On Day 5 of Food Worker Rising, we are lifting up the voices of migrant workers gathered tonight at a solidarity dinner in Leamington Ontario, Canada. At this powerful community gathering workers are sharing their hopes and demands for change in Canada’s guestworker programs

The Seasonal Agricultural Workers program is a guest worker program that has brought thousands of Caribbean and Mexican migrant farm workers to toil in fields across Canada and put food on our tables.

Migrant workers under this program are tied to their employer, have no access to residency status and must return home after their contract.

Over the past fifty-three years countless workers have described the conditions under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers program as inhumane and unjust. From being sent home for standing up for their rights at work to being denied equal access to our healthcare system, migrant workers face differential treatment than residents of Canada.

TAKE ACTION

1. Sign a petition calling on Canada’s new immigration minister to listen to the voices of migrant workers and ensure workers have residency status and fair and safe working conditions now.
2. Share @j4mw’s posts with photos of workers dreams for status, safe working conditions, the right to organize and more, calling on @marcomendicino to take immediate action.

Sample tweets:

@marcomendicino Listen to the voices of the migrant farmworkers who grow the food we eat. All migrant workers need residency status and fair and safe working conditions now.

@marcomendicino it’s time for fairness and justice for migrant workers #statusnow 

@marcomendicino good things grow in sweatshops all across Ontario! It’s time to end sweatshop labour and provide dignity for the hands that feeds us #statusnow