■ Migrant workers face crisis amid pandemic, report warns,
Pandemic exacerbates injustices of agri-food system, group charges
They’ve had government-mandated quarantine incomes clawed back. They’re told to work in groups while waiting for COVID-19 test results. And they must squeeze into tight quarters that make social distancing impossible.
These are some of the most common complaints revealed in a new report as Canadian health officials fight to contain COVID-19 outbreaks among migrant workers’ lodgings and maintain Canada’s food supply chain as the pandemic continues.
“While millionaire corporations are being bailed out, migrant worker — the ones that actually grow food— are in crisis,” says the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change report, “Unheeded Warnings: COVID-19 and Migrant Workers in Canada,” to be released Monday.
“COVID-19 is exacerbating existing injustices that have underpinned the agri-food system for a long time, and about which we have raised multiple warnings.”
The advocacy coalition for migrant workers says there are at least three major outbreaks in Ontario — Greenhill Produce in Kent Bridge, Ontario Plants Propagation in St. Thomas and Scotlynn Group in Norfolk County — with over 280 confirmed COVID-19 cases among migrant farm workers. Two Mexican workers — Bonifacio Eugenio Romero, 32, and Rogelio Muñoz Santos, 24 — are dead, with at least two others currently in intensive care.
The alliance runs a hotline in English and Spanish to share legal information and support migrant farm workers. Between March 15 and May 15, 180 people called on behalf of some 1,162 workers — 873 from the Caribbean and 289 Spanishspeaking — about their issues and concerns.
The majority of calls came from Ontario; others were from Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and overseas.
The workers overwhelmingly cite the lack of permanent resident status as a root cause for their inability to protect themselves against COVID-19 because they fear repercussions from employers if they complain about inadequate healthcare support, insufficient protection gear and substandard housing.
Many report lack of a health card, access to health-care information or not knowing who to contact for health support while they were prevented from leaving farms.
Others complain about wage thefts by employers even during the pandemic, with the total amount of allegedly illegal deductions and unpaid wages estimated at $57,369.46 over the period.
As of March 21, migrant workers were to be quarantined for 14 days immediately upon arrival, during which period they must be socially distanced, paid 30 hours per week, and provided with health-care information, food and basic supplies.
But the report says 316 workers were either not paid at all, had their quarantine incomes clawed back or were paid less than the required 30 hours per week. In addition, 539 workers say they were not provided enough food while some 160 complaints were about inability to stay far enough apart in confined spaces.
More than 200 workers reported “being unable to leave their employer-provided housing, to send remittances to families abroad, to buy phone credit to communicate with their friends and families, or to access food and other basic supplies,” the 28-page report says.
“Many migrant workers report that employers are using COVID-19 to further clamp down on basic worker freedoms, breaking down support systems and social networks, and targeting outspoken workers by ensuring they remain confined to workplaces and bunkhouses.”
Since fewer migrant workers are coming in or having arrivals delayed due to border restrictions, workers already here also complain of being overwhelmed by the increased workload.
Some 128 workers reported working for weeks without a day off, being forced to work long hours, and suffering increased strains, injuries and sickness due to increased pace of work.
“Most employment and labour laws exclude migrant workers — there are no rights to minimum wage, overtime pay, hours of work, breaks, days off, or collective bargaining,” the report notes. “As a result, employers are forcing workers to work at breakneck speed to ensure their profit.”
The report calls for government “random, unannounced, and proactive inspections of workplaces” to ensure the health and safety of the workers, and a national housing standard so that workers can live safely and with dignity, as well as granting permanent resident status for workers upon arrival.
“We are not animals and we should be treated fairly. We deserve better treatment and better living conditions,” Damian, a Jamaican seasonal farm worker for 20 years and a father of five, is quoted as saying in the report. “We deserve permanent resident status. I don’t want to live this way.”