Trinidad

A worker shared this video from the inside of an employer-provided bunkhouse.

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Hundreds of Black and Brown migrant farm workers are contracting COVID-19 in Canada because of conditions like this. The following video was shared with us by a worker and shows how twelve men are currently crammed into a room separated by flimsy pieces of cardboard. Stay tuned — we’ll be naming this employer soon.

Meanwhile, seasonal agricultural workers coming to Canada from Jamaica have been required to sign a waiver releasing the Jamaican government from liability if they’re exposed to COVID-19.

How many more exposés are needed before the government takes real action?  It’s time for the federal government, Ministry of Labour and public health to show that they value the lives of people of colour from the Global South. They need to take action stop the spread of this pandemic.

Migrant workers are demanding permanent status on arrival in Canada. It’s time to end the differential treatment farm workers face in Canada, including exemptions from employment protections that other workers can access.

Please sign our petition here.

URGENT call for solidarity with injured apple worker Kevon Smith

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SMITH-1

We are calling on supporters of Justice for Migrant Workers to please show solidarity through your material resources through the following Go Fund Me campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/helpforkevon

Kevon Smith, a migrant worker and father of five, suffered serious injuries while working on a apple farm near Simcoe, Ontario.

After his workplace injury, Kevon’s employer attempted to send him back to Trinidad and Tobago. Kevon knew this was not right, resisted and remained in Canada to access health care for his injuries and fight for  workers’ compensation from the WSIB.

Kevon’s doctors told him he will likely need surgery, but WSIB still refuses to provide him the financial support that would enable him to get it.

IAVGO Community Legal Clinic is helping Kevon challenge this unfair decision, but his status as a migrant worker excludes him from accessing other forms of income support programs. This means that at the moment he is far from home, severely injured and virtually penniless.

We are asking if you can provide some financial support as soon as possible to help Kevon with living costs through this crisis. He needs the funds now and will be able to access it within days of your donation.

Kevon is the sole breadwinner for himself and his young family.  This crisis has made them destitute. Your support is greatly appreciated.

“It feels like the government just sells you out to a white man.”

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“It feels like the government just sells you out to a white man.” – Terron Baptiste, September 9, 2016.

Terron Baptiste, a 30 year-old Trinidadian man in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, had his contract terminated at the farm he worked because he refused to do unsafe work that had previously injured him. Although farm workers in Ontario are legally entitled to refuse unsafe work, Terron’s story illustrates the tremendous gap between migrant workers’ rights on paper and in practice.

Terron’s employer routinely cut the hours of workers who he deemed troublemakers in order to bully them into returning back home. Terron described treatment at his work place as “feeling like slavery” and that he and the others were routinely treated “worse than an animals”, being routinely punished for needing water or being injured, given 15-minute lunches and having wages stolen for unexplained reasons.

Photographs courtesy of Christopher Katsarov Luna. 

“It feels like the government just sells you out to a white man” – Terron Baptiste, September 9, 2016. Terron Baptiste, a 30 year old Trinidadian man in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, contract was terminated at the farm he worked at because he refused to do unsafe work that had previously injured him. Terron’s employer, Matthew Hebblethwaite routinely cut the hours of workers who he deemed troublemakers, in order to starve them into returning back home. Terron described treatment at his work place as “feeling like slavery” and that he was workers were routinely treated “worse than an animal”, being routinely punished for needing water, given 15 minute lunches and having wages stolen.
“It feels like the government just sells you out to a white man” – Terron Baptiste, September 9, 2016. Terron Baptiste, a 30 year old Trinidadian man in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, contract was terminated at the farm he worked at because he refused to do unsafe work that had previously injured him. Terron’s employer, Matthew Hebblethwaite routinely cut the hours of workers who he deemed troublemakers, in order to starve them into returning back home. Terron described treatment at his work place as “feeling like slavery” and that he was workers were routinely treated “worse than an animal”, being routinely punished for needing water, given 15 minute lunches and having wages stolen.
“It feels like the government just sells you out to a white man” – Terron Baptiste, September 9, 2016. Terron Baptiste, a 30 year old Trinidadian man in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, contract was terminated at the farm he worked at because he refused to do unsafe work that had previously injured him. Terron’s employer, Matthew Hebblethwaite routinely cut the hours of workers who he deemed troublemakers, in order to starve them into returning back home. Terron described treatment at his work place as “feeling like slavery” and that he was workers were routinely treated “worse than an animal”, being routinely punished for needing water, given 15 minute lunches and having wages stolen.
“It feels like the government just sells you out to a white man” – Terron Baptiste, September 9, 2016. Terron Baptiste, a 30 year old Trinidadian man in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, contract was terminated at the farm he worked at because he refused to do unsafe work that had previously injured him. Terron’s employer, Matthew Hebblethwaite routinely cut the hours of workers who he deemed troublemakers, in order to starve them into returning back home. Terron described treatment at his work place as “feeling like slavery” and that he was workers were routinely treated “worse than an animal”, being routinely punished for needing water, given 15 minute lunches and having wages stolen.
“It feels like the government just sells you out to a white man” – Terron Baptiste, September 9, 2016. Terron Baptiste, a 30 year old Trinidadian man in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, contract was terminated at the farm he worked at because he refused to do unsafe work that had previously injured him. Terron’s employer, Matthew Hebblethwaite routinely cut the hours of workers who he deemed troublemakers, in order to starve them into returning back home. Terron described treatment at his work place as “feeling like slavery” and that he was workers were routinely treated “worse than an animal”, being routinely punished for needing water, given 15 minute lunches and having wages stolen.