Invisibles and Disposables

Invisibles and Disposables

Poster Invisibles and Disposables 2017

International Migrants Day in Vancouver

By E. Maestro

For the third year, the Migrant Workers’ Dignity Association (Asociation Dignidad Migrante) and Migrante BC, two grassroots organizations working with Spanish-speaking and Filipino temporary foreign workers, marked International Migrants Day this December 18th at the Gordon Neighbourhood House in Vancouver’s West End.

A red-letter day for migrant and human rights activists, it was on this day in 1990, that the United Nations adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, and since 2000, this day has been observed globally to bring attention to the large number of migrant workers and their situation everywhere.

The event follows the Canadian government’s announcement a couple of days ago of the removal of the “4-in-4-out” rule for migrant workers, a small and significant victory by the migrant groups and advocates who have been organizing and calling for changes in the TFWP.

Prof. Ethel Tungohan commenting on the Federal  Review of the TFWP

While this rule affects low-skilled TFWs and caregivers and not the foreign farm workers, this small gain is a sign that every small step is a step in the right direction for full status and full rights for all migrant workers.

Dr. Ethel Tungohan, York University professor involved in migrant activism said, “Many migrant workers have felt insecure with their status because of this rule. This (removal) is the result of the hard work by advocacy groups who have been lobbying the government for change.”
Raul Gatica, MWDA Executive Director, and Alexandra Henao, SFU PhD student released and presented the MWDA report “Beyond Our Plates”. The brief report is long in its scathing litany of abuses committed against farm workers, aptly described as the “most abandoned and discriminated populations of workers”.  The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) marked its 50th year this year and yes, it still belongs to the *Temporary* Foreign Worker Program.  The farm workers are brought to Canada by their governments mainly during the harvesting and planting cycles, eight months in a year usually, and they stay in Canada for longer periods than in their home countries, with their families. Called temporary and guest workers, these workers come from Mexico, the Caribbean, Guatemala, and yes, the Philippines.

The workers labour in specific commodity sectors like mushrooms, tomatoes, flowers, nursery-grown trees, canola seed, poultry, swine, bovine, as well as canning/processing of these products on the farm.  They are in our farms in BC, including Maple Ridge, Aldergrove, Vernon, Ladner, White Rock, Richmond, Abbotsford, Surrey, Fraser Valley, and Nanaimo.  Most times, the workers are “invisible” to the public, but the products of their labour are not because these edibles find their way to the grocery shelves and freezers and eventually make way to our tables at home and in restaurants to feed our families and our communities.

Over 1,300  farm workers were  interviewed by MWDA  from 2014-2015 for the Report and the documented situations of gross inequality echo new forms of slavery; farm workers  described their present situations that have remained sadly the same over the years.  Workers are tied to a work permit with a single employer.  They endure poor quality living conditions and employers are remiss in their responsibilities to bring workers into town to buy groceries and cash their cheques. They suffer work injuries and unsafe work conditions, including pesticide use.

Language is a huge barrier. Blacklisting, employer retaliation, and deportation are major threats.  Similar to many countries in the South, it is those who work the land who get less and go hungry. They who plant and process the food end up going hungry and unable to buy the fruits of their labour.  Frustrated that they can not go to the market on their own when they need to, they asked, “How come we help produce all the food Canadians eat but we can’t access good food ourselves? We have to buy canned and frozen food?”(Cloverdale)

“The boss takes us shopping when it’s convenient for him, even if we have to wait two or three weeks. There’s been time when we have no food at all and we have to bike for thirty minutes to an hour each way to get to the nearest store. If we don’t ride bikes, we’ll starve. (White Rock & Richmond) The boss only takes us to a store where he gets a discount but it is not an affordable store for us.” (Fraser Valley worker)
There exists a kind of consumerism that centres on good individual health, eating organic and  local, (nothing wrong with these ) but when the bigger picture of food politics and food ethics, i.e. where the food comes from, who labours, plants, harvests and processes the food and what is the human cost of the food that gives us sustenance, is ignored, then  the collective responsibility that we take care of each other as members of our community  is gone.

Natalie Drolet of the West Coast Domestic Workers Association shared their recently-launched campaign against unjust recruitment and Aiyanas Ormond of the International League of People’s Struggle  Vancouver gave militant  solidarity greetings for the event.

In spite of the early Vancouver snow, the International Migrants Day event was well attended. There was guacamole, pancit,  beans, mojitos, bread, fruits and veggies, hot coffee and tea. New friends were made and solidarity ties made even stronger.

The International Migrants Day in Vancouver was made possible with the partnership and support of friends and advocates that included the Kensington Branch of the Vancouver Public Library, West Coast Domestic Workers Association, BC Teachers Federation, Hospital Employees Union, Gordon Neighbourhood House, the International League of Peoples Struggle –Vancouver and the Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights.