Hiring temporary foreign workers for a permanent labour demand, a look at Canada’s ‘disposable’ workforce - Caribbean

PRINT - Toronto Caribbean - Brampton, 04/05/2020 - Article, p.12, English

Image Source: Toronto Caribbean website 

Summary: Janiece Campbell - Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) is a volunteer advocacy group for migrant workers. They help to bring awareness to the community and the exploitive conditions that the indentured labourers work under. For nearly 20 years, the group has been addressing the systematic inequalities that these workers face, some of which have heightened amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign workers are employed typically for up to 8 months through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) to assist with significant labour shortages. In recent weeks, a community in Leamington, ON shamed migrant workers online for their lack of applying social distancing standards. This prompted the Ontario Provincial Police to upload a YouTube video in an attempt to educate workers of their responsibility to socially distance in public. Failure to follow the rules will result in tickets or fines. On your next trip to the grocery store, before you pick up those crisp apples, remember the temporary migrant workers who are being used for a permanent labour demand.