market
‘ Without them, we’d shut it down,’ says owner of Millen Farms
By: Judy Creighton Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION Posted: 12/08/2010
RECOGNIZING the enormous popularity and growth of farmers markets across Canada, a major Canadian supermarket chain is endeavouring to emulate their success.
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. is announcing this week that it is “bringing the farmers market to Canadian neighbourhood grocery stores — all in one convenient location with bushels of variety.”
code>http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/life/grocery-chain-tries-to-emulate-farmers-market-100513384.html
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Immigrant workers backbone of local farms
‘ Without them, we’d shut it down,’ says owner of Millen Farms
By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter Published: 2010-08-12
The next time you bite into a Nova Scotia strawberry, you might want to thank the Jamai¬can farm worker who probably picked it.
“Without them, we’d shut it down,” said Curtis Millen, own¬er of Millen Farms Ltd. in Glen¬holme, Colchester County, in an interview Wednesday.
code>http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/9017526.html
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From farm to table
BILL TREMBLAY / NORTHUMBERLAND NEWS Migrant workers Aug 05, 2010 - 11:56 AM
NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY — Imagine leaving home for half a year, every year, just to put food on the table.
For 36-year-old Asael Hernandez, and an estimated 19,000 others from Mexico and the Caribbean, that is their reality in Canada, and they’re thankful for it; grateful for the privilege to do the jobs no one else will take.
code>http://www.northumberlandnews.com/news/northumberlandcountynews/article/159497
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Farm safety education favoured over legislation
Liberal critic says workers need legal protection
By Renata D’Aliesio, Calgary Herald August 5, 2010
T he Alberta government is seeking feedback on a proposal to create a new farm safety organization, but its latest round of consultation is silent on mandating the province’s second-largest industry to follow workplace health and safety rules.
code>http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Farm+safety+education+favoured+over+legislation/3361322/story.html
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Alberta government heads down dangerous path with farm-worker discrimination
Thursday, 05 August 2010
Excluding farm workers from workplace protections a legal minefield - allows unsafe work to continue
Edmonton - Reports that the Conservative government is likely to ignore an Alberta judge’s recommendations to include farm workers in health, safety and employment standards legislation is a step down a dangerous path, says Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour.
code>http://www.afl.org/index.php/Press-Release/alberta-government-heads-down-dangerous-path-with-farm-worker-discrimination.html
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Seasonal fruit pickers illegally camping causing big issues
By Kristi Patton - Penticton Western News July 22, 2010
Seasonal fruit pickers are an integral part of the local agricultural industry but for some communities they are becoming a hindrance to the tourism industry.
“Dollar wise and tax-wise it really impacts our tourism industry and what happens in our public spaces,” said Osoyoos Mayor Stu Wells. “It does generate complaints and of course, with any group there is the majority of them that are excellent and there are always some troublemakers involved and if you talk to the merchants on Main Street, shoplifting is a major, major issue this year.”
code>http://www.nupge.ca/content/3314/migrant-farm-workers-need-access-public-healthcare
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Migrant farm workers need access to public healthcare
Guest Commentary by Lynne Fernandez CCPA - Manitoba Office
In spite of contributing to the Canadian economy and paying taxes for 4 to 5 months for up to 25 years, these workers are marginalized from the healthcare coverage their taxes should entitle them to while they are here.
code>http://www.nupge.ca/content/3314/migrant-farm-workers-need-access-public-healthcare
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Temporary foreign workers get short shrift in Canada
By Delphine Nakache and Paula Kinoshita Winnipeg Free Press Columns, Thursday, June 17, 2010
Freelance - In recent years, the number of temporary foreign workers admitted to Canada has more than doubled. However, the short-term focus of Canada’s existing temporary labour migration policy will not help the country realize its long-term labour market needs and it is unfair to the vast majority of temporary foreign workers.
code>http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/temporary-foreign-workers-get-short-shrift-in-canada-96545594.html
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Failure to tap into immigrants’ skills costs billions
By Anna Mehler Paperny Globe and Mail Jun. 11, 2010
In Nigeria, he helped design the athletes village for Abuja’s All-Africa Games. But three years after moving to Canada in 2007 with a pregnant wife and big dreams, Yisola Taiwo has yet to land his first architecture job. His wife, Bunmi Sofoluwe-Taiwo, still hasn’t been able to find work after leaving her career with the Lagos government.
code>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/failure-to-tap-into-immigrants-skills-costs-billions/article1598778/
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Farm worker thanks the man who saved his life
By Monique Beech St Catharines Standard June 10, 2010
Bert Wervers trembles ever so slightly as he enters the hospital room Thursday morning. It’s been just over three weeks since he saw farm worker Trinidad Mendieta. Last time, the 34-year-old San Jose, Mexico native was lying on North Service Rd. in Beamsville, blood seeping from his severed leg.
code>http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2617764
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Farm worker injured when jammed auger starts up in southwestern Ontario
By: The Canadian Press 9/06/2010
BROWNSVILLE, Ont. - A farm worker is recovering in hospital from serious injuries suffered when a jammed auger he was working on started up.
Emergency crews were called after the accident Tuesday night on a farm near Brownsville, in southwestern Ontario.
code>http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/agriculture/farm-worker-injured-when-jammed-auger-starts-up-in-southwestern-ontario-95954379.html
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Leamington greenhouses ‘decimated’ by tornado
BY SHARON HILL, THE WINDSOR STARJUNE 9, 2010
LEAMINGTON, Ont. — It could cost about $24 million to replace toppled greenhouses in Leamington and the toll of Sunday’s storm for one fruit tree nursery near Harrow is around 37,000 seedlings. Orchards are damaged, barns are wrecked and the cost of Sunday’s storm and tornado to farmers is adding up.
code>http://www.windsorstar.com/life/Leamington+greenhouses+decimated+tornado/3129079/story.html
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Foreign workers earn ‘substantially’ less than Canadians
Many here as live-in caregivers, housekeepers, cleaners and farmers
Jun 08 2010 Nicholas Keung Toronto Star
Temporary foreign workers earn substantially less than their Canadian counterparts and their most common jobs are as live-in caregivers, housekeepers and cleaners, says a new report.
code>http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/820783–foreign-workers-earn-substantially-less-than-canadians?bn=1
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Area farmers eyeing abundant harvest
AGRICULTURE: Soybeans, corn and grain are thriving thanks to ideal growing conditions that have sped the planting season
By HANK DANISZEWSKI, The London Free Press June 2, 2010
For London-area grain farmers, this spring weather has been spectacular. About 90% of soybeans are planted, winter wheat will likely be harvested well ahead of schedule and the corn crop was thriving in last week’s heat wave, Peter Johnson, a crop specialist with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said.
code>http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/06/02/14223826.html
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Documents reveal scope of alleged water theft
By Doug Schmidt, The Windsor Star June 1, 2010
A prominent Leamington family stole a quarter-million dollars worth of water to feed their thirsty greenhouse pepper operation by bypassing a meter attached to Kingsville’s municipal water system, the Ontario Provincial Police allege.
code>http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Greenhouse+denies+massive+water+theft/3099765/story.html
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U.S. Fails to Protect Kids From the Dangers of Farmwork
Loophole in 1930s Law Puts Kids’ Health, Safety and Education At Risk
By AVNI PATEL May 6, 2010
The lack of clarity about the enforcement of the law has spread “fear and fright” throughout the immigrant community and brought a “renewed sense of energy and urgency” to the issue, he said.Cardinal Mahony said the extreme polarization of the immigration debate is “toxic to our system.” He urged bipartisan support for federal immigration legislation that could be signed by President Barack Obama “sooner rather than later.”
code>http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/study-us-fails-protect-kids-dangers-farmwork/story?id=10573717
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21st Century and Some Child Labor Still Legal in U.S.
by Tula Connell, May 6, 2010
Did you know it’s legal for kids as young as 12 and sometimes younger to pick food on U.S. commercial farms? According to a new report by Human Rights Watch, hundreds of thousands of children are employed as farm workers and they often work 10 or more hours a day with sharp tools, heavy machinery and dangerous pesticides.
code>http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/05/06/21st-century-and-some-child-labor-still-legal-in-us
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Will Arizona immigration law spur a new civil rights movement?
Phoenix Independent Examiner Chris Greenwood May 1, 2010
We’ve seen this all before, it’s just been awhile. Less than 35 years ago, people all across this nation joined together to speak out against injustice and inequality. Polarizing leaders delivered inspirational speeches, and people used peaceful demonstrations and civil disobedience to get the attention of a nation’s leaders. As a result of this nationwide movement, black people in America achieved a long overdue recognition as equals in the eyes of the law, if not in the eyes of all the people.
code>http://www.examiner.com/x-32067-Phoenix-Independent-Examiner~y2010m5d1-Will-Arizona-immigration-law-spur-a-new-civil-rights-movement
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May Day marchers focus on migrant workers
By TAMARA CHERRY, Toronto Sun May 1, 2010
It wasn’t just about jobs for a group of Torontonians marching through the city Saturday.For many who gathered around St. Clair Ave. and Bathurst St. under the umbrella of the May First Movement Coalition, May Day was about the barriers that migrant workers face when they arrive in Canada. Language, economic and immigration barriers — they were all part of the discussion as dozens of Torontonians took to the streets with flags, banners and chants of, “The people united will never be defeated.”code>http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/05/01/13793266.html
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Quebec decision advances the rights of migrant workers
Ban on unionizing is ruled unconstitutional by province’s labour relations board
Globe and Mail Jessica Murphy May. 02, 2010
Labour activists across Canada are cheering a ruling by Quebec’s labour relations board granting migrant workers at a small Quebec vegetable farm the right to unionize. It is one of many cases – some reaching all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada – that involve the rights of migrant workers. In mid-April, Quebec’s labour relations board ruled that an article in the province’s labour code that excludes migrant workers from joining a union is unconstitutional. code>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec/quebec-decision-advances-the-rights-of-migrant-workers/article1554271/
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Union victory for Quebec farm workers
Workers at Mirabel-area farm go union with UFCW Canada after Quebec Labour Relations Commission strikes down 40-year-old labour code regulation as unconstitutional
Montreal (22 April 2010) - Seasonal domestic and migrant agriculture workers in Quebec have had their Charter rights to unionize upheld by a decision rendered by the Quebec Labour Relations Board (QLRB). The QLRB decision to certify a union bargaining unit at a Mirabel-area farm comes 20 months and 36 days of hearings after a majority workers at the farm chose to join UFCW Canada.
code>http://www.nupge.ca/content/union-victory-quebec-farm-workers
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Leamington’s Ollie Mastronardi charged with water theft
BY DOUG SCHMIDT THE WINDSOR STAR APRIL 30, 2010
WINDSOR, Ont. — A successful Leamington businessman who served five years in a U.S. prison for involuntary manslaughter was among a trio of family members charged this week in what police describe as an “enormous theft” of municipal water used to feed a greenhouse operation.
code>http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Leamington+Ollie+Mastronardi+charged+with+water+theft/2967835/story.html
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N.B. farm looks to Jamaica for workers
CBC News April 29, 2010
N.B. farmer Mike Slocum can’t find local help, so he is applying to bring migrant workers from Jamaica.
Slocum, who operates one of only two farms left in the Waterborough area, has a regular crew of 24 workers who return every spring. He doesn’t have enough workers to run shifts when demand is high.
His farm grows berries, corn, potatoes and tomatoes. Everything but the potatoes must be harvested by hand.
code>http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/04/29/nb-migrant-workers-farm.html
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Americans Are Mostly Blind to Mexican Workers’ Plight. Will Ariz. Law Trigger Change?
By Roger Bybee - In These Times April 27, 2010
Arizona’s new law requiring police to determine the status of any suspected “illegal immigrants” has triggered a massive reaction by the Latino movement and its allies, including Americans deeply troubled by the prospect of legalized racial profiling and pervasive police intrusion.
The stunning step, led by Arizona Republicans, will undoubtedly produce huge turnouts for the May 1 immigrant rights rallies across the nation as the new threat to anyone with a dark complexion reverberates across the nation.
code>http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5912/immigrant_rights_imperative_but_americans_mostly_blind_to_mexicos_plig/
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Quebec board shoots down limits on farm unions
Farm Business Communications, 4/22/2010
Quebec’s labour relations commission has cut out language in the province’s labour code that had blocked seasonal farm workers from unionizing.
Ruling in favour of Mexican workers at a Montreal-area cabbage farm, Ferme L+L, the province’s Commission des relations du travail (CRT) last Friday declared a line of section 21 of the Quebec Labour Code unconstitutional, a violation of Charter rights to freedom of association, and thus “inoperative.”
code>http://www.country-guide.ca/west/issues/PrinterFriendly.asp?aid=1000368693&RType=&PC=FBC&issue=04222010
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Ottawa short-changing Ontario immigrant programs: province
Crane assembly at graving dock source of strife
Richard J. Brennan Ottawa Bureau Toronto Star- Apr 7 2010
OTTAWA ––The federal Conservative government has short-changed Ontario at least $193 million in promised money for immigrant settlement programs, the provincial government says.Ottawa agreed in 2005 to transfer $920 million over five years in new immigration funding to Ontario, ending March 31.
code>http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/791932–ottawa-short-changing-ontario-immigrant-programs-province?bn=1
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Grant shouldn’t be end to farm safety issue
Crane assembly at graving dock source of strife
By Will Verboeven - Stettler Independent
Alberta Agriculture recently announced a new grant program for farm safety to the tune of $715,000, part of which will be given to local ag societies. That’s an admirable step by the government as education is always valuable. The fear with this grant is that it will be used as an excuse by the Alberta government to derail any further progress in bringing farm workers under the provincial labour code and occupational health and safety rules. That opinion has been expressed by the Farmworkers Union of Alberta. They could be right as neither the ag minister or the labour minister has made any comment about any future rights for farm workers under provincial legislation.
code>http://www.albertalocalnews.com/stettlerindependent/business/89143457.html
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Alberta farm workers call for OHS coverage
Crane assembly at graving dock source of strife
By Alex Morrison 01 April 2010
Following a press release by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) last week, more light has been shed on the current condition of Agricultural workers in Alberta. With ongoing changes in the farming industry, labour groups are saying the laws should change with it.
code>http://www.cos-mag.com/201004011845/safety/safety-stories/alberta-farm-workers-want-ohs-coverage.html
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Foreign workers trigger union protest at Esquimalt Graving Dock this morning
Crane assembly at graving dock source of strife
By Carla Wilson Times Colonist-March 31, 2010
Unionized building trades are outraged that a team of foreign workers will be assembling a $5.5-million, 30-tonne crane scheduled to be shipped to the Esquimalt Graving Dock early this morning. The federal Public Works office said the 25 workers from China have been involved with the crane’s manufacturing from the start and know its design well.
code>http://www.timescolonist.com/business/Foreign+workers+trigger+union+protest/2747056/story.html
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Quebec farmers union wary of Chinese connection
Interested in large tracts of land; speculative buying would drive up prices, says Union des producteurs agricoles
By DAVID JOHNSTON The Gazette-March 27, 2010
Quebec farmers have a problem in that many are approaching retirement and succession interest among their children is not strong.
MONTREAL – Quebec’s powerful Union des producteurs agricoles says it is concerned by reports of investors of Chinese origin inquiring about buying large tracts of agricultural land in the province.
code>http://www.montrealgazette.com/Quebec+farmers+union+wary+Chinese+connection/2732492/story.html
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Arrest of Thai workers sparks protest
County tops state in number of sexual claims
By ERICA BAJER Chatham Daily News- March 23, 2010
Immigrant advocacy groups are upset over the recent detainment of nine Thai migrant workers in Chatham.
”They were placed in detention and some were shackled,” said local resident Derry McKeever, of Friends of Farmworkers.
”They’re scared to death and they don’t know where they stand.”
He said the detainees, who worked at a greenhouse in Lambton County, are currently being held in a detention centre in Toronto awaiting hearings.
”This is not an unusual situation — this immigration raid here in Chatham,” McKeever said.
code>http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2502893
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Monterey Gourmet Foods sued for sexual harassment
County tops state in number of sexual claims
By JULIA REYNOLDS Herald Salinas Bureau - 01/14/2010
Monterey County leads the state in cases involving sexual harassment of farmworkers and other low-wage employees, a government attorney said Wednesday — hours after a federal lawsuit was filed against a Salinas-based food company.
code>http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_14187441
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Sick of Worrying, Sick of Waiting, Backers of Immigration Reform Rally
by Sally Kim | Thu, 01/14/2010
Chanting “Si se puede! Yes we can!,” a feet-stomping, fist-pumping crowd squeezed into St. Anne’s Church for a rally yesterday urging Congress not to waste any more time and reform the nation’s immigration laws. Photo: Ryan Bates.
code>http://labornotes.org/blogs/2010/01/sick-worrying-sick-waiting-backers-immigration-reform-rally/
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Calgary among ‘most attractive’ cities
Tavia Grant Globe and Mail - Jan. 13, 2010
Calgary, Waterloo, Ottawa, Vancouver, St. John’s, and Richmond Hill, Ont., top the Conference Board of Canada ranking of the country’s most attractive cities to migrants. code>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/calgary-among-most-attractive-cities/article1429446/
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Polk County Migrant Workers Settle Class Action Wage Suit
By Kyle Kennedy THE LEDGER - January 13, 2010
TAMPA | A class action settlement has been approved in a lawsuit on behalf of migrant workers who contended they were underpaid while picking citrus in Polk County.
code>http://www.theledger.com/article/20100113/NEWS/1135051/1134?Title=Polk-County-Migrant-Workers-Settle-Class-Action-Wage-Suit
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Decision on agricultural workers’ bargaining rights still months away
by SUSAN MANN - December 18, 2009
Ontario’s Agricultural Employees Protection Act could work just fine but “it never had a chance,” says agricultural industry representative. Ontario farm groups are looking for a clear ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada to finally put to rest the long-standing question of whether agricultural workers should have the right to bargain collectively.
code>http://www.betterfarming.com/online-news/decision-agricultural-workers%E2%80%99-bargaining-rights-still-months-away-2521
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Friends of Farmworkers hope to see history in making
Issue of migrant workers rights before Supreme Court of Canada
Chatham Daily News - December 15, 2009
Two Chatham members of Friends of Farmworkers plan to be in Ottawa tomorrow. Derry McKeever and Ron Cadotte want to be part of Canadian legal history as the Supreme Court of Canada hears arguments relating to the plight of migrant workers. McKeever said the case of Fraser versus the Attorney General of Ontario will hear arguments that relate to the right of migrant workers to organize and bargain collectively.
code>http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2222574
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Canadian Unions Observe International Migrants Day
Canadian Labour Congress - 2009-12-16
OTTAWA, ONTARIO — 12/16/09 — Canadian unions are observing International Migrants Day on Friday, December 18, and are calling on governments to adopt and ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The day, proclaimed by the United Nations, recognizes the contributions of migrant workers and calls for measures to protect their rights. “In Canada, migrant workers provide care for our children, the elderly, disabled persons and the ill,” says Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress. ”These people are also behind counters serving coffee, stocking shelves in stores, building our infrastructure, and driving transport trucks across the country. We honour the contributions of migrant workers, but this should also be a day of action.”
code>http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/canadian-unions-observe-international-migrants-day,1093145.shtml#/
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Migrant family who worked in Rantoul leaves worse off
By Shelley Smithson - December 13, 2009
This report is part of a joint project of The News-Gazette and the University of Illinois Department of Journalism in an ongoing examination of poverty and its related issues in Champaign County. The project is funded by the Marajen Stevick Foundation, a News-Gazette community foundation; a matching grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, a journalism foundation based in Miami; and contributions from the UI.
code>http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2009/12/13/migrant_family_who_worked_in_rantoul_leaves_worse_off
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25 Days In Federal Prison For Littering? Border Patrol Cracking Down on Human Rights Activists
By Jessica Weisberg, AlterNet. - December 14, 2009
Walt Staton was dropping off water jugs for people who attempt the often deadly trek into Arizona from Mexico when the Feds ticketed him for “knowingly littering.”
On Friday December 4th, an Arizona District Court judge told Walt Staton, a 28 year-old seminary student, that he might be facing 25 days in a federal prison. His crime was “knowingly littering” along the U.S.-Mexico border.
code>http://www.alternet.org/story/144520/25_days_in_federal_prison_for_littering_border_patrol_cracking_down_on_human_rights_activists?page=entire
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New caregiver residency rules panned
Filipino community advocates say changes don’t go far enough to stop abuse
By Graeme Wood, VANCOUVER SUN - December 13, 2009
The federal government announced Saturday proposed regulations it says will better protect the rights of live-in caregivers and make it easier for them and their families to obtain permanent residency in Canada. But some members of the Filipino community — who make up the majority of live-in caregivers — say the changes won’t go far enough to fix the discrimination and abuse caregivers face at work.
code>http://www.vancouversun.com/life/caregiver+residency+rules+panned/2336981/story.html
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Inquest jury recommends growers be made more responsible
Canada Views Dec 11th, 2009
On December 17, 2009, CCLA will present arguments before the Supreme Court of Canada in Attorney General of Ontario v. Fraser et al.. The case concerns the legal protections, or lack thereof, available to Ontario agricultural workers in their exercise of freedom of association. CCLA will argue that the government must provide insular, discrete and marginalized minorities with meaningful protection of their freedom of association.
code>http://www.canadaviews.ca/2009/12/11/ccla-to-argue-for-meaningful-protection-for-marginalized-workers/
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’They Are Treated as Cattle’
Today, TheTyee.ca - December 7, 2009
In 2007 three farm workers died in a crash, focus of an inquest some hope will expose wider abuses
The 1998 Dodge van rests upside down on a gray concrete divider that matches the colour of the sky. Its body is crumpled and torn like a piece of paper. Four wheels point into the falling rain. Human belongings lay scattered near bodies covered in yellow tarp. White running shoes. Fabric lunchboxes. A red thermos. Three East Indian farm women died on March 7, 2007. Thirteen plus the driver were seriously injured.
code>http://thetyee.ca/News/2009/12/08/TreatedAsCattle/
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Mexican Activist Murdered for Opposing Canadian Mining Company
Killing Sparks Protest at Canadian Embassy in Mexico City
DECEMBER 7, 2009
The night of November 27th, Abarca Roblero, an activist against mining in Chicomuselo, Chiapas, was murdered. Mr. Abarca was an important member of the community who had suffered threats, prison and violence due to his opposition to the mining activities of Calgary-based Blackfire Exploration. code>http://www.canadians.org/media/other/2009/03-Dec-09.html
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Community and labour groups decry Canada’s immigration system
BY JOHN BONNAR DECEMBER 4, 2009
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is under fire from community and labour groups who gathered outside his regional office in Toronto Wednesday to protest his proposed changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program and what they called the failures of the immigration system.
code>http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/johnbon/2009/12/community-and-labour-groups-decry-canada%E2%80%99s-immigration-system
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Job cuts mushroom into labour complaint
Ex-Rol-Land worker claims unfair practices
THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR, CAMPBELLVILLE (Dec 2, 2009)
A former employee of a local mushroom farm wants the Ontario Human Rights Commission to investigate claims of unfair labour practices by the company’s new owner. The complaint follows the decision last month by the new owner of Rol-Land Farms to cut up to 100 jobs at the Campbellville plant.code>http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/683015
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Push for guest worker program revived
November 30, 2009
ADDISON COUNTY — Though the flurry of news and rumors regarding the federal government’s employment record audits in mid-November has died down, farmers and migrant workers alike are still fretting about what the immigration sweep could mean on Vermont dairy farms. And, for some Addison County farmers and migrant workers advocates, the I-9 audit — meant to suss out employers shirking immigration laws — has spurred a renewed push for a guest workers program to legally supply dairy farmers with a source of foreign labor.
code>http://www.addisonindependent.com/200911push-guest-worker-program-revived
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Immigrants trail on wages and jobs
Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew, Toronto Star - Nov. 24, 2009
Immigrants face lower wages and are more likely than Canadian-born workers to be forced into temporary or part-time jobs, according to a new study.The report from Statistics Canada, made public Monday, also found newcomers tend to end up in jobs for which they are overqualified.
code>http://www.thestar.com/business/article/729753–immigrants-trail-on-wages-and-jobs
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Tree grower defends using Mexican workers
Immigrant labourers ‘pleasant, quiet people who want to do a good job’
By BEVERLEY WARE The Chronicle Herald - Nov 24, 2009
MEXICAN WORKERS are being brought in to harvest Christmas trees in Lunenburg County, even though a major local Christmas tree producer closed its doors two years ago, affecting a couple of hundred local families.But the head of the Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia said the men are good workers and growers who hire them should not be criticized.
code>http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1154318.html
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Immigrant workers protest against “sweatshop” boss
Toronto - November 19, 2009
A group of new Canadian workers came together with UFCW Canada activists in Toronto on November 19 to draw attention to what they describe as the callous and abusive actions of their employer, Lincare Limited. Lincare, a Toronto commercial laundry facility that holds contracts with numerous GTA hotel chains, has been subjecting its over one hundred employees to working conditions akin to a sweatshop, according to workers at Lincare.
code>http://www.ufcw.ca/Default.aspx?SectionId=af80f8cf-ddd2-4b12-9f41-641ea94d4fa4&LanguageId=1&ItemId=4737b6d9-efe7-4463-9767-d8c4cd320496
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Ag producers, consumers pushing farm-to-table concept
In the mid-20th century, 70% of what Montanans ate was produced in state
By TOM LUTEY The Gazette - Nov8, 2009
GLENDIVE - His farm truck bed is edged with a rind of rust and the frost bitten air needs thawing, but as Alvin Hoff unloads his harvest of dark red beans, he feels the heft of what he hopes are the seeds to farming’s future.
code>http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_35f955d8-cc0a-11de-9a1f-001cc4c002e0.html
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Stable farm labor seems elusive in global economy
By Gosia Wozniacka, The Oregonian - Nov7, 2009
Experts, growers and data show that most farmworkers in the United States are foreign-born Latinos. White, non-Latino, U.S.-born farmworkers are “not a dying breed, it’s a dead breed,” says William Kandel, a sociologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. An Oregon grower and two workers talk about why that’s the case.
code>http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/11/stable_farm_labor.html
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Public discussion on guest workers
Toronto Star - Nov5, 2009
Canada prides itself on being a nation of immigrants, but it is fast becoming a clearing house for temporary workers.The traditional Canadian narrative – of people landing here to build a country and lay the foundations for citizenship – is going underground. Now, we are recruiting an army of 200,000 guest workers every year – almost as many as regular immigrants.
code>http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/721299–public-discussion-on-guest-workers
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H1N1 outbreak hits migrants
Cuts left few state inspectors to deal with spread in camps
KAREN BOUFFARD, Detroit News Lansing Bureau - Nov4, 2009
Lansing — As departments assess how to deal with cuts in the 2010 state budget, agriculture and health officials say they saw firsthand what effect those reductions could have on public health when an H1N1 outbreak swept through 10 migrant camps this past summer.The July outbreak on blueberry farms across Van Buren and Allegan counties in southwest Michigan sickened 216 people and sent local health officials scrambling, after H1N1 was found in numerous swab tests and confirmed in five samples in state health labs.
code>http://www.detnews.com/article/20091104/METRO/911040348/1409/METRO/H1N1-outbreak-hits-migrants
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’Guest worker’ abuses blasted
Lax federal controls leave migrants open to exploitation, report says
Les Whittington Ottawa Bureau - Nov4, 2009
”It’s wrong, it’s in shambles and it leads to exploitation,” said MP Olivia Chow on the temporary worker system in Canada.
AUDITOR’S REPORT
• Echoing the findings of Star investigations, Auditor General Sheila Fraser found the Temporary Foreign Worker program is open to abuse.
• A response plan to deal with emergencies such as the H1N1 outbreak is still in the draft stage almost six years after conception.
• Ottawa’s foreign aid program is bogged down by bureaucracy and has failed to provide effective help to the world’s poor for the past 15 years.
code>http://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/article/720829—guest-worker-abuses-blasted
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US blueberry farms accused of using children as pickers
Supermarkets blacklist firm after young children exploited for small hands
By Stephen Foley in New York - Nov2, 2009
Stills from ABC News footage shows children as young as five working alongside their parents on a blueberry farm in Michigan.
Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, is embroiled in a child labour scandal in the United States, after children as young as five were found working on a farm that supplies blueberries to the company.
The revelations came as federal authorities said spot checks on farms in the state of Michigan found that more than half were violating child labour or migrant housing rules.
code>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-blueberry-farms-accused-of-using–children-as-pickers-1813193.html
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Manitoba welcome host for guest workers in Canada
Sandro Contenta- Nov3, 2009
BRANDON, MAN.–By any measure, William Cruz is a success story. He has realized a dream as old as Canada.
In 2002 he came from El Salvador with almost nothing. He braved the winters in this prairie town and the hard slog of its meat plant.
Back home, he had been a cellist with a symphony orchestra. Here, he was cutting out the big bone from a pig’s shoulder, a new one arriving on the “disassembly” line every 16 seconds. Virginia, also from El Salvador, did the same nearby with a smaller bone. How could they not fall in love?
code>http://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/article/720163–manitoba-welcome-host-for-guest-workers-in-canada
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“Star Investigation: A temporary worker’s Catch-22”
Staff Reporters - Nov2, 2009
In Mumbai, Mac Akela was a top chef at a luxury hotel, running a department of 72 people and preparing meals for the rich and powerful. Life was good. He had a wife and three children. And his $15,000 yearly salary got him far, particularly with the rent-free home his employer provided.One day, a visiting Toronto restaurateur fell in love with Akela’s cuisine. He offered him twice his salary, and by November 2007, Akela was cooking up a storm in a north Toronto restaurant. Six months later, he was broke and living in a homeless shelter.
code>http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/719602–star-investigation-a-temporary-worker-s-catch-22?bn=1
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“How we’re creating an illegal workforce”
Staff Reporters - Nov1, 2009
Tony, 29, from Honduras, now works illegally in Toronto. He “escaped” an Alberta farm where he spent 12 hours a day on his knees picking green onions.
VINCE TALOTTA/TORONTO STAR
HOW THE TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKER PROGRAM WORKS:
The program is made up of four streams: the Live-In Caregiver Program, the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, and programs for high-skilled workers and low-skilled ones.
code>http://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/article/719355–how-we-re-creating-an-illegal-workforce
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“People have no idea where our food comes from”
Photographer Vincenzo Pietropaolo documents migrant workers in new book
Tandem, By J.P. Antonacci - Nov1, 2009 - Nov8, 2009
Italo-Canadian photographer Vincenzo Pietropaolo has long had an interest in documenting the immigrant experience. After coming to Toronto as a 12-year-old boy from his native Calabria, Pietropaolo studied photography until finally leaving a career in city planning to focus his lens on issues of social justice.
For decades, Pietropaolo has photographed migrant agricultural workers in Canada and their home countries. His latest book, Harvest Pilgrims: Mexican and Caribbean Migrant Farm Workers in Canada (published by Between the Lines), gathers together stories and photographs of those who toil for minimum wage under difficult conditions in a nearly invisible industry. These photographs have toured internationally, including at an exhibit in Mexico City curated by the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography.
code>http://www.corrieretandem.com/viewstory.php?storyid=9544
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Family needs help for unhappy return to Mexico
The Beacon Herald - Oct 29 2009
A dream for a better life in Canada has become a nightmare for a family from Mexico who must return home before their visas expire Nov. 6.
Juan Soler, who is on compensation after being hurt on the job at a Sebringville business, and wife Claudia Perez, who isn’t legally allowed to work in Canada, don’t have the money to get themselves and their three children back to Mexico.
code>http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2154569
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Questions raised over Kenney’s refugee reports
By Laura Payton - Oct 28 2009
Figures obtained by Embassy show Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is only telling part of the story when he claims success in cutting down on the number of Mexicans applying for asylum.
When the government imposed visa requirements on July 14 for travellers from Mexico and the Czech Republic, Mr. Kenney said it was doing so to limit the number of people travelling to Canada from those countries to apply for asylum.
code>http://www.embassymag.ca/page/view/refugee_reports-10-28-2009
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Migrant workers’ income more than tripled
People Daily - Oct 7 2009
Migrant workers experienced significant income gains that increased three to four fold on average, a United Nations official said here on Tuesday.
Jeni Klugman, Director of the Human Development Report Office, United Nations Development Program, New York, made this remark at the launch of the 2009 Human Development Report.
code>http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90856/6777340.html
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Immigration reviving some small towns
Toronto Star - Oct 6 2009
Conventional wisdom would have us believe immigration and small town Canada don’t mix. It’s time to rethink that, says a Conference Board of Canada report that says immigration has injected new life into dying Canadian towns.
Interested in moving to Winkler, Man. or Brooks, Alta.? How about Florenceville-Bristol, N.B. or Yellowknife, N.W.T.?
code>http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/706332–immigration-reviving-some-small-towns
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UN calls for better deal for migrant workers.
Warns of backlash against world’s 1 billion migrants
CBC News - Oct 5 2009
The global recession presents an opportunity to come up with a new deal for the world’s migrant workers, a UN report suggested Monday.
The 2009 Human Development Report said “the recession should be seized as an opportunity to institute a new deal for migrants — one that that will benefit workers at home and abroad while guarding against a protectionist backlash.”
code>http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/10/05/un-migrant-workers.html
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Migrant workers’ income more than tripled
People Daily - Oct 7 2009
Migrant workers experienced significant income gains that increased three to four fold on average, a United Nations official said here on Tuesday.
Jeni Klugman, Director of the Human Development Report Office, United Nations Development Program, New York, made this remark at the launch of the 2009 Human Development Report.
code>http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90856/6777340.html
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Another Voice / Farm labor
Bill would protect workers from terrible abuses
Buffalo news - 18 September 2009
A bill is pending in the New York Senate that will ensure that farm workers are provided the rights, protections and benefits that all other workers throughout New York State receive. New York State and U. S. citizens benefit immensely from the farm workers’ hard work but we have to ensure that the farm workers receive just wages and good working conditions.
code>http://www.buffalonews.com/149/story/799267.html
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Latino farmers remember their roots
MKILEN@DMREG.COM - 13 September 2009
Benigno, who people call Bernie, and Ramona grew up in Jalisco, Mexico, but left behind farm life 13 years ago to move to the United States. They worked in the meat-packing plant in Marshalltown, became citizens and hoped to one day grow food again.
Now they have a plot of land and are harvesting, thanks to a continuing education program to develop new farmers that heavily taps into Marshalltown’s Latino population.
code>http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090913/LIFE/909130303/1039
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Greenhouse operators fined for illegal workers
Welland Tribune - 25 August 2009
Welland Tribune - 25 August 2009
ST. CATHARINES - The owners of a St. Catharines greenhouse operation say the government needs to crack down on independent employment agencies after their company was fined $5,000 Friday for hiring two illegal foreign workers.
code>http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1714545
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Migrant camps morph into communities
Housing complexes for farm laborers and other workers are shedding their old patterns and stigmas.
The Idaho Statesman Aug. 16, 2009
Housing complexes for farm laborers and other workers are shedding their old patterns and stigmas. Spawned by the New Deal, they were known for decades as labor camps - sprawling complexes of modest housing to shelter the field workers who migrated through Canyon County each growing season, then moved on.
code> krodine@idahostatesman.com
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How clean are your carrots?
Winnipeg Free Press Aug. 14, 2009
Imagine a job that requires you to leave your family for up to eight months at a time. Picture yourself speaking a different language than your boss. Consider living where you work and never being able to leave or receive visitors without your boss’s permission. Imagine knowing that should you raise any concerns you could lose your job and be sent home. code>http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/how-clean-are-your-carrots-53215827.html
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25,000 visas for seasonal workers available
GREG LATSHAW, STAFF WRITER Aug. 7, 2009
SALISBURY — Eastern Shore crab picking plants, hampered by a shortage of foreign laborers this summer, found out Thursday they will get another shot at hiring them.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it will release another 25,000 H-2B work visas. It will enable local companies to hire many seasonal workers from Mexico and keep their production lines — currently under capacity — busy.
code>http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20090807/NEWS01/908070304/1002
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Calderon to press Harper on visa issue at Three Amigos summit
Canwest News Service Aug. 6, 2009
OTTAWA — Mexican President Felipe Calderon will press Prime Minister Stephen Harper to drop the visa restrictions that Canada recently imposed on Mexican nationals when the two leaders meet this weekend at the Three Amigos Summit, Mexican sources say.
code>http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Calderon+press+Harper+visa+issue+Three+Amigos+summit/1867145/story.html
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Woman charged in migrant worker’s hit-and-run death
The Windsor Star Aug. 6, 2009
KINGSVILLE, Ont. — A 34-year-old Leamington woman has been charged in connection with the fatal collision on Road 3 in Kingsville that claimed the life of 41-year-old Abraham Soto-Lopez, a migrant worker from Mexico.
code>http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Woman+charged+migrant+worker+death/1866544/story.html
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’Senseless death’ outrages mexican migrant community
Cyclist killed by alleged drunk driver
The Windsor Star Aug. 5, 2009
The Mexican migrant community is banding together in search of “justice” after one of their own was killed when an allegedly drunk driver ran him over and left him to die on the side of the road. Ontario Provincial Police said Abraham Soto-Lopez, who was wearing reflective safety clothing while riding his bicycle, died at the scene Sunday night when a woman hit him with a Dodge Neon on County Road 3, then kept going.
code>http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=ec244a87-8dc0-49af-9827-8561773ba0ab
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Greenhouse workers question firings, but company says it did nothing wrong
Standard Staff Aug. 4, 2009
A firing of more than a dozen workers at a Jordan greenhouse has former employees speculating their jobs were terminated to make way for potentially cheaper workers from Guatemala.
But their employer, Lakeshore Inc., says it has done nothing wrong — a claim backed up Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, which runs the temporary foreign worker program.
Still, six former Lakeshore general labourers, who contacted The Standard recently, said 26 Canadian workers with several years’ service at the greenhouse were given termination notice June 26 for work performance issues.
code>http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1683715
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Underworked, unemployed and under the weather
TORONTO STAR Aug. 4, 2009
Study finds newcomers particularly vulnerable to stress and illness associated with joblessness.
International human resources manager Denny George had never been unemployed until after he immigrated to Canada in late 2005. His life took a 180-degree turn.
Originally from Mumbai, India, George had to learn to be frugal, worried about the $1,500 monthly mortgage payment on his new home in Mississauga and was challenged by his 7-year-old son about why he and his wife gave up a comfortable life in Dubai for Canada.
code>HTTP://WWW.THESTAR.COM/LIVING/ARTICLE/675622
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Matching Canadians to jobs
Globe and Mail Aug. 3, 2009
Unemployment has risen fast this year, but employers still bring in temporary foreign workers at a near-record pace. It is a sign that Canada isn’t doing a good job of getting domestic job seekers to where a job is waiting. The country needs more nimble systems for matching job seekers to job openings elsewhere, and some incentives to ease the move.code>http://www.niagaramag.com/sitepages/?aid=1069&cn=Features&an=FEATURE%20TWO
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Our shameful secret?
Niagara Magazine July 14, 2009
“Up here we are seasonal workers, not people with a name or an identity.”
That comment from a migrant worker on a Jordan farm perhaps best sums up the life—and in many cases the plight—of an entire community in Niagara, one that is largely hidden away from view despite their integral role in local agriculture.
code>http://www.niagaramag.com/sitepages/?aid=1069&cn=Features&an=FEATURE%20TWO
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Ontario seeks input on nanny law
STAFF REPORTER July 13, 2009
The province is beginning public consultations on a new law promising to protect foreign caregivers from the kind of exploitation documented in a Star investigation earlier this year.
The Ministry of Labour’s much anticipated consultation paper solicits views from caregivers, advocates, employment agency owners and parents on what the new law should look like.
code>http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/665036
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’Disposable’ workers, far from home
THE GAZETTE July 12, 2009
Guatemalans can make a year’s wages in one summer on a Quebec farm, but who is looking out for their interests? Four months into his contract picking tomatoes near Shawinigan, Noé Arteaga was making as much money as the mayor of his home town in Guatemala - almost as much as the local thugs working for the drug cartels.
code>http://www.montrealgazette.com/Disposable+workers+from+home/1783669/story.html
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Desire to unionize might mean exclusion, reps say
The Gazette July 12, 2009
It’s easy to see why there are more Guatemalans than Mexicans working on Quebec farms, say union reps at their sides - they’re cheaper and they don’t talk back.
code>http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Desire+unionize+might+mean+exclusion+reps/1783079/story.html
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Mexico must reform labour laws, Layton says
Toronto Star July 10, 2009
OTTAWA–NDP Leader Jack Layton says the best hope of having organized labour rights recognized in Mexico is for President Felipe Calderón to be swept from power.
Layton was in Mexico this week along with trade union and parliamentary leaders from 14 countries to support the National Union of Mine and Metal Workers, which he says has been under attack by the Mexican government and the Grupo Mexico mining company.
code>http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/664375
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Migrant workers receive $8000 backpay
Australian Associated Press July 09, 2009
TWO migrant workers have received $8000 in backpay after working 80-hour weeks at a Goldfields retail outlet for a flat rate.
The Fair Work Ombudsman said a husband and wife team who moved to Western Australia last year to jointly manage a seven-day-a-week business in the state’s goldfields had been shortchanged.
code>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25756064-5006789,00.html
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Unilever Drives Casual Tea Workers Deeper into Poverty for Claiming Rights
IUF website 16-Jun-2009
Unilever Pakistan management has escalated its vicious attack on casual workers at its Lipton/Brooke Bond tea factory in Khanewal, Pakistan, punishing workers who are demanding direct, permanent employment by denying them work and driving them deeper into poverty. code>http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi?db=default&uid=default&ID=6000&view_records=1&ww=1&en=1
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OPPORTUNITIES TO STRENGTHEN CANADA-CARICOM RELATIONS
Jamaica Observer-July 5, 2009
Seeing Jamaican guest workers on a farm in Canada recently reminded me of the close relationship that has always existed between Canada and the Caribbean.Canada’s guest-worker programme for farms is as important to Canadian farmers, who need the labour, as payment for the work is to the many Caribbean workers.
code>http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20090704T180000-0500_154748_OBS_OPPORTUNITIES_TO_STRENGTHEN_CANADA_CARICOM_RELATIONS_.asp
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Six detained in immigration raid
The Windsor Star -Jun 26, 2009
LEAMINGTON, Ont. — Another immigration raid in Leamington has netted six people.The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed Thursday that officers had conducted an investigation at a Leamington business Wednesday morning. “Officers detained six individuals for possible violations of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act,” agency spokeswoman Teri Mailloux said Thursday afternoon.
code>http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/canada/2009/06/26/9940041-sun.html
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Canadian support for immigrants slipping: poll
Results show little sympathy for undocumented workers
Edmonton Sun -Jun 26, 2009
OTTAWA — The number of Canadians who say immigration has a positive effect on their community has dropped ”noticeably” over the past two years and is now at the lowest level since the government started tracking attitudes in 2004.
code>http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/canada/2009/06/26/9940041-sun.html
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Date set for ag worker labour law hearing
Union wants farm workers included under Labour Relations Act
© AgMedia Inc. -Jun 25, 2009
The Supreme Court of Canada has tentatively set Dec. 17 as the date to hear arguments concerning Ontario farm workers’ rights to bargain collectively.
Stan Raper, spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada, says they’re happy the court has agreed to accept submissions on two questions. The Union will argue Ontario’s Agricultural Employees Protection Act is unconstitutional because it prohibits collective bargaining and that impinges on farm workers’ rights to associate.
code>http://www.betterfarming.com/online-news/date-set-ag-worker-labour-law-hearing-2232
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Pushing for immigration reform
WASHINGTON D.C. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) -Jun 26, 2009
Along with fixing the financial mess, waging two different wars and trying to reform the health care industry, add immigration reform to the president’s to-do list. He discussed the issue Thursday with congressional leaders from both parties.There are definitely people here in West Michigan who are pushing for immigration reform, but it’s unclear whether a bill could even make it into Congress this year.
code>http://www.wwmt.com/articles/reform-1364043-immigration-trying.html
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Panel slams U.S. over immigration raid tactics
Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer-Jun 19, 2009
The commission, which included U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Dennis Hayashi and others, was set up by the United Food and Commercial Workers, a union representing workers at several Swift meatpacking plants where raids took place.
code>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/18/BAHM189QSF.DTL
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Mexicans in US face cashback crisis
Business reporter -Jun 19, 2009
For centuries, workers from many parts of the globe have been coming to the US to find work and support themselves.
Many migrant workers have families back in their native countries who depend on them for remittances. But for some, a difficult economic climate, triggered by a collapse in the housing market, is causing the dream to evaporate.
The worst US recession in decades has eliminated job opportunities for many immigrants, slowing the flow of money back home down to a trickle.
code>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8106923.stm
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ICE raid tactics blasted by panel that includes Vilsack
By Tony Leys -Jun 18, 2009
A commission that includes U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released a report today condemning past tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.Vilsack, Iowa’s former governor, is listed as one of 10 members of the independent commission that released the 80-page report, titled “Raids on Workers, Destroying Our Rights.”
code>http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090618/NEWS/90618043/ICE-raid-tactics-blasted-by-panel-that-includes-Vilsack
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Bill to protect foreign workers revived
Toronto Star -Jun 17, 2009
OTTAWA – The government is reintroducing legislation it says will help protect foreign workers from exploitation and abuse.The amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act will allow officials to deny temporary work permits to foreign workers, such as strippers or nannies, who might be victimized in Canada.
code>http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/652067
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E-Verify vilified as California company fires 260 undocumented workers
Examiner.com -June 17, 2009
San Diego – Even though E-Verify has been postponed until September of this year, one California company heeded the government’s warning and put all their employees through the verification process.A Vernon, California food processing and packaging company, Overhill Farms, Inc. fired 260 workers who had given the company fraudulent Social Security numbers. The company found in a recent Internal Revenue Services audit that approximately 260 employees’ social security numbers were invalid.
code>http://www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m6d17-EVerify-vilified-as-California-company-fires-260-undocumented-workers
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Canadian Traffic
HUMAN TRAFFICKING HAPPENS IN CANADA, TO CANADIANS, AND NOT ALWAYS HOW YOU EXPECT IT
BY ALIA DHARSSI -March 24, 2009
“I feel unworthy, dirty, tainted, like nothing. I feel I am only good for one thing—sex.” These were the distressing words of an 18-year-old Canadian, called “Eve” in an Ontario courtroom. Imani Nakpamgi, a 25 year old from Niagara Falls, Ontario, forced Eve into the Canadian sex industry when she was 15. He sometimes made her take a dozen men in a day. This went on for 26 months; Nakpamgi earned more than $350,000 off her. He was the first person convicted of hu¬man trafficking in Canada.
code>http://www.ubyssey.ca/?p=7868&cpage=1
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Computer ‘raid’ in Vernon leaves factory workers devastated
Patrick J. McDonnell -June 12, 2009
Overhill Farms, a major food-processing plant in the L.A. area, terminates more than 200 employees after an IRS audit finds that they had provided ‘invalid or fraudulent’ Social Security numbers.
code>http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-desktop-raid12-2009jun12,0,783064.story
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Community groups fight for better living, working conditions for temporary foreign workers and live-in caregivers
BY JOHN BONNAR -June 11, 2009
Eleven o’clock Tuesday morning at the Workers’ Action Centre. Media and supporters are jam-packed into a room to listen to representatives of the newly formed Caregivers Action Centre, comprised of former and current caregivers working for change in Temporary Foreign Worker programs including the Live-In Caregiver Program and the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program.code>http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/johnbon/2009/06/community-groups-fight-better-living-working-conditions-temporary-for
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Swindled immigrants hopefully last: Allan
Winnipeg Free Press-June 08, 2009
NEW legislation was too late to protect two Russian-speaking newcomers from being fleeced by unlicensed immigration consultants for thousands of dollars. But they may be among the last, the province says.
After the Russians paid more than $7,000 each to the Winnipeg consultants, their immigration was botched and their promised $20-an-hour jobs didn’t pan out.
code>http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/swindled-immigrants-hopefully-last-allan-47195027.html
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Farmers oppose legislation
Special to The Record-June 09, 2009
GREENWICH — State legislation designed to protect farm workers might have the opposite effect and force many farms out of business.
The bill would require farms to pay all employees, including migrant workers, overtime for more than 40 hours per week.
Already-struggling farmers say they can’t afford to pay time-and-a-half, and if they reduce worker hours, laborers might not show up.
code>http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2009/06/09/news/doc4a2e0069ea941727243073.txt
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Vernon Company Fires Hundreds: Workers Allege Racism at Protest
EGP News Service-June 04, 2009
A Vernon food processing and packaging company was accused of racism on Wednesday, after 254 employees who had been with the company between five and 20 years were fired for “discrepancies with their Social Security numbers.”slumps.
code>http://egpnews.com/?p=10221
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Recession bad here, but worse elsewhere
THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR-June 04, 2009
The impact of the global economic downturn has had far-reaching effects on individuals and families here in our community and around the globe.As the global recession tightens its grip, and the unemployment rate rises to unacceptably high levels, workers are becoming increasingly worried and fearful about the future. These fears are not unfounded. Statistics Canada reports that unemployment remained at 8 per cent in April, the highest level in seven years. And workers in Ontario have reasons to become fearful as they see the elimination of jobs due to plant closings and market slumps.code>http://www.thespec.com/Opinions/article/577207
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Business, labor, Hispanic groups make new push for immigration amnesty
Phoenix Business Journal -June 03, 2009
Business interests, labor unions and Hispanic activists are launching a summer push for federal immigration reform — including legalization of some illegals already in the U.S.
code>http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/06/01/daily41.html
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Support Could Be Bad News For Farmers
Post Journal-June 03, 2009
ALBANY - What has already been a bad year for farmers could get worse if a bill requiring mandatory overtime for farmworkers is approved by the state Legislature.On Tuesday, the state Senate’s Labor Committee voted in favor of a bill that would require mandatory payment of overtime to farmworkers, require farm employers to allow at least 24 consecutive hours of rest each week, provide for an eight-hour work day for farm laborers, makes unemployment insurance and workers compensation laws apply to farm workers, and requires farm worker injuries to be reported.
code>http://post-journal.com/page/content.detail/id/532164.html?nav=5018
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Immigrants deserve much better treatment
Guelphmercury-June 03, 2009
In recent months Canadian-immigrant relations have become tragic — marked by violent U.S.-style raids, detainments and deportations of migrant workers throughout southern Ontario. Many were picked up while travelling to work, while others were dragged from workplaces, their homes and public places.
code>http://news.guelphmercury.com/Opinions/article/489948/
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Beekeepers frustrated by delays in getting seasonal workers to Canada
CBC News-June 02, 2009
Beekeepers in Saskatchewan and other Prairie provinces say their industry is suffering because of delays in processing visas for seasonal workers from the Philippines.Beekeepers have already recruited the workers, but the Canadian embassy in the Philippines has been slow to process the necessary paperwork, said John Gruszka, an apiculture specialist in Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Agriculture.
code>http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2009/06/02/beekeepers-workers.html
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Reign of immigration raids in Southern Ontario continuesBBC News-29th May 2009
Leamington, ON – May 28, 2009 - In the early morning of Wednesday, May 27, Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers agents raided Lakeside Greenhouse in Leamington, Ontario and arrested nine female migrant workers. One of the women arrested and detained is pregnant.code>http://www.ufcw.ca/Default.aspx?SectionId=af80f8cf-ddd2-4b12-9f41-641ea94d4fa4&LanguageId=1&ItemId=a0376b9d-a7e5-4c04-bb69-3b6875bbe169/
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Global crisis ‘hits human rights’
The global economic crisis is exacerbating human rights abuses, Amnesty International has warned.
BBC News-29th May 2009
In its annual report, the group said the downturn had distracted attention from abuses and created new problems. Rising prices meant millions were struggling to meet basic needs in Africa and Asia, it said, and protests were being met with repression. Political conflict meant people were suffering in DR Congo, North Korea, Gaza and Darfur, among others, it said. code>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8071347.stm/
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“8 Mexican greenhouse workers detained”
Windsor Star-29th May 2009
The Canadian Border Services Agency has detained eight people after a Wednesday immigration raid at a Leamington business.
“CBSA officers have detained eight individuals for possible violations of the (Immigration and Refugee Protection Act),” agency spokeswoman Teri Mailloux said Thursday afternoon.
code>http://www.windsorstar.com/Business/Mexican+greenhouse+workers+detained/1640544/story.html/
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“Top posts in Toronto lack diversity: study ”
Globe and Mail-27th May 2009
Visible minorities are under-represented in top leadership posts in government, business and the non-profit sector across the Toronto region, even though they make up 40 per cent of the population, according to a new study released this morning.
code>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/top-posts-in-toronto-lack-diversity-study/article1155202/
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“Canada beats U.S. in knowledge of newcomers”
WASHINGTON BUREAU-26th May 2009
The perception that Canada knows less about its immigrants than its more security-conscious southern neighbour is understood to be one of the driving impulses behind the strict new border rules the United States will impose next Monday.
code>http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/640725
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“Congress weighs ag immigration law”
BY CHRISTOPHER A. KEROSKY-25th May 2009
A law proposed in the U.S. Congress last week could help local growers who rely on immigrant labor and those immigrants who do the work.The proposed law, the Agricultural Job Opportunities and Benefits Act (“AgJobs”) would improve the temporary labor program known as the H2 visa that many growers use to bring in foreign labor.
code>http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090525/BUSINESSJOURNAL/905229870?Title=Guest-contributor-Congress-weighs-ag-immigration-law
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“Agriculture profits up 63% in 2008 but what about the workers?
Bumper year for owners but not for exploited workers”
AWA Canada-26th May 2009
Profits in the Canadian agriculture sector have jumped a second year in row while the workers in the field continue to be one of the most exploited labour forces in Canada — including the more than 22,000 agriculture workers who come to Canada each season under the federal government’s Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (CSAWP).
code>http://awa-ata.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/feastfamineen1.pdf
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“Crackdown planned for foreign worker program”
Toronto Star -24th May 2009
Fears of visa, work permit fraud prompting Ottawa to tighten up on its landed immigrant system.
Ottawa is planning to restrict job offers to foreign workers in an attempt to discourage fraud and clamp down on those who try to bypass the rigorous immigrant selection system introduced last year, the Star has learned.
code>http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/639469
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“Fields of fear for Colorado illegal farm laborers”
The Denver Post -18th May 2009
For a group of farm laborers working in the U.S. illegally, it wasn’t jail or deportation that scared them - it was their “contractor.”
They lived in squalor — ratty tile floors, holes in the walls, mold, disgusting bathrooms, unsafe water — and worked jobs that left them bone-weary.
code>http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_12387869?source=commented-
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“$8M Awarded To Migrant Workers Who Were Deported”
DesMoinesRegister.com -19th May 2009
A Marshalltown union official who was convicted of helping illegal immigrants has won an appeal of the case and probably will not be retried.
Braulio Pereyra-Gabino was charged in the wake of 2006 immigration raids at Swift meatpacking plants in Marshalltown and five other towns around the country.
He was convicted last year of concealing illegal immigrants but acquitted of charges of identity theft and Social Security fraud.
code>http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090519/NEWS/905190370/1001/NEWS
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“Housemaids remain the most vulnerable to forced labor: ILO”
Adianto P. Simamora , -20th May 2009
Domestic workers are still the most likely group to be subjected to forced labor in Indonesia, with employers demanding they work long hours on a monthly income of less than Rp 300,000 (US$30).
Such conditions have remained unchanged for decades because there is no law to protect them from their employers, a UN report says. A study conducted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) said many countries, including Indonesia, have not yet issued a policy to prevent domestic workers from being exploited in their work places.
code>http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/05/20/housemaids-remain-most-vulnerable-forced-labor-ilo.html
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“Screening targets Mexican workers”
But same standard doesn’t apply to returning Canucks
Paul J. Henderson, The Times-19th May 2009
The current fear of a global swine influenza pandemic has come just when hundreds of Mexican farmworkers are arriving in the Fraser Valley to labour on local crops.
Precautions to screen the labourers from bringing the virus to Canada are in place, but there is a double standard being applied, said Lucy Luna, co-ordinator of the Abbotsford Agricultural Workers Alliance Support Centre.
code>http://www2.canada.com/abbotsfordtimes/news/story.html?id=03661e1d-0f39-4688-ba72-872c71e5cbdb
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“Hog-Wild: Mexico Officials Pig Out On Pork”
MEXICO CITY, May 15, 2009
Mexican officials are going hog-wild over pork to encourage their countrymen to put the pig back in the taco.
code>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/15/world/main5016416.shtml
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“Flu slows return of migrant workers”
Rocky Mount Telegram -9th May 2009
A handful of area farmers are worried seasonal migrant workers from Mexico won’t arrive to the Twin Counties in time for planting this month because of legal immigration delays related to the outbreak of swine flu. Thousands of migrant workers legally cross the border and travel to Eastern North Carolina each year to help plant, cultivate and harvest sweet potatoes and tobacco. The crops require a great deal of manual labor, Nash County Agriculture Extension Director Charlie Tyson said, and some area farmers rely heavily on migrants working in their fields to produce the crops.
code>http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/flu-slows-return-of-migrant-workers-595699.html
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“Immigrants shunning P.E.I. over investment scandal, Opposition says”
CBC News -8th May 2009
Disillusionment over the government’s handling of an immigrant investor program is beginning to hurt P.E.I.’s reputation overseas, Opposition leader Olive Crane told MLAs Thursday.”As an immigrant puts it,” she said, reading a letter in question period, “Up until now we have no intentions to leave Prince Edward Island. However, much will depend on how Prince Edward Island will handle this scandal. As you can understand, we do not want to be part of a society in the knowledge that a part of our tax money is going to be used paying for criminals, thieves, frauds, and Pinocchios.”
code>http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2009/05/08/pei-immigration-reputation.html
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“Immigration activists plan May Day rallies”
By Teresa Watanabe -1st May 2009
Mexicans unwilling to seek medical help; fearful of extra costs
Simcoe Reformer- April 29, 2009
Tens of thousands are expected to protest for reform, such as legalization, though policy differences push groups to separate their events into seven marches. Four will be held in downtown L.A.
code>http://www.markdalestandard.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1544046
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“Checks on farm workers ‘racial profiling”
By TOM GODFREY, SUN MEDIA-1st May 2009
Mexicans unwilling to seek medical help; fearful of extra costs
Simcoe Reformer- April 29, 2009
Mexican and Guatemalan farmhands are “racially profiled” and forced to undergo swine flu checks before being allowed to board flights to Canada to work, a Toronto support group says.
Canadians and others flying from Mexico should be forced to undergo two medical checks by two doctors — the same as the farmhands — before being allowed to board flights, according to Justice for Migrant Workers.
code>http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/05/01/9310861-sun.html
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“Migrant workers from Mexico undergoing more stringent tests ”
The Sun Times
Mexican migrant labourers are at work in Grey-Bruce now, mostly at apple orchards in eastern Grey County, as the world’s attention focuses on the swine flu outbreak first reported last week in Mexico.
Grey-Bruce farmers employed 190 Mexican migrants working last year as part of a long-standing federal initiative, the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. About 28 are here now.
code>http://www.markdalestandard.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1544046
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“Farms facing possible labour delays ”
Mexicans unwilling to seek medical help; fearful of extra costs
Simcoe Reformer- April 29, 2009
The swine flu outbreak in Mexico is causing uncertainty on area farms that depend on migrant workers from that country to plant their crops.
An estimated 1,800 Mexicans are brought to Norfolk County every year to work mainly in the fruit and vegetable sector.
code>http://www.simcoereformer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1544982
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“Migrant workers at risk: union”
Mexicans unwilling to seek medical help; fearful of extra costs
By: Gabrielle Giroday- April 29, 2009
Union worker Gustavo Mejicanos says a lack of adequate health insurance may prevent seasonal farm employees from seeking medical assistance. Without improved benefits, the province has a gaping hole in its defence against the swine flu outbreak, he warns. (RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)code>http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Migrant-workers-at-risk-union.html
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“Seasonal workers raise swine flu fears on farms”
Toronto Star- April 29, 2009
LEAMINGTON, Ont. – Manuel Martinez arrived from Mexico Monday night and sailed through Pearson airport without problems or questions on his way to a job as a farm worker.
Sitting in Tony’s Tacos here yesterday, Martinez, 63, and five other farm workers said they were tested in Mexico for swine flu symptoms before boarding their Air Canada flight.
code>http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/626077
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“Growers worry about labour”
Gary Rennie, The Windsor Star- April 28, 2009
Greenhouse owners and vegetable and fruit growers are worried the offshore worker program could be temporarily halted by the outbreak of Mexican swine flu.
About two-thirds of the 5,000 migrant workers who come to Essex County for months at a time are from Mexico.
code>http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=f59e5ca7-0e11-4175-8962-4ff921138d2c
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“Mexican workers will face ‘great scrutiny’ before entering Canada”
Vancouver Sun- April 28, 2009
VANCOUVER — Mexican farm workers coming to B.C. will have to undergo a double screening process for swine flu before boarding flights to Canada.
Migrant workers are still being allowed into Canada, but will be under “great scrutiny” before their travels, Estela Garcia, of the Mexican Consulate in Vancouver, said Monday.
“Every worker will be screened,” Garcia said.
Workers will first go for a routine medical examination a couple of weeks before their scheduled departure. If they do not have any flu symptoms at that time, they will be given the green light to travel to Canada.
code>http://www.vancouversun.com/Life/Mexican+workers+will+face+great+scrutiny+before+entering+Canada/1539651/story.html
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“Canada tightens screening of incoming Mexican workers”
Canadian Press- April 28, 2009
OTTAWA — Canada has tightened the screening process for incoming Mexican workers in an effort to limit the spread of swine flu, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced in an interview Monday.
All Mexican workers need to have a fever-check by two doctors, fill out a questionnaire, and undergo a physical before entering Canada, Kenney said.
The steps are being taken with thousands of Mexican migrant workers set to arrive on Canadian farms, which rely on foreign help to meet labour shortages during the growing season.
code>http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gZWHz7rnZ10zec8N3WUhFZacJZWQ
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“Migrant workers won’t be banned”
Staff Writer - April 28, 2009
OTTAWA will still allow migrant Mexican workers to come to Canada this year — including an estimated 90 seasonal workers headed for Portage la Prairie-area farms — despite worries over a potential swine flu pandemic, federal officials said Monday.
But the government will step up screening of migrants before they arrive, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Monday.
All migrant workers will have to fill out a questionnaire and undergo a physical examination and fever check by two doctors before being cleared for departure to Canada. The examinations will occur in Mexico when the workers go to pick up their work permits.
Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said she directed the Public Health Agency of Canada to send two people to Mexico to help with screening and lab supports. Aglukkaq said the two are already in Mexico. Seasonal workers from Mexico are critical to portions of Manitoba’s agriculture industry. Provincial Agriculture Minister Rosann Wowchuk said about 90 Mexicans worked in the area last year, tending vegetable crops.
code>http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/migrant-workers-wont-be-banned-43867072.html?viewAllComments=y
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“GROUPS OF SEASONAL MEXICAN FARM WORKERS DELAYED”
April 27, 2009
B-C FARMERS ARE CONCERNED AFTER MEXICAN MIGRANT WORKERS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE THIS WEEK ARE DELAYED FROM COMING.
SO FAR THIS WEEKS GROUPS OF MIGRANT FARM WORKERS HAVE NOT BEEN ALLOWED TO COME INTO THE COUNTRY WITH THE RECENT SWINE FLU OUTBREAK.
THE IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT IS PREPARING TO SCREEN THEM ALL BY AT LEAST TWO DOCTORS.
code>http://www.cfax1070.com/newsstory.php?newsId=8856
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“Farm workers from Mexico screened for swine flu”
ctvbc.ca April 27, 2009
Thousands of seasonal agricultural workers from Mexico, who come to Canada to work on Fraser Valley farms, are now being subjected to mandatory screening for swine influenza.
Currently, Canadians returning home from Mexico and Mexican tourists are only being encouraged to go to a clinic if they have any symptoms of the illness.
At a support centre for migrant workers in the region, the outbreak in their home country is causing workers major concern.
code>http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090428/bc_mexican_workers_090427/20090428/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome
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“Alberta Entrenching Exploitation of Foreign Workers”
DALE BRAZAO - April 25, 2009
The Alberta Federation of Labour today released Entrenching Exploitation, the second report of its Temporary Foreign Worker Advocate. The report provides an update on the living and working conditions of temporary foreign workers in Alberta. It also evaluates government responses to problems in the program and examines the state of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) during the economic downturn.
code>http://www.afl.org/news/default.cfm?newsId=583
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“Migrant workers lose out in NAFTA nations, reports argue”
Frontera NorteSur- April 22, 2009
In many respects, the Canada-Mexico program is similar to the old bracero system of contract labor that brought millions of Mexican farmworkers to the United States between 1942-1964.
Two new reports charge Mexican and other Latino migrants continue facing a host of human rights violations and labor abuses in Canada and the United States. In Mexico, an assessment prepared by the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) group in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies reconfirmed previous reports of bad conditions experienced by thousands of Mexican agricultural workers enrolled in a temporary labor program in Canada.
code>http://www.newspapertree.com/news/3708-migrant-workers-lose-out-in-nafta-nations-reports-argue
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“Building Codes Will Apply To Manitoba Farm Buildings”
By Staff- April 22, 2009
Manitoba’s Labour and Immigration Minister Nancy Allan has introduced amendments to the Buildings and Mobile Homes Act which would require farm buildings to be designed and constructed to meet building codes.
code>http://www.country-guide.ca/West/issues/PrinterFriendly.asp?story_id=&id=99126&RType=&PC=FBC&issue=04222009
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“Forage wagon mishap sends farm worker to hospital”
Canadian OH&S News- April 22, 2009
An accident at a farm in Bruce County, Ontario has landed a 63-year-old worker in hospital with serious injuries.
On the afternoon of April 10, Howard Barfield of Brant Township, Ontario was filling seed beds on a mushroom farm along with other employees, says a statement from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). At about 4:30 pm, his clothing became entangled in a converted forage wagon, and he was pulled into the auger system.
code>http://www.ohscanada.com/issues/ISarticle.asp?id=99011
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“IMMIGRATION: Fate of detainees unknown Workers caught in raid deported
” News- April 22, 2009
The fate of dozens of foreign nationals detained by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) here earlier this month remains unclear.
Eighty-one workers from Thailand, China, the Philippines and the Caribbean were arrested by CBSA officers, with the assistance of South Simcoe police, on April 2.
code>http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1533678
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“6,000 Jamaicans to be Employed on Canadian Farms this Year” - TORONTO (JIS) April 19, 2009
Approximately 6,000 Jamaican men and women are expected to be employed on farms in Canada this year.
code>http://www.jis.gov.jm/labour/html/20090419T210000-0500_19272_JIS_6_000_JAMAICANS_TO_BE_EMPLOYED_ON_CANADIAN_FARMS_THIS_YEAR_.asp
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“Immigration Accord by Labor Boosts Obama Effort ” The New York Times- April 14, 2009
The nation’s two major labor federations have agreed for the first time to join forces to support an overhaul of the immigration system, leaders of both organizations said on Monday. The accord could give President Obama significant support among unions as he revisits the stormy issue in the midst of the recession.
code>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/us/14immig.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=IMMIGRATION&st=nyt
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“Supreme Court to hear case against farm labourers” THE WINDSOR STAR- April 2, 2009
Farm labourers involved in a decade-old fight for the right to organize — which began with Essex County mushroom workers — had a setback Thursday when the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear the province’s case against them.
code>http://www.windsorstar.com/Business/Supreme+Court+hear+case+against+farm+labourers/1457978/story.html
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“Supreme Court will review farm union case ” Guelph Mercury- April 2, 2009
The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear the Ontario government’s fight against farm-worker unions. The high court’s decision yesterday opens another legal chapter in a bitter battle between the province and some of its most vulnerable workers.
code>http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/461861
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“High court to hear Ontario’s fight to keep farmers from unionizing ” THE CANADIAN PRESS- April 2, 2009
Another chapter in a long-running and bitter battle between Ontario and some of its most vulnerable workers was opened today when the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear the province’s case against farm-worker unions.
code>http://www.thestar.com/article/612637
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“Ontario farm workers must wait to unionize” Globe and Mail - April 2, 2009
TORONTO — Ontario farm workers will have to wait at least a year to unionize, following a Supreme Court of Canada decision today to allow Ontario to appeal a 2008 decision that allowed them to form unions.
code>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090402.wcourt0402/BNStory/National/home
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“Family-farm crisis is a global concern” Bugle observer- March 31, 2009
Farm leaders from Mexico will be in Carleton County in April to help put a focus on the growing international farm and food crisis.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) will host a series of public events in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, including a couple of stops in Carleton County. The events will examine the global hunger crisis and focus on food sovereignty as the best solution to that crisis.
code>http://bugleobserver.canadaeast.com/business/article/619936
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“Family-farm crisis is a global concern” Bugle observer- March 31, 2009
Farm leaders from Mexico will be in Carleton County in April to help put a focus on the growing international farm and food crisis.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) will host a series of public events in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, including a couple of stops in Carleton County. The events will examine the global hunger crisis and focus on food sovereignty as the best solution to that crisis.
code>http://bugleobserver.canadaeast.com/business/article/619936
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“Pressure building to change farmworkers policies” Taber Times- March 2009
Earlier this month, the Alberta Liberal Party was ratcheting up the pressure in the house for the government to implement a new policy approach to farm safety. Following the release of the results of Justice Peter Barley’s fatality inquiry into the death of Kevan Chandler, the Liberal Party has been championing Barley’s recommendations to improve farm safety in Alberta, including changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Act to cover paid employees on farms.
In the House, Liberal MLA Kevin Taft questioned the premier as to why more protections are afforded to farm animals in the province than to paid farm workers.
code>http://www.tabertimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1341&Itemid=9
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“Minister Day Introduces Legislation to Implement Colombia and Peru Free Trade Agreements” Marketwire-26 March 2009
OTTAWA, ONTARIO–(Marketwire - March 26, 2009) - The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today announced that legislation has been introduced in the House of Commons for the free trade agreements (FTAs) Canada recently signed with Colombia and Peru. These agreements will open new doors for Canadian companies doing business in Colombia and Peru by expanding market access in key sectors such as extractive industries, manufacturing, agriculture and financial services.code>http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Foreign-Affairs-And-International-Trade-Canada-966455.html
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“Natives, Bay Street form country’s biggest farm” Globe and Mail-26 March 2009
Bay Street unites with native leaders to create super-sized corporate farm.
code>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090326.wfarmcontains26/BNStory/National/home Link
“Obama Flinches on Immigration ” THE NEW YORK TIMES-25 March 2009
In a little-noticed act of political faintheartedness, the Obama administration has pulled back from nominating Thomas Saenz, a highly regarded civil-rights lawyer and counsel to the mayor of Los Angeles, to run the Justice Department’s civil rights division.
code>http://www.thedailysound.com/032509pets Link
“CELEBRATING CESAR ” By KAREN LEE STEVENS -25 March 2009
STOP THE SLAUGHTER. If Barack Obama failed to win the 2008 presidential election, I was seriously considering a move to Canada. After all, our neighbor to the north has a universal health care system and residents say interesting things like “eh” and “aboot.” Then again, Canada is infamous for its baby seal hunts. code>http://www.thedailysound.com/032509pets Link
“Chavez inspires community in service” Karina Yepez-25 March 2009
Monica Cortez, freshman government major, is honored to help promote Cesar Chavez’s legacy and students letting people know the importance of staying in school, fighting for equality, and immigration rights like Chavez did through out his life.
code>http://media.www.statehornet.com/media/storage/paper1146/news/2009/03/25/News/Chavez.Inspires.Community.In.Service-3681572.shtml Link“Union files complaint against Ontario with UN ” THE CANADIAN PRESS-23 March 2009
One of Canada’s largest unions announced today it has filed a complaint with the United Nations against the Ontario government for preventing farm workers from forming labour unions.
code>http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/606897 Link“Complaints after Ont. farmers banned from union” The Canadian Press-23 March 2009
TORONTO — One of Canada’s largest unions is filing a complaint with a UN agency against the Ontario government for prohibiting agriculture workers from unionizing.
The complaint to the International Labour Organization in Switzerland argues that the ban is unconstitutional and violates the human rights of Ontario farmer workers.
code>http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090323/farmer_union_090323/20090323/?hub=TorontoNewHome Link“A Slippery Place in the U.S. Work Force” The New York Times-22 March 2009
MORRISTOWN, Tenn. - The faithful stand and hold their hands high, raising a crescendo of prayer for abundance and grace. In the evangelical church where they are gathered, the folding chairs are filled with immigrants from Latin America.
code>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/us/22immig.html?_r=1&th&emc=th Link“Language, laws a challenge for indigenous migrants ” 17 March 2009
MOUNT VERNON, Washington - When immigration agents arrested 16 farmworkers in a mass arrest of illegal immigrants early this year, legal advocates raced to find interpreters for the men, who spoke only a language called Mixtec.
code>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29745042/ Link“The immigration imbroglio is the gorilla in the room that won’t go away. ” 17 March 2009
Feeding on this and last years’ gigantic job losses and fear of more to come, anti-immigrant anger is exploding across the U.S. Thus, Nativists like Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio are nudged to over-the-top nastiness: Just a month ago, he proudly paraded his villains (aka illegals) through the streets of Phoenix before deporting them.
code>http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/031809a.html Link“Labour Ministry starts pre-selection for farm work ” 16 March 2009
The Ministry of Labour Monday started its pre-selection exercise for the farm work component of the Overseas Employment Programme.
code>http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/16378/26/ Link“New protections for migrant farm workers” Northumberland news-11 March 2009
Mexican migrant workers arriving soon to work on Ontario’s farms will, for the first time, have access to Spanish counselling of their rights, 24 hours a day, under provincial laws. code>http://www.northumberlandnews.com/news/trenthills/article/121630 Link“Orchardists can reduce seasonal farm workers’ culture shock.” BC local news-10 March 2009
On-farm orientation for new workers is important to get relationships started off on the right foot, particularly when those workers have just arrived from another country, says a communications instructor from Okanagan College.
code>http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/vernonmorningstar/community/41058204.html Link“Consulate hires staff to cope with demand for ag workers.”
LANGLEY – The skyrocketing growth of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) in B.C. has overwhelmed the Mexican consulate in Vancouver, vice-consul Estele Garcia Leon told B.C. nursery growers in Langley, January 14. In just five years, the B.C. program has grown to involve over 3,000 workers and over 300 employers.
code>http://www.countrylifeinbc.com/newspages/feature.php Link“Farm workers ask gov’t for better protection”. THE EDMONTON JOURNAL-10 March 2009
An Alberta woman whose husband died in a farm accident and a woman who remains in pain after a farm injury made passionate pleas to the government Monday to give farm workers the same protections as those in other industries.
code>http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Business/Farm+workers+better+protection/1372941/story.html Link“Jump in farm deaths fuels push to expand workplace laws”. Calgary Herald -6 March 2009
Deaths on Alberta farms jumped 58 per cent last year and involved six children, including two who were mistakenly buried and suffocated in mounds of grain, Alberta Agriculture reported.
The spike in farm-related fatalities marks a return to a grim normal, after 2007 deaths declined to a dozen from the provincial average of 19.
code>http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=c72c6ba7-eeae-45a8-adef-48e427c02460&k=1791 Link“Enslaved migrant tomato pickers mobilize movement”. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -5 March 2009
At most grocery stores you can find tomatoes labeled as organic, vine-ripened or hydroponic. But would you reach for that bright red tomato if it had the label “picked under deplorable working conditions”?
code>http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/41482 Link“Now hear this. . . . Protect yourself from farm noise “. Caledon citizen-5 March 2009
The traditional picture of a farm, as a serene and quiet workplace, couldn’t be farther from the truth. Machinery, motors and even sounds made by animals, sometimes create a noisy and often hazardous environment. code>http://www.caledoncitizen.com/news/2009/0305/news/037.html Link“NDP wants workplace safety laws to include farm workers”. EDMONTON JOURNAL-5 March 2009
The Alberta NDP called on the government Thursday to widen the scope of workplace safety laws to include farm employees.
code>http://www.calgaryherald.com/Business/wants+workplace+safety+laws+include+farm+workers/1357717/story.html Link“World of labour”. Dateline-2nd March 2009
Trade union leaders and prominent environmentalists told a White House panel, headed by Vice President Joe Bidden, that good, green jobs were needed by millions of Americans who aspire to be part of the Middle Class. That was the focus of Biden’s Middle Class Task Force, which met for the first time in Philadelphia on February 27.
code>http://www.straightgoods.ca/2009/ViewFeature.cfm?Ref=128/ Link“UFCW to back Mexican state’s Canadian ag workers”. By Staff-Alberta Farmer -26 February 2009
A major union in Canada’s food processing sector has signed a pact with a Mexican state to represent its residents while they work on Canadian farms.
code>http://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=96623&PC=FBC&issue=02262009/ Link“Mexico state and Canadian union sign migrant worker protection pact.”. Exchange -25 February 2009
The State of Michoacán, Mexico and UFCW Canada sign accord to extend protection and assistance to migrant workers in Canada
code>http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2009/week9/Wednesday/022508.htm/ Link“Farmers back bill easing labor crunch “. The News Tribune-12 February 2009
OLYMPIA — Farmers and labor advocates tussled Wednesday over a pair of dueling bills heard by the House Commerce & Labor Committee that deal with seasonal immigrant workers. code>http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/624704.html/ Link“Farm trivia is not trivial “. Kingston This Week-12 February 2009
Fact: Food Freedom Day is February 12, 2009. This represents the day an individual Canadian will have earned enough money to pay his or her grocery bill for the year.code>http://www.kingstonthisweek.com/ArticleDisplayGenContent.aspx?e=10823/ Link“Target of Immigrant Raids Shifted “. Reuters -4 February 2009
The raids on homes around the country were billed as carefully planned hunts for dangerous immigrant fugitives, and given catchy names like Operation Return to Sender.
code>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/us/04raids.html?_r=1&th&emc=th/ Link“Canada urged to improve human rights record “. Reuters -3 February 2009
Canada should strengthen its domestic violence laws and stop religious discrimination against Muslims, a U.N. body heard on Tuesday.
code>http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=19900553/ Link“It’s time to stop letting others hide behind family farmers “. SUN TIMES -31 January 2009
Recently the Ontario government announced it would be appealing a landmark ruling that allowed agricultural workers in Ontario the right to form a union and collectively bargain for working conditions and pay.
code>http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1415952/ Link“Food tracked from farm to store”. The Winnipeg Free Press -29 January 2009
Larry Kusch - The province is setting up a database to trace food products from the farm gate to the grocery shelf in an attempt to address the public’s increasing preoccupation with food safety. code>http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/food_tracked_from_farm_to_store38588887.html8776/ Link“Union won’t give up right to strike on farms “. DELHI NEWS-RECORD -28 January 2009
The union seeking to represent agricultural workers in Ontario says the fear of paralyzing strikes is overblown.
code>http://www.delhinewsrecord.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1408776/ Link“Cull of 60,000 turkeys at B.C. farm may begin Monday”. CBC News -26 January 2009
The slaughter of up to 60,000 turkeys will likely begin at a commercial farm in B.C.’s Fraser Valley on Monday after tests showed some of the birds were infected with the H5 avian flu virus.
code>http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/01/26/turkey-farm.html/ Link“LABOUR: ‘Meltdown Leaves Migrant Workers Prone to Abuse’”. MANILA -23 January 2009
The global recession is causing a heightened sense of job insecurity among millions of migrant workers making them more vulnerable to abuse, say migrant rights advocates.
code>http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45516/ Link“Six million migrants jobless in China over crisis, govt data suggest”. -22 January 2009
BEIJING (AFP) — About six million migrant workers in China have returned to their rural homes after losing their jobs in the cities due to the financial crisis, data released Thursday by the government suggested.
code>http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jwXZ899r05sgopUi_tpNbAhClgow/ Link“Protect farm workers: fatality report”. Calgary Herald, Wednesday, 22 January 2009
Employees paid for their work on Alberta’s farms should be included in the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, a judge is recommending after a fatality inquiry into the death of a farm worker more than two years ago.
code>http://www.calgaryherald.com/Business/Protect+farm+workers+fatality+report/1204207/story.html/
Link“Victory for farm workers”. Lethbridge Herald, Wednesday, 21 January 2009
A provincial court judge has recommended Alberta farm employees be covered under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.code>http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/content/view/25009/71/
Link“Kicked out for being disabled”. Bayshore Broadcasting, Jan 19, 2009.
A LORRY driver from Manchester has been ordered to leave Canada after he was left disabled by a work injury.http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1091232_kicked_out_for_being_disabled/
Link“Farmers welcome court appeal”. Bayshore Broadcasting, Jan 19, 2009.
Grey Bruce and Ontario farmers welcoming a decision by the Ontario Government to appeal a court of appeal decision that tossed out a provincial law that effectively prohibited farm workers from unionizing.
http://www.radioowensound.com/news.php?id=17672/
Link“My Back Still Aches When I Hear That Word”. Globe and Mail, Jan 18, 2009.
Unlike 95 per cent of Canadians, I’ve actually worked on a farm. It’s brutal, dangerous, back-breaking work in the sun with long-hours and short pay. And I don’t believe it should be unionized.
http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090118.WBSteele20090118183602/WBStory/WBSteele/Link“Ontario fights farm workers’ union rights”. London Free Press, Canada - 15 Jan 2009
Ontario wants the country’s highest court to throw out a ruling allowing farm workers to unionize, the United Food and Commercial Workers …code>http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2009/01/15/8030586-sun.html/
Link“Farm union blasts McGuinty over legal move”. CTV.ca, Canada - 14 Jan 2009
A union is slamming the Ontario government for seeking to overturn a landmark court decision that gave farm workers the right to unionize. …code>http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090114/ufcw_mcguinty_090114/20090114/?hub=TorontoNewHome/
Link“Ont. to appeal ruling on ag worker bargaining”. Manitoba Co-operator, Canada - 14 Jan 2009
The Ontario government will seek leave to appeal a provincial court’s overruling of a law that blocks farm workers from collective bargaining. …code>http://www.manitobacooperator.ca/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=94619&issue=01152009&story_id=&PC=FBC/
Link“Province appeals court decision about ag labour law”. BetterFarming.com, Canada - 14 Jan 2009
Ontario plans to fight a court decision about a law addressing ag workers’ bargaining rights. by SUSAN MANN Farmers’ expectations were met after Ontario’s …
code>http://www.betterfarming.com/online-news/province-appeals-court-decision-about-ag-labour-law-1540/
Link“Mcguinty no better than Harris Tories says UFCW Canada president”. Market Wire (press release) - 14 Jan 2009
The McGuinty government’s decision to appeal a landmark November 2008 ruling that upheld the collective bargaining rights of Ontario farm workers “is …
code>http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Ufcw-Canada-937772.html/
Link“Union blasts McGuinty’s bid to overturn farm ruling”. The Globe and Mail, Jan 15, 2009.
OTTAWA — A union is slamming the Ontario government for seeking to overturn a landmark court decision that gave farm workers the right to unionize.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090114.wPOLont-farms0114/BNStory/National/Link“Canada’s rights record blasted during UN review”. The Star, Jan 13, 2009.
Submissions to Geneva council include issues such as treatment of indigenous peoples, immigration.
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/569870Link“WE WANT WORK”. The Gleaner, Jan. 12, 2009.
From the tough inner-city communities in the Corporate Area to that quiet farming district in Westmoreland, the cry for jobs has been echoing across the island.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090111/lead/lead1.htmlLink“Canada: Grape industry’s expansion gives health unit more work”. FreshPlaza: Global Fresh Produce and Banana News , Jan. 12, 2009.
The growth in grapes in Prince Edward County is inadvertently reaping a heavier workload for staff at the local health unit. “Public health units have been inspecting migrant farm accommodations for a number of years,” said Eric Serwotka.”http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=36430Link