Father’s Day campaign tugs at heartstrings
Urges fight for migrant workers’ rights
VANCOUVER — Thousands of dads in Canada spent Father’s Day far away from their children in jobs tending and harvest food crops, typically for minimum wage.
To mark the day, migrant workers and their families posted photos of themselves on social media platforms holding signs asking Canadians to support their fight for more rights.
In one photo, a girl named Esmerelda holds a sign saying her dad, Benigno Orozco Rojas, has been working in Canada for six seasons.
In another, a girl holds a sign that reads “Hi! I’m Nahomi, daughter of Mario Peralta Barrera. My dad had to leave to give us a better life. My mom and I miss him a lot, but we have to get through it because he is the only breadwinner in our house. We ask that you help all the migrant workers like my dad defend their rights!”
The campaign was created by Dignidad Migrante Society , a B.C.-based non-profit organization comprised of migrant workers from various countries who support each other and lobby for better working conditions, said Natalia Sudeyko, a technical adviser with the organization.
In past years, the society has held a Father’s Day picnic for migrant workers, but because of COVID-19, they were forced to cancel. Instead, they asked workers to submit photos of themselves with signs asking the federal and provincial governments to give them the same rights as local workers.
Almost 150 workers submitted photos, which can be viewed on the society’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. Their families and children at home also made signs, many with hand-drawn Canadian flags, kindly asking for support.
“These workers have been invisible for a really long time,” said Sudeyko.
“They’re thought of in terms of the labour they provide, not the sacrifices they make to be here.”
The novel coronavirus pandemic has highlighted B.C.’s dependency on migrant farm workers to bring in local crops.
B.C. typically employs about 10,000 migrant farm workers each year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, with the majority arriving from Mexico, Jamaica and Guatemala in two waves, the first in April, the second in June and July.
Workers had started to arrive when the borders were closed because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
After an outcry by farmers, the federal government exempted migrant workers from international travel restrictions, and the province announced it would pay the hotel and food costs for those completing their mandatory 14-day self-isolation upon entering B.C.
By early June, more than 1,700 migrant workers had arrived.
Another 1,990 migrant workers were already working in B.C. before the border restrictions, with about 4,000 more expected to arrive this summer.
Nonetheless, B.C. is expected to have a shortfall of 6,000 to 8,000 workers this year. Labour issues have prompted some B.C. farmers to plant less ( or different) crops this year, and it’s possible some food may not be harvested .
“I think it’s a shame that it’s taken something as drastic as the pandemic to shine a light on some of these issues,” said Sudeyko.
Dignidad Migrante Society has also written letters to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan to ask for full rights.
“Protection of migrant workers is protection of B.C.’s food supply,” reads the letter to Horgan, which also asks the government to understand the context in which “rural peasants from developing countries are recruited to work in Canada (and) their vulnerabilities to labour brokers in their own countries (and) to unscrupulous employers once they arrive in Canada.”
The group is asking the provincial government to ensure migrant workers have access to 14 paid sick days each year, as well as overtime and statutory holiday pay.
They’d also like two weeks of paid holiday time each year to allow them to return home to visit family.
They’re also asking the federal government to implement unannounced, random workplace inspections to ensure living conditions are safe, as well as giving employees open work permits, so their status in Canada is not contingent on a single employer.
“The campaign is a chance for them to have their voices heard by the Canadian public,” said Sudeyko.
“Their main message is the desire for full rights, or the same rights as Canadian workers.”
“These workers have been invisible for a really long time.”
Natalia Sudeyko
Dignidad Migrante Society