Call to support an injured farm worker this Thanksgiving

Tashoy is a migrant worker in Ontario who was injured on the job a few years ago. His hand was crushed in a piece of machinery used to pack cucumbers.

Justice for Migrant Workers is asking people with the means to donate to Tashoy to support his and his family’s living expenses. Donating in solidarity with migrant workers is a concrete way to express gratitude for migrant members of our community who grow food and other crops. Supporting struggles for Indigenous sovereignty and land repatriation is also an important way to mark this date.

You can donate to Tashoy at the link below until 18 October. Please write “Tashoy” in the note: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=T75F2A8TFNV4E

 

Background

Migrant workers hired through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program pay taxes that support the social safety net — just like Canadian citizens and permanent residents. However, if they become ill or injured on the job, it can be very difficult for migrant agricultural workers to access the same benefits as Canadians because they are deportable and have visas that are ‘tied’ to one employer.

It’s been a few years since Tashoy’s injury and he is still fighting – the system is designed to prevent migrant workers from getting justice.

Harvest season brings a bounty of fresh produce and other agricultural crops to people in Canada, along with countries that import Canadian goods. Simultaneously, Canadian agriculture is rife with unsafe working conditions for  farm workers who pick those vegetables, with unique risks for migrant workers. This is the time of year when we see countless workers like Tashoy get injured on the job; in some instances they are repatriated by their employers with no grievance mechanism.

If you can, please donate in solidarity with Tashoy here by 18 October!

Show solidarity with Erika and Jesus, who were repatriated after receiving a delivery of food!

Erika and Jesus, two migrant agricultural workers from Mexico.

Erika and Jesus, two migrant agricultural workers from Mexico, were recently repatriated from a farm in Kelowna simply because they received a delivery of food and clothes.

Erika Zavala and Jesus Molina, both migrant farmworkers from Mexico, were recently fired from a B.C. farm simply because they received a delivery of cultural food and work clothes.

They are devastated after losing their income for the season. Erika and Jesus had been counting on working in Canada until October to support their children and elderly parents. The shutdown of the Mexican economy due to COVID-19 has severely reduced opportunities for jobs back home, and there is no government support. You can read more about their story in The Guardian.

This Labour Day, one very meaningful way you can show solidarity with migrant agricultural workers is by donating to help Erika and Jesus cover their lost income: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-solidarity-with-erika-and-jesus

We are enormously thankful to everyone who has donated so far in this GoFundMe fundraiser coordinated with our friends at RAMA Okanagan. It also means a lot to Erika and Jesus to know that so many people in Canada care about them. All funds raised go directly to Erika and Jesus.

Can you help us reach the final stretch of our fundraising goal?

If it’s within your means, we welcome donations here.

Financial Solidarity Needed for Injured Migrant Worker

Dear Friends,
We are writing to ask for your solidarity and support for an injured migrant worker who desperately needs some assistance to stay in his home.

In 2014, this gentleman seriously injured his back and leg while working on a farm in Ontario. His employer repatriated him to Jamaica with no notice, waking him up at 1 am and giving him 10 minutes to pack his things before sending him on a flight back home. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) then cut off his compensation, as they do regularly to migrant workers, forcing him to fend for himself.

He has lost so much since his workplace injury. His financial situation prevents him from getting the health care treatment he needs, and he struggles to put food on the table. Now, his landlord is trying to evict him and he needs some financial support in order to fend off the eviction.

The hope is that the WSIB will step up and provide some support, but this will take time. For right now, he needs some help to stay in his home and get him through this tough period.

Justicia for Migrant Workers is making this urgent appeal:

  1. If you can, please DONATE ONLINE at https://harvestingfreedom.org/donations/
  2. Click “special instructions to seller
  3. Write in “support for JT”.

We will be checking the instructions until February 15, 2018. If you would like to make a donation for this worker after this, please email us at j4mw.on@gmail.com so we can watch for it.

In solidarity,

Justicia for Migrant Workers

Justice for Migrant Workers