As the humanitarian crisis on Ontario farms worsens, a second worker -- Rogelio Muñoz Santos -- has now died from COVID-19.
Because of dangerous housing and working conditions, hundreds of migrant farm workers are testing positive while all-levels of government remain idle.
Emergency caravan to Niagara: June 13
To put a stop to these tragedies that could have been avoided, we are organizing an emergency car caravan to Niagara on Saturday, June 13, to send support and solidarity to migrant farm workers and demand immediate government action to protect everyone’s health and safety. Click here to register now.
You can join the caravan by gathering in Toronto at 9:00 am or along the route in Hamilton, Beamsville, or St. Catharines as follows:
- 11:00 am - meet in Hamilton at Food Basics parking lot, 2500 Barton Street East
- 11:45 am - meet in Beamsville at Pioneer Plaza, 5005 Ontario Street
- 1:30 pm - meet for a socially-distanced rally outside St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle's office, 61 Geneva Street
Please register now and let us know where you will be joining us, click here or help us spread the word by sharing the action on Facebook click here.
We encourage all participants to exercise physical distancing, wear masks, and to bring plenty of water, snacks, and hand sanitizer.
Migrant farm workers are essential, frontline workers who grow the food we eat -- and export. Quite literally, the whole world’s food supply depends on the labour of these workers, who are overwhelmingly from Jamaica and Mexico. Yet for far too long, they have been viewed as temporary, disposable, and expendable.
As the Migrant Workers’ Alliance for Change (MWAC) and Justicia for Migrant Workers have been pointing out, federal and provincial government neglect of migrant workers’ safety has led to the COVID-19 outbreaks on Ontario farms. To read the MWAC report, click here. Make no mistake, this is what racism - including anti-Black racism - looks like. And we need your help to put a stop to it.
Demand full immigration status for ALL: June 14
If you can’t join us on Saturday, please join us on Sunday, June 14 for a pan-Canadian online rally scheduled at 12:00 pm (noon) in support of Migrant workers, sign up now.
Together with the Migrant Rights Network, we are calling for full immigration status for all workers to make sure everyone can exercise all employment rights under the law and crucial public services like health care
Register now: https://migrantrights.ca/june2020/.
Help us amplify these actions over social media by following and using #StatusForAll. And if you’re an educator in the primary, secondary, or post-secondary system, please RSVP and share this event on Facebook here.
TONIGHT: Know your rights online workshop
From farms to child care centres and from retail outlets to restaurants, health and safety on the job continues to be a concern for all workers. With more Ontario workplaces set to open as early as Friday, it is crucial we know our rights on the job to keep ourselves, our coworkers and families safe.
Join the online workshop tonight (Thursday, June 11) at 7:00 pm and ask your questions, click here to sign up and receive log-in information. Please help spread the word on Facebook here.
With the Ford government changing layoff regulations to prevent Ontario workers from accessing termination and severance pay (read our media release here), and the Trudeau government introducing Bill C-17 yesterday, which seeks to limit access to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (read our media release here), workers' rights during the pandemic are constantly shifting. Join us tonight at 7:00 pm so we know our rights and can demand better from the governments that are failing to protect us (sign up now).
Let’s keep organizing for decent work! June 23
At our May online organizing meeting, jointly hosted with the Ontario Federation of Labour, over 200 people came together to strategize and plan the next steps in our decent work movement! Let’s make our June 23 online organizing meeting even bigger! Please click here to register right now - then invite your friends and co-workers to do the same. You can also help spread the word on Facebook here.
Here are a few of the things we will be discussing:
- Links in the food chain: building solidarity among workers
- Health and safety for everyone at work
- Preserving pandemic pay for all of us
- Extending the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)
- Winning paid sick days - Proposal for a July 18 pan-Canadian day of action
- Organizing in our communities
Don’t forget to visit our website 15andFairness.org for resources, upcoming events, and political updates.