Farm employer group ‘delighted’ by Supreme Court ruling
Canada’s highest court upholds Ontario’s ag employees Act
photo: Ken Forth
Canada’s highest court upholds Ontario’s ag employees Act
photo: Ken Forth
An international organization that oversees labour standards has ruled Ontario's Agriculture Employee's Act violates the province's ag workers' right to bargain collectively
photo: Ken Forth
It’s the fifth time in recent years that the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada has argued in the courts that Ontario farm workers should have the right to bargain collectively, a union’s key strength. This time around, justices with the Ontario Appeal Court agree. But the fight’s not over yet, says a representative of the provincial agriculture community’s Labour Issues Coordinating Committee.
A national union is pushing to get offshore seasonal agricultural workers included in the collective bargaining process in Ontario.
The two sides in this week’s appeal of an Ontario law that denies farm workers the right to form unions and bargain collectively differ on their opinions of how the court will rule and when the decision is to be handed down.
“Manitoba has done the right thing,” stated Wayne Hanley, national president of UFCW Canada (United Food and Commercial Workers) in a news release following a late January announcement that Manitoba is changing its labour code to give farm workers several new rights such as a day off, work breaks, vacations and the right to a minimum wage. The changes take effect June 30.