B.C. migrant farmworker advocates speak out in wake of Ontario tragedy

Hundreds in Stratford, Ontario and Lima, Peru packed memorial services yesterday for 11 Peruvian farm workers killed when their van was struck by a truck in Ontario on Monday.
 
But the impacts of that tragedy are being felt here in B.C., too. Migrant worker advocates in B.C. told the Vancouver Observer that their community is reeling from the news – a painful reminder of three migrant farm workers killed in 2007 when their van flipped in Abbotsford, and of substandard working conditions for may foreign workers.

Bleak reality for migrant farm workers in B.C. 

In the Abbotsford crash, investigators discovered that the van – transporting 16 migrant farm workers – had wooden benches instead of seats, and no seat belts. The accident raised questions about the health and safety of migrant farm workers in B.C., who advocates said face discrimination and unequal protection from hazards. The crash renewed calls to outlaw 15-seater vans commonly used to transport farm workers.
 
“It's a tragedy and we really feel it very closely,” said Adriana Paz, with the group Justicia for Migrant Workers. “It really reminds us of other tragedies and fatalities amongst migrant farm workers.
 
“It is something very, very sad: to see farm workers leaving early in the morning and never coming back to their houses – having to die just because the van wasn't safe enough, because there were no seat belts, no inspections. These deaths were clearly preventable. Those unnecessary deaths really shake you up – (they happened) simply because the government was not looking, and the industry was not monitored. It's outrageous.”
 
Paz told the Vancouver Observer that, in spite of some improvements here in B.C. since 2007 -- largely the result of pressure from a coalition of labour and migrant justice organizations – very few farm inspections actually take place and conditions are deteriorating, raising the spectre of future tragedies.

Dangerous working conditions 
“Almost every year, we see either traffic accidents or injuries or deaths because of the unsafe working conditions,” Paz said.

She noted that the regulations are not properly enforced in B.C., nor in other parts of Canada

"If you talk to the workers, they've hardly seen a health and safety inspector," she said.
 
“This is just more heartbreaking news ... they came, as many immigrants do, with the illusion of making money, of working hard to support their families. To think they won't go home anymore is absolutely heartbreaking. It's not random that this happened, that they were migrant farm workers again... It shows the importance of advocating and pushing the government to actually do their work protecting farm workers. It's very sad that people have to die in order to improve legislation a little bit.”
 
A former farm worker and union organizer told the Vancouver Observer that, despite some improvements in legislation regulating farm workers' transport – which he said only came about after intense activist pressure following the 2007 accident – conditions remain dangerous and exploitative for migrants in the B.C. industry.
 
“They are discriminated against every day,” said Charan Gill, the current chief executive officer with Surrey's Progressive Intercultural Community Services (PICS) and a 30-year farm worker organizer with the Canadian farm workers Union. “In 30 years, I've seen small changes by advocating for farm workers' rights.
 
“But it's not sufficient – it's too slow. Our whole lives are gone fighting and struggling to demand fairness. The government needs to send a message from the top to give a fair deal to the people who put food on your table.”