March 21, 2022

Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
Langevin Block, 80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A2                                                                 justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca

Hon. Sean Fraser
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship                                            Confederation Building, Suite 110
House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6                                                  sean.fraser@parl.gc.ca

Hon. Doug Ford
Premier of Ontario,
Legislative Building Queen’s Park, Toronto, Ontario, M7A 1A1    doug.fordco@pc.ola.org

Hon. Monte McNaughton,
Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development
400 University Ave, Toronto, ON M7A 1T7                       monte.mcnaughtonco@pc.ola.org

Jeffery Lang
WSIB President & CEO
200 Front Street
Toronto, ON M5V 3J1

 Open Letter: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

We are a diverse grassroots group of injured migrant farm workers and allies who have been fighting for fair compensation and respect from the WSIB (Workplace & Safety Insurance Board) for all workers. We want changes to the system to help, not hinder, the lives of injured workers.

On March 21st, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, we, injured migrant workers formerly employed by Canada’s temporary foreign worker program, want to bring to light the conditions that we have faced as a result of becoming injured or sick.  We believe that the workers’ compensation system is racist and that we are treated very badly. This systemic racism does not treat us like we are human. There are power differences between us as workers and our bosses. The system is set up for the bosses, not for us. Our voices are not taken seriously. It is like the system believes the bosses rather than us when we are telling the impact of our injuries. We are treated like we are lying; neither our injuries nor our pain are seen as serious. Rather than let us heal, the bosses send us back to work while we are still injured and in pain. It’s like we must beg for benefits that we are entitled to.

We face racism because of our complexion and our status as migrants. We are considered disposable to the WSIB, the government of Canada, employers, and our liaisons. We have been verbally, physically, mentally, and emotionally abused. Rather than helping us heal, the current system makes it worse for us. We have been denied the right to function as humans in Canada. For those of us who have been repatriated, we are returning to our home countries with injuries and traumas. We pay upfront for our transportation, our healthcare, and our medicine to come to Canada, but we must beg friends and family members after we get injured in Canada when we should rightfully be getting benefits from WSIB in Canada. Our work injuries suffered in Canada put us in further debt. This is not fair. Many of us suffer high blood pressure, stress and anxiety because we cannot pay our bills. In many cases, we miss our medical appointments, which means we get more sick.

It is WSIB that is in charge, which holds the responsibility when a worker gets injured on the job in Canada. Because of the systemic racism, WSIB is failing injured migrant workers. The injured people are finding it hard to communicate with the WSIB caseworkers on the phone, even when our medical information is placed on their desks or on computers. The injured people are re-traumatized on top of what they have already been through, which leads to even more depression and frustration. There needs to be a system in place to investigate when the WSIB is not doing their job. Our lives are in misery and it’s taking a toll on our children’s education and their well being due to poverty, separation, no access to health care, mental break down, and so many more issues. Our health and safety must not be put in jeopardy. The WSIB system must change so that we receive the same protections that other Canadian nonfarm workers receive. We should not be penalized for standing up for our rights or refusing dangerous working conditions. It is not right that the laws do not protect us for the essential work we do while in Canada.

In the WSIB system, there are no rights for injured migrant workers. They are biased in the way they treat workers and also biased in the compensation injured workers get. Injured migrants cannot get to see a proper doctor nor do they have the money to pay for it. However, WSIB is giving so-called “surplus” money to employers that is should rightfully be going to injured workers and our families. This money should be returned to us so we can take care of our families. When our families are sick, we cannot take care of them, nor can we send our children to school. It is outrageous for WSIB to reward those employers rather than fix the system that has left injured workers in crisis. We are angry, we are in pain, and our lives have been forever changed because of our work injuries. We don’t want nice words, nor do we want pity. We want justice. We want the system to change. We want to receive the medical treatment we deserve and the benefits that make sure we are not given a death sentence. We want a system that helps us, not traumatize us further.

We will not be silent and we will not give up. We will continue fighting with all workers, past or present, who have been mistreated by the WSIB. We will continue to fight for our families, our children, our co-workers, and future generations of workers so that they do not suffer the same pain and suffering that we have faced. Our struggle is for all migrant workers, whatever country you are from or whatever language you speak. Our struggle is for the betterment of Canadian workers and migrant workers alike. We will not accept racial mistreatment because we are black or brown.

We urge both federal and provincial governments’ immediate actions to protect all workers.  The following demands will provide immediate support and a safety net to the workers and families of workers who have been killed, injured and got sick at work:

• The Canadian government must provide permanent immigration status for all undocumented and migrant workers, status on arrival, status when injured, and no one should be deported. The federal program recently proposed is grossly inadequate to allow more than a tiny fraction of farm workers and other essential workers to qualify. That’s not enough at all. All workers, including those injured workers must be allowed to stay and access justice and health care in Canada.

The Ontario government:

• Abolish Bill 27, Schedule 6, Working for Workers Act, 2021: Absolutely, this does not work for workers. Immediately return the WSIB Surplus to Injured Workers, not to employers.
• End the WSIB practice “deeming” (phantom jobs) and provide benefits when injured workers are not able to get a job or no job is available in the market, especially those undocumented and migrant workers who are already deported to their countries, but systemically deemed in 12 weeks without any benefits. The WSIB says they can continue working as a cashier, gas bar attendant, or a call centre worker in Ontario. This is not acceptable.
• Real Healthcare for Injured Workers: Based on the “Bad Medicine” report (IAVGO,  2017), the WSIB payment of drug benefits decreased 35% ($33M) from $96M in 2010 to  $63M in 2015 while the new claims entering the system are consistent during that period. It says, “About 18,000 injured workers per year have disappeared from the drug benefits program, with no viable explanation from the WSIB.” However, the WSIB’s own Annual Financial Reports confirmed that the benefits paid out to injured workers’ were cut in half from 2010 to 2015. The WSIB should provide health care injured workers  need and fund medical treatments and medication our doctors prescribe, especially for  those workers and migrant workers injured in precarious workplaces and repatriated to  their countries with no medical attention.
• Change the WSIB law to listen injured workers treating healthcare providers’ recommendations regarding the injured workers’ health care and health & safety about time to heal and return to work instead of wasting money to the WSIB paper doctors to override injured workers’ doctors’ recommendation. Also, eliminate pre-existing conditions or age-related degeneration in the WSIB policy. Researchers and injured workers’ advocates said that these conditions had not affected worker’s ability to do the job or had shown no symptoms (were asymptomatic).

Both Federal and Ontario governments:

• Work together to fully investigate all work-related deaths and health & safety conditions (abuse/harassments, work injuries, bunkhouse, PPE, safety equipment), including on SAWP (Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program) and TFWP (Temporary Foreign Workers Program), also reinforce all legal requirements that employers must be responsible for unsafe work environments and held accountable for any violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
• Provide social assistance benefits with a real living-cost increase and implement a new Canada disability income benefit for people with disabilities to sustain their life. Any social safety net should be available to everyone who needs it regardless of immigration status. Review access and data requests on EI/CPP/CPPD/WSIB/Social assistance (ODSP/OW) programs accesses for migrant workers, to determine how many workers are facing the systemic issues.

We as injured migrant farm workers and communities are united and organizing together to make sure that there are implemented and followed by our representatives in both governments. We will continue working with our allies and people in the communities to help our representatives do their jobs to protect all workers during this critical time. We urge both governments’ immediate response and actions.

Please contact your MPP and MP (clink the hyperlink to find yours) to protect all workers. We stand in solidarity with all migrants and people of colour in the world against racism.

An injury to one is an injury to all!

Injured Migrant Farm Workers

 Contact us for more info:

https://harvestingfreedom.org/
https://www.facebook.com/justice4mw/
https://twitter.com/j4mw
facebook.com/justiceforinjuredworkers
twitter.com/IWA4Justice
instagram.com/iwa4j
Email: iwaction4J@gmail.com

Bad Medicine & No Evidence Reports: https://www.fairnessforinjuredworkers.org/

Real Healthcare for Injured Workers Campaign: https://iavgo.org/get-involved/

#CoverOurCare: https://twitter.com/IWA4Justice

#WorkersCompIsARight: https://injuredworkersonline.org/workers-comp-is-a-right-campaign

On Saturday, August 28 at 10-11 AM EDT, we’ll be hosting a Digital Day of Action in solidarity with agricultural workers across Canada who continue to toil under horrific living and working conditions. More than 20 workers have died so far during the pandemic and there as been little to no response from all levels of government.

Register for our DDA here. We’ll hear from current and migrant workers and then we’ll call, email and Tweet at the government officials who are failing workers in Canada.

Please also sign our petition that demands immediate changes from all levels of government for their role in creating and maintaining migrant farmworkers’ vulnerability:

The below letter is compiled from workers at farms where there are ongoing COVID outbreaks, and includes the workers’ own words in a second short letter.

TO:     Cabinet Committee on COVID-19 

The Right Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister
The Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister, and Committee Chair
The Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, President of the Treasury Board, and Committee Vice-chair
The Hon. Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
The Hon. Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance
The Hon. Melanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages
The Hon. Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion
The Hon. Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health
The Hon. Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
The Hon. Kirsty Duncan, Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Ontario Command Table COVID-19

The Hon. Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
The Hon. Christine Elliott, Minister of Health
The Hon. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care
The Hon. Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development
Helen Angus, Deputy Minister of Health, and Chair of the Command Table
Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Public Health Ontario
Dr. Peter Donnelly, President & CEO

RE: OUTBREAKS AT ONTARIO FARMS AND WORKERS’ RESPONSES

Today, on International Migrants’ Day, it angers us to report that there are multiple COVID-19 outbreaks at farms across Ontario. Some of these farms have had multiple outbreaks since the start of this pandemic. Since we last wrote in support of migrant farmworkers, who numbered in the thousands during the first wave, the province and federal governments have taken little to no action. Their only actions to date have been to provide funds to the employers, who we have repeatedly stated are not doing enough to protect their workers.

The following letter provides an overview of workers’ concerns. They have decided to speak about the conditions they are still made to work under, or quarantined within, because neither their employers nor provincial nor federal officials have taken this pandemic seriously enough. We have anonymized their names and their employers to protect workers’ safety.

All the workers we spoke to have stated that there are many cases of COVID at their workplace. Yet, their employers have either refused to disclose this information, or they have taken steps to protect themselves (through quarantine), while forcing their workers to continue reporting for work. One worker stated that their employer has known about outbreaks in their workplace for months, and yet only informed workers about the newest outbreak this month. Another worker only learned of COVID-positive cases in their workplace from other workers who tested positive. Some workers do not know their COVID status because their employers have not allowed them to get tested if they are not showing symptoms, or else have tested them and have not informed them of their own test results. Many workers are working without knowing whether they are COVID positive.

Multiple workers spoke of a lack of appropriate COVID-19 protocols, both in their workplaces and in the shared accommodations provided to them by their employers. Some worked with appropriate social distancing, but others had no such protections and worked in close contact with co-workers who later tested positive for COVID. At their bunkhouses, multiple people share bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms. Some report dozens of people using common spaces without appropriate sanitation.

Workplace protections must go beyond providing PPE, as employers are still not taking appropriate measures to sanitize workplaces, and are placing the onus on workers to take responsibility for COVID outbreaks, rather than addressing systemic workplace issues. This has created a stressful and toxic working environment, where workers are concerned for their health, and for their jobs if they are believed to violate workplace policies.

One worker reported that they were given a warning when they refused to rewear dirty masks. Other farm employers provided almost nothing at the beginning of the pandemic, forcing workers to rely on their own funds for appropriate PPE. The disinfection processes used at some greenhouses are not safe to work within, and yet a worker stated that they were made to return to freshly sprayed greenhouses and breathe unsafe air.

In the midst of COVID concerns, workers continue to deal with long-standing health and safety issues. They work long hours with few breaks, including bathroom breaks, and receive warnings if they take time off for their own health and in light of the exhausting, thankless work they do. They are told to work with chemicals they are not properly protected to use, and for long periods that are hazardous to their health – they report having skin irritation and respiratory problems, among other issues. When they inform their employers about these issues, their concerns are dismissed, or worse – they face reprisal.

The workers who spoke to us understand that their employers care more about profits than they do about the health and safety of their workers. While their employers get tested, stay quarantined, and deny COVID outbreaks to Ministry of Labour investigators, workers are told to report to work – in the conditions we illustrated above.

The workers want Canadians to know how they are being treated. Migrant farmworkers come to Canada on closed (tied) work permits, and work to support their families back home. They cannot change their employer except by applying for the open work permit for vulnerable workers, which creates additional institutional and bureaucratic barriers. Employers can take advantage of workers’ precarity and know that workers have little power to change their circumstances.

Workers have stated that this is slavery. They know that if they speak up about their treatment, they can easily be terminated and can be blacklisted from Canada’s agricultural worker programs, so they can never return to Canada for work. Some have reported that workers who have engaged in work stoppages to protest their treatment do not know whether they will be called back for the next season, now that they have been sent home.

Collectively, the workers demand the following:

• That the government shuts down farms where there are COVID outbreaks;
• That workers are quarantined and paid during this time, whether or not they test positive for COVID;
• The provision of paid sick days;
• That social distancing and disinfection protocols are implemented at workplaces and in bunkhouses to reduce the risk of transmission;
• That employers are honest and open about COVID-19 outbreaks and workers’ COVID statuses;
• That consular officials advocate for worker safety and protection;
• That there are proactive inspections and changes to workplace laws that protect workers;
• That migrant workers in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program are provided with open work permits and permanent status on arrival.

Migrant farmworkers want fair treatment and respect, which they deserve as human beings. This letter is to alert you, once again, to their concerns, which are anonymized to protect their safety. We urge you to take immediate action in protecting them, and to hold their employers accountable so that the responsibility for curbing the spread of the pandemic does not fall on workers, who have been made vulnerable by the system that brought them to Canada.

Sincerely,

Justicia/Justice for Migrant Workers

RE: OPEN LETTER FROM MIGRANT WORKERS IMPACTED BY COVID OUTBREAKS

We are workers from farms where there are current covid outbreaks. We want to express what we felt during this time of pandemic.

What we only want is fair treatment from our employer, manager and all the persons in charge.

As of now, we are waiting for word from them to inform us about what is happening to our farm. We learned that some of our co-workers are positive for the Coronavirus. That information came from those people who tested positive. While the office is still denying that fact. What they want from us workers is to continue working as long as we don’t have symptoms. They are only thinking of the company’s income and forget about the workers safety and welfare.

Same as PR and Canadian citizens, we are humans too that are prone to the virus. We are expecting them to come and disinfect the place where the positive  workers stay while they are working here, but no action at all.

They told us to work if no symptoms and if we want to make sure, we can do swab testing but no pay at all if it turns out negative.

We are addressing these concerns to the people who are willing to help and hope the government would consider us Migrant Workers too, that what we want is respect from you people. Just for humanitarian consideration, we came here to work for our family back home and to earn a living.

Not considering the abuse they are doing during work. Hope the government comes and asks us  workers about our situation. We want to cry out for help but there is this fear that if we talk, our employer will kick us out from the company, considering that we have closed permits. Without status is a big problem for us MIGRANT WORKERS.

We are the people who are greatly affected from this pandemic. And hoping this will reach the government.

Thank you.