Agricultural migrant workers are created in the image of God, treat them equally!


As Christians, we are called to stand in solidarity with those who must leave their homes in search of their God given right to life with dignity. The biblical mandate is to welcome the stranger, not to treat them differently by denying their legal and human rights.
KAIROS is deeply disturbed by the recent announcement that the Ontario government is challenging a unanimous Ontario Court of Appeal decision that gives agricultural workers the right to collective bargaining.   For the past two years, KAIROS has been working in the development of a Migrant Justice Network in Canada, which brings together faith communities, migrant workers, academics, labour and community organizations advocating for the human rights of migrant workers.

The United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada (UFCW), a key KAIROS’ partner in the Migrant Justice Network, presented an appeal against the Ontario’s Agricultural Employees Protection Act (AEPA), which currently excludes Ontario farm workers from the right to unionize. In its appeal the UFCW argued that the exclusion is a breach of Ontario agriculture workers’ constitutional rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

In November of 2008, the Ontario Court of Appeal struck down Ontario’s Agricultural Employees Protection Act, citing that the Act’s prohibition on farm unions violated the freedom of association Charter rights of Ontario agriculture workers.  In response to this court order, which provides Ontario farm workers with sufficient legislative protections to enable them to bargain collectively like other workers in the province, the Ontario government is seeking leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. In this situation, “justice delayed is justice denied”.
For more information contact Alfredo Barahona, Refugee and Migration Program Coordinator at 416-463-5312 or 1-877-403-8933 ext. 251 or click here.


Filed in: Migrant Justice

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