When I spent three months in the Napa and Sonoma Valley, CA, area, I walked most days with my dog among the Valley’s vineyards. During many of these walks, I saw small tractors, driven by men, covered in white gear and masks, driving through the fast rows of vines, spraying the plants. One day I met one of these drivers and ask what they are spraying. His answer: Roundup weed killers. It meant: Glyphosate.
Then this man turned into the next row to continue his work. I ran as fast as I could down the hill, and in the other direction. From there I saw something just unbelievable: Another tractor driver who was spraying, drove just one row next to Mexican and Middle-American workers who were pruning the vines. Locals don't seem to work in California's vineyards. I was horrified, and regret it to this day, that I did not take pictures and report it to the authorities.
The men and women who toiled in the vineyards wore no masks, no special gear. As it was a warm day, most wore only t-shirts. To me it seemed almost murder to these migrant workers…
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During stays in British Columbia and in Southern Ontario I felt always bad to see these workers living in caravans and sheds, and toiling day by day for a minimum wage (or less), totally isolated from the surrounding communities and thousands of miles away from their families.
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What Would North America Do Without Migrant Field Workers?
Well and the same for Europe. From the fertile vegetable growing and dairy regions of the north to the fruit-producing, arid climate of the south, the agricultural industry shapes many Canadian provinces.. More than 80 percent of Canada’s cherries and apricots come from this low-hilled region dotted with the remnants of glacial lakes. Raspberries, plums, apples, nectarines, peaches, and pears grow in abundance.
The Okanagan B.C. agricultural areas, for example, produce 80 percent of B.C.’s wines, with 9,000 acres of vineyards. Pick up a basket of B.C. cherries or apricots from a grocery store or farmers market, and chances are that a migrant worker from the seasonal agricultural worker's program (SAWP) will have plucked those fruits.
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Amy Cohen is an anthropology professor at Okanagan College. She first became aware of the hardships migrant workers face while studying in the United States, where she met and later married a Mexican national. When Cohen returned to Canada years later, she recognized the need for an organization like RAMA. In four years, the group has grown to include Spanish- and English-speaking volunteers who conduct outreach work, as well as core RAMA members who plan public advocacy campaigns and social events for the workers.
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Former journalist Stephanie Harrington wrote in an article “Canada is failing its seasonal migrant farmworkers. I was there to accompany Cohen and Diaz on a visit to a nearby farm, where we would meet a group of migrant workers after their long shift harvesting lavender, basil, and echinacea. The visit is part of the outreach work RAMA does with migrant workers so they feel more connected to the local community."
“We might be the only Canadians they talk to during their time here,” Cohen said. We were not far from the farm, and Cohen told me to follow them. I ignored a “No Trespassing” sign as our vehicles navigated a long gravel road, the sun an orange orb sinking in a cloudless sky.”
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“The seasonal program enables farms to hire temporary foreign workers for up to eight months a year—between January 1 and December 15—if Canadians and permanent residents can’t fill the positions. What started in Ontario in 1966 as an agreement between Canada and Jamaica has since expanded to include Mexico and many Caribbean countries. Other programs, including a low-wage stream of the temporary foreign worker's program (TFWP), bring migrant workers to the agriculture sector in Canada, but the seasonal program is by far the largest.”
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Lousy Pay
Stephanie Harrington explains: “Across Canada, farmers individually sponsor more than 40,000 workers from Mexico and the Caribbean to work on farms, orchards, and greenhouses. What started 50-odd years ago in Ontario as a measure to fill an employment gap in Canada’s planting and harvesting seasons has become an entrenched part of our agricultural system. And, according to the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council, the shortage is expected to worsen, from a current deficit of 59,000 workers to 114,000 unfilled industry positions by 2025. Without these foreign workers, produce would rot on trees. A report attributed the difficulty in recruiting and retaining domestic workers to an aging workforce, the rural location of many farms, and negative perceptions about working in the sector.”
And I must add "The extreme lousy pay for farmworkers."
Migrant justice groups argue otherwise. In recent years, these advocacy and labor organizations have been bringing attention to what they say is a racist, colonial food production system—one that Canada’s alternative agricultural movement cannot ignore.
Migrant justice groups argue seasonal agricultural workers are part of a massive underclass of temporary foreign workers in Canada, including the live-in caregivers. Unlike some classes of temporary workers, seasonal agricultural workers have little chance of staying in Canada. (A recent Statistics Canada report found only three percent of seasonal agricultural workers gain permanent residency.)
"Simply put, temporary foreign workers are good enough to pick our fruit, care for our elderly and young, and pour us coffee at Tim Hortons, but according to immigration rules, these workers are less desirable citizens."
"Welcome to Canada"?
RAMA volunteers find creative ways to reach the workers. “Sometimes I go to Superstore on a Sunday and hand out flyers, so they know RAMA’s here for them,” Diaz said. “That’s one of the only ways to find out where the farms are.”
Walk through the aisles of Canadian Superstore on any Sunday in Kelowna, the most common day agricultural workers have off, and you’re likely to encounter a much more diverse crowd than any other day of the week. According to government data, visible minorities make up 25 percent of the population in B.C., but in Kelowna, that number drops to five percent. The region is staunchly conservative. Evangelical churches populate strip malls. There’s a Pro-Life Thrift Store and a Salvation Army Bible Mission Shop. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think the concerns of developing-world migrants would rank low on the social agenda of this regional agricultural powerhouse.”
“How Many Hours do They Work Each Day?”
Most of the men had just finished their shift, she told me. It is 7:30 p.m. They had worked from 5:30 in the morning to 7:30 p.m., six days a week, with one-hour breaks each day. “Hot,” the man with gold teeth said. He fanned his face with his hand.
The conversation turned to a documentary movie made in Ontario about the Mexican consulate not standing up for workers’ rights. Heads shook around the table. These workers pay income tax, and into the Canada Pension Plan and employment insurance, but benefits are hard to access.
Cohen told me if a worker is fired, there is no recourse or appeal. Because their employment is tied to a single farm, it is difficult for migrant workers to voice concerns about unfair or unsafe conditions—they are afraid of losing their jobs.
“If conditions are poor, they can’t leave to find another job,” she said. “They’re reliant on good evaluations by their boss so they can continue working in the program. What I hear from workers on a daily basis is, ‘We can’t speak out.’”
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“It’s slavery modernized. They’re forced to be an unending pool of labor for us,” she said. “Choice is a luxury. Because of economic policies and free trade agreements rich countries developed, they’re disenfranchised. They need to leave their country to find work.”
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