> Study calls for changes to farm worker conditions
Study calls for changes to farm worker conditions
Contact:
Gerardo Otero, 778.232.6126 (cell), 604.980.8703 (h), 778.782.4508 (o); gerardo_otero@sfu.ca
Arlene McLaren, 778.782.3146, arlene_mclaren@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.3210
Gerardo Otero, 778.232.6126 (cell), 604.980.8703 (h), 778.782.4508 (o); gerardo_otero@sfu.ca
Arlene McLaren, 778.782.3146, arlene_mclaren@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.3210
June 18, 2008
Immigrant and migrant farm workers in B.C. need drastic improvements to their working conditions, and policy changes would be a start, according to a study by a research team that includes a pair of Simon Fraser University sociology professors.
The study, released today by the Centre for Canadian Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and other stakeholders, found systemic violations of health and safety regulations and employment standards as well as poor and dangerous working conditions.
Among recommendations, the study calls on the government to restore basic employment standards and inspections and suggests the government should consider scrapping the private farm labour contracting system in favour of a non-profit hiring hall model.
Study co-author Arlene McLaren, an SFU professor emerita of sociology, says the workers are at the mercy of a “complex and confusing system that exploits, threatens and silences them while putting their lives in danger.”
McLaren is a co-principal investigator of a project called The Changing Policy Context in BC and its Impact on Migrant and Immigrant Farmworkers, part of the larger Economic Security Project, a joint initiative of the CCPA and SFU, led by SFU professor Marjorie Griffin Cohen.
SFU sociology professor Gerardo Otero, another of the study’s co-authors, says the findings were the result of extensive interviews by researchers with government and farm industry representatives as well as Indo-Canadian immigrant and Mexican migrant farm workers.
He is hopeful the study will shed light on the reality of daily life for immigrant and migrant farm workers in B.C. Otero’s research on rural development in Mexico led to his interest in Mexican migrant workers and their growing influx into B.C.
He says more than 3,000 Mexican farm workers came to B.C. last year – up from 600 in 2005 and only 50 in 2004. His interviews with both Mexican (predominantly male) and Indo-Canadian workers – who have traditionally made up the largest portion of the farm workers workforce – are continuing.
The study, released today by the Centre for Canadian Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and other stakeholders, found systemic violations of health and safety regulations and employment standards as well as poor and dangerous working conditions.
Among recommendations, the study calls on the government to restore basic employment standards and inspections and suggests the government should consider scrapping the private farm labour contracting system in favour of a non-profit hiring hall model.
Study co-author Arlene McLaren, an SFU professor emerita of sociology, says the workers are at the mercy of a “complex and confusing system that exploits, threatens and silences them while putting their lives in danger.”
McLaren is a co-principal investigator of a project called The Changing Policy Context in BC and its Impact on Migrant and Immigrant Farmworkers, part of the larger Economic Security Project, a joint initiative of the CCPA and SFU, led by SFU professor Marjorie Griffin Cohen.
SFU sociology professor Gerardo Otero, another of the study’s co-authors, says the findings were the result of extensive interviews by researchers with government and farm industry representatives as well as Indo-Canadian immigrant and Mexican migrant farm workers.
He is hopeful the study will shed light on the reality of daily life for immigrant and migrant farm workers in B.C. Otero’s research on rural development in Mexico led to his interest in Mexican migrant workers and their growing influx into B.C.
He says more than 3,000 Mexican farm workers came to B.C. last year – up from 600 in 2005 and only 50 in 2004. His interviews with both Mexican (predominantly male) and Indo-Canadian workers – who have traditionally made up the largest portion of the farm workers workforce – are continuing.