Representation of seasonal workers tied to court decision says union

Thursday, September 4, 2008

by SUSAN MANN

The outcome of an Ontario court decision concerning whether farm workers should have the right to bargain collectively could potentially transform labour relations in the farming sector, says a spokesman for a national labour union.

And if the Ontario Court of Appeal rules to strike down provincial legislation that prohibits farm workers from bargaining collectively it won’t just be the domestic labour force that’s affected.

“If we win the decision here in Ontario we’ll be filing for seasonal agricultural workers in this province (to be included in bargaining units),” says Stan Raper, spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada. The union plans to sign up workers on a farm-by-farm basis.

UFCW Canada was asked about its plans for Ontario in light of the union’s work to establish bargaining units in other provinces that include workers who come to Canada from Mexico and the Caribbean as part of the federal Seasonal Agricultural Worker program. This summer, farm workers on two farms, one in Surrey, B.C. and one in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, voted in favour of being represented by UFCW. Seasonal farm workers are included in both of those bargaining units.

Ken Forth, chair of the agricultural industry’s Labour Issues Coordinating Committee, says farmers are always concerned about what happens in other jurisdictions. But it’s the provinces that have jurisdiction over labour laws.

“What happens in British Columbia doesn’t necessarily have to happen in Prince Edward Island,” he notes, adding provinces make their own decisions about labour laws based on the reality of what’s going on in their region.

In May, UFCW Canada brought an appeal before the court arguing that Ontario’s Agricultural Employees Protection Act violates farm workers’ rights to freedom of association under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A court decision hasn’t been released yet but Raper believes it could be handed down soon.

This isn’t the first time UFCW Canada has argued in court to enable Ontario farm workers the right to bargain collectively. Forth says this argument has been before various courts for several years. “This has been an ongoing battle for about 18 years.”

In other provinces that allow farm workers to bargain collectively, the UFCW has bargaining units that include seasonal farm workers awaiting approval from government authorities. “Just about every province, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, B.C., now has certifications in or before the courts or the labour boards,” Raper notes.

 In Alberta and Ontario farm workers have the right to form associations but not to bargain collectively nor go out on strike. That’s why the UFCW has formed the Agricultural Workers Alliance, a national body to represent their interests, in place since April.

Raper says the alliance enables farm workers to join a body and “also join our union at the same time.” He estimates that close to 2,000 full and part-time plus seasonal workers from all types of farms across Ontario have joined the Alliance.

“Any agricultural worker in the province can sign up.”

The federal Seasonal Agricultural Worker program matches workers from Mexico and the Caribbean with Canadian farmers who need temporary help with planting and harvesting when qualified Canadians or permanent residents aren’t available. Last year, 28,540 workers came to Canada to work on farms, according to statistics from the federal Citizenship and Immigration department. Of that number 17,902 came to Ontario.BF