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Labour concerns in potato fields – PART 2

Although high unemployment caused by the ongoing recession may mean that more Canadians are open to taking labour jobs on potato farms, the Canadian government is making plans to ensure that happens. The government announced in April 2012 that preparations are being made to link the federal Employment Insurance program to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, which could mean employment insurance benefits could be restricted or denied to people in areas where foreign workers have been hired in the past, thereby encouraging Canadians to take the jobs. In addition, it could mean that employers in these areas could be denied access to foreign workers. Response from agricultural employers across the country has been mixed, as the thought of hiring Canadians to take jobs under duress seems rife with difficulty to some. The United Potato Growers of Canada (UPGA), Potato Growers of Alberta (PGA) or the Ontario Potato Board (OPB) all refused to comment.

Skilled labourers are a different matter for government and various industries. Those with skills usually seek to become a permanent resident of Canada instead of applying as temporary workers – which tens of thousands do so annually. The huge number of applications has led to a seven-year processing backlog, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada has dealt with this by destroying applications from over 280,000 people. The $130 million in fees paid by applicants with unopened files is being refunded and they will soon be able to re-apply under new criteria. However, those who had files that were just about to be processed are upset, and have launched a legal challenge to try and avoid having to re-apply.
The federal government is also making other changes with regard to immigrant workers. The Provincial and Territorial Nominee programs will be expanded, allowing provincial/territorial governments to go through current applications and highlight those that match their needs. In addition, the creations of the Canada Experience Class will mean that the best and brightest foreign students and skilled workers who already have experience in Canada will no longer have to leave the country in order to apply for permanent residency. Lastly, the federal government will make an announcement in January 2013 regarding changes to the immigration point system.

Young workers in Alberta’s potato industry
During the summer of 2012, concerns surfaced over the use of youth on Alberta potato farms. David Swann, a former Alberta government Opposition Leader and a current Liberal MLA, asked Frito Lay Canada to consider turning away Alberta potatoes until the province tightens laws pertaining to on-farm child labour and farm labour in general. In an August report in the National Post newspaper, Swann said he decided to focus on the potato industry because it is relatively common to see children as young as eight working on conveyor belts to grade potatoes. At the same time that he supports families having the freedom to do what they want with their children, he says he only wants to ensure health and safety guidelines are applied to all workers on farms – recognizing that employees sometimes have to do backbreaking work.

Alberta is unique in not having child labour laws apply to farms and having substantially less regulation of agriculture labour practices than other provinces. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union of Canada (UFCW, based in Toronto and formed in 1979) declares on its website: “Alberta’s most dangerous industry continue to be excluded from the protections of the Occupational Health and Safety Act; from the right to refuse unsafe work, and from coverage under the Workers’ Compensation Act if they are injured or killed. Why must workers in Alberta agriculture suffer from a system that is wrong, deadly and discriminatory?”

Eric Musekamp, president and founder of the Farmworkers Union of Alberta (FUA), is a strong supporter of legislative change. On its Facebook page, the FUA states that it “In Alberta, there are…no child labour standards. Paid farm workers in Alberta are excluded from all labour legislation – employment standards, labour relations, occupational health & safety, Workers’ Compensation Board. This means they are not given even the most basic rights held by most workers. They cannot legally unionize, and are not even guaranteed the provincial minimum wage. We are talking about workers on industrial operations, not family farms.”

The Alberta Federation Labour is also among those in support of creating legislation to protect provincial farm workers. In August 2012, the editors of the Lethbridge Herald newspaper also came forward in support in an editorial. Over August and September, the provincial government was grilled in the legislative assembly several times and stated that the issues are being studied.

PGA did not respond to questions about how many children under 16 may be working on Alberta potato farms, how much of the use of young workers might be due to oil patch labour demand, or what might have been the effect on industry of Swann’s call for Frito Lay to temporarily boycott AB potatoes.

PGA did respond to questions, however, on whether or not provincial agricultural labour regulations need to be tightened and how many complaints there have been concerning migrant labourers.  PGA Executive Director Helmut Leili says, “The Alberta potato growers have always and will continue to work with the Alberta government on issues relating to labour. The government has not now or any time in the past, indicated to us that the practices we are using are non-compliant with good agricultural practices. We have always worked constructively with government if or when issues arise that need addressing.”

He adds: “The migrant worker program has worked very well for workers working for Alberta potato growers. As a matter of fact, the programs have high levels of oversight, not only by the government of Alberta but also the governments of Canada and the countries where migrant workers arrive. There is no story in Alberta. We do behave with both high levels of integrity and moral standards that are beyond reproach for the vast majority of our growers.”