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It feels like the right time to donate again to a workers' rights organization, particularly one that speaks up for those neglected marginal workers who contribute so much to our well-being - shamefully, often at the expense of their own.

There have been several recent stories in the news that should give us pause. For example, the Sheraton Hotel workers who were summarily fired when all they were asking was to be at the top of the recall list once circumstances in the hospitality industry improve. One would think the Sheraton's top management would prefer to have a roster of experienced workers with a proven record of service to recall to work when that's once again feasible, rather than having to recruit new ones off the street with all the effort and expense that that entails. Even if the new recruits are paid only minimum wage, surely that's false economy when set against the overwhelming costs of regenerating human capital from scratch?

Then there's the story of health care workers not taking up offers of vaccines in sufficient numbers to achieve "herd immunity" and reinforce the "iron ring" around long term care and retirement homes. In many cases, management and politicians and policymakers may be all too quick to put it all down to ignorance and rabid anti-vaxxer and pandemic-denying sentiment perpetuated through social media. But maybe things would change for the better if they only made vaccine uptake easier for these people through better sick leave policies, ironing out transportation and child care issues standing in the way of scheduling the immunizations or simply ASKING the health care workers what they need to be comfortable stepping up to the needle!

Last, but definitely not least, we have migrant farm workers. Some may think of Canada as a nation of hewers of wood and drawers of water and planters and pickers of crops. But while we may have the necessary land and natural resources, we do not have sufficient HUMAN resources to accomplish all the necessary tasks within the Canadian growing seasons that make up our supply chain from farm to table. It behooves us to treat these workers well and indeed our livelihood as well as theirs depends on it.

Here is a link to the website for the Migrant Workers' Alliance for Change:

https://migrantworkersalliance.org/

Today, June 14, has been designated as national day of action for full immigration status for migrant workers. Every year, migrant workers from Mexico, Jamaica and other places come to work on Canadian farms for as much as 8 months a year but are not accorded permanent residency status and hence are largely excluded from the employment and health care standards and protections set forth in provincial and federal law. This is shameful and inhumane treatment at any time but even more so during a pandemic. Here is a link to some background information:

https://migrantrights.ca/statusforall/

A more detailed exposé of the situation may be found in the report Unheeded Warnings: COVID-19 and Migrant Workers in Canada, produced by the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. It makes for some interesting and disturbing reading. It's dedicated to two Mexican migrant farm workers, Bonifacio Eugenio Romero and Rogelio Muños Santos, who recently died of COVID-19 in Windsor. You can access the report here:

https://migrantworkersalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Unheeded-Warnings-COVID19-and-Migrant-Workers.pdf

I'll conclude this entry by pointing out that even aside from all the humanitarian considerations involved, migrant farm workers are of crucial importance to food security in this country. Without their work, crops would die off for want of the people-power required to harvest them. We simply don't have a large enough domestic workforce to reap what we sow at the busiest times of the year.
What about pick-your own berry farms? Not an option this year. Due to health and safety concerns, they are not operating because of the pandemic.

So let's champion the rights of the farm workers because without them, we'll all be stranded in a food desert, with nary an oasis in sight. Bread and Roses and Strawberry Fields and Solidarity Forever!