Immigration

Ontario farm workers can join unions, court rules

scottn — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:58:51 -0500

Ontario farm workers can join unions, court rules
by Tracey Tyler, from The Toronto Star, November 17, 2008.

Farm workers across the province have won the right to join unions.

In a 3-0 decision today, the Ontario Court of Appeal struck down sections of the Agricultural Employees Protection Act, which prevent farm workers from engaging in collective bargaining.

The court said the legislation violates agricultural employees' rights to freedom of association under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and gave the Ontario government 12 months to rewrite the law.

While most Ontario workers have had the right to join unions since 1943, farm employees have been excluded from the mainstream labour relations regime because agriculture has been considered unique - sensitive to time and weather concerns, and the need to ensure that food production is not disrupted by a strike.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture, a farmers' lobby group that intervened in the case, warned that many family farms could not survive if confronted with union demands.

Migrant workers reap bitter harvest in Ontario

scottn — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:25:03 -0400

Migrant workers reap bitter harvest in Ontario: Women in particular find themselves vulnerable to violence and intimidation
by Evelyn Encalada Grez, Toronto Star, October 28, 2008.

I had to pick up Laura at the apple farm with two police officers. We left the farm in such haste that Laura's belongings were scattered in various plastic bags.

It was a rescue mission more reminiscent of a crime scene. She could not leave without lovingly saying goodbye to each of the women with whom she had shared that awful crammed bunkhouse.

When she was ready, she turned to me and said: "Let's go." We walked together, Laura on crutches and in much pain, tears flowing down her face, tears that quickly became contagious.

The tall, white, male police officers were shocked. They had no clue that migrant women lived and worked in their community, let alone what some had to go through to earn a living producing food that ended up on our kitchen tables. One of the officers said "apples are never going to taste the same again."

Laura's crime was to have been injured at work. She lost her balance, fell off a tractor and her legs were crushed by its wheels. As soon as she regained consciousness after her first surgery, an official from the Mexican consulate in Toronto started harassing her.

Supreme Court of Canada to hear Safe Third Country Challenge

scottn — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:22:48 -0400

Supreme Court of Canada to hear Safe Third Country Challenge
Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International, Canadian Council of
Churches Media Release 29 September 2008

The Supreme Court of Canada is being asked to determine whether the
Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement is unconstitutional and violates
refugees’ rights, the Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International
and the Canadian Council of Churches announced today.

On Friday 26 September, the three organizations, along with John Doe,
filed an application with the Supreme Court seeking leave to appeal the
Federal Court of Appeal’s ruling on the Safe Third Country Agreement. The
appeal court overturned an earlier Federal Court decision which struck
down the Agreement, on the grounds that the United States does not comply
with international human rights obligations.

The submissions highlight that refugees’ lives are at risk, as illustrated
by the case of a Honduran man. Turned away from the Canadian border in
2006 due to Safe Third, he was quickly deported by the US to Honduras,
where he was soon afterwards killed by the people he had been fleeing.
But for the Safe Third Country Agreement, he would likely be alive and
living in Canada today, with his wife and his son who was born after his
death.

12 Reasons to take to the streets of Montreal-Nord this Saturday

kerspleb — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:35:48 -0400

Start: Oct 10 2008 - 5:30pm

End: Oct 12 2008 - 5:30pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-4

The following excellent text is from the No One Is Illegal Montreal blog:

This coming Saturday at 2pm at Parc Pilon in Montreal-Nord, a diverse cross-section of Montreal groups and individuals are coming together to denounce police brutality as part of a child-friendly demonstration. This is a crucial protest for all those who oppose poverty, racism and police brutality, as well as support autonomous, grassroots organizing for real justice and dignity.

It comes just two months after the killing of Fredy Villaneuva in Montreal-Nord, one year after the tasering death of Quilem Registre in St-Michel, and more than two years after the unexplained shooting death of Anas Bennis in Côte-des-neiges. It comes in a context where 43 people have been killed by the bullets or electric shocks of the Montreal police in just 21 years.

There are three main demands for this Saturday’s demonstration: 1) a public and independent inquiry into the death of Fredy Villaneuva; 2) an end to racial profiling and to police abuses and impunity; 3) the recognition of the principle that as long as there is economic inequality there will be social insecurity.

read more

DERAIL THE SPIRIT OF THE OLYMPIC SPIRIT TRAIN

Deadline — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:09:50 -0400

DERAIL THE SPIRIT OF THE OLYMPIC SPIRIT TRAIN
ALL OUT ON OCTOBER 13 - THANKSGIVING MONDAY

MEET AT 12NOON !SHARP!
CORNER OF FRONT AND BAY/YORK (south-west corner)
FREE TRANSPORTATION
EMAIL NOONEISILLEGAL@RISEUP.NET FOR SEAT CONFIRMATION
OR AT COOKSVILLE STATION AT 1PM

On October 13, 2008, the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway)'s 'SpiritTrain' will be arriving at Cooksville GO Transit Station in Mississauga, here to continue its goal of spreading pre-Olympic "spirit".

The Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 are appropriating indigenous land, marginalizing the urban poor and exploiting migrant workers.

The 2010 Olympics spirit that this train carries is a spirit of racism and corporate greed. This spirit has met with opposition in each of its stops across the country.

This spirit of oppression needs to be met with our spirit of resistance.

When it stops in Mississauga, come out with pots, pans, whistles, flags and placards. As most of Canada gives thanks for the ongoing genocide of indigenous peoples on Turtle Island, we urge all allies to mobilize their communities to disrupt the Spirit Train in solidarity with the call for Indigenous sovereignty.

To confirm a spot or to share your solidarity, please email
nooneisillegal@riseup.net before Sunday, 12 October.

NO OLYMPICS ON STOLEN NATIVE LAND!

For further information, see: http://no2010.com/node/18

Migrant workers fired from B.C. greenhouse as union vote neared

scottn — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:37:42 -0400

Migrant workers fired from B.C. greenhouse as union vote neared
by Wendy Stueck, Globe and Mail, September 16, 2008.

VANCOUVER — Fourteen Mexican farm workers employed at an Abbotsford greenhouse were fired from their jobs and sent back to Mexico days before a union-certification vote, the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada said yesterday.

The workers were terminated late in the day on Sept. 5, a Friday, before being driven to the airport the next day in time to catch an afternoon flight to Mexico, the union said.

On Sept. 4, the UFCW had filed an application to represent 29 employees at the company, Floralia Plant Growers Ltd.

Workers were scheduled to hold a certification vote today.

A woman who answered the phone at the company late yesterday afternoon said in response to questions, "I can't tell you anything" before hanging up.

The union has filed a complaint with the British Columbia Labour Relations Board and asked the board to order the company to rehire the workers and pay for their flights back to Canada, said Local 1518 spokesman Andy Neufeld.

Komagata Maru and the Politics of Apologies

Gary — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:36:18 -0400

By Harsha Walia, rabble, August 25, 2008

In the past few weeks, much has been written about Prime Minister Stephen Harper's so-called apology regarding the Komagata Maru incident, which was delivered at the Gadhri Babian Da Mela (Martyrs Festival) in Surrey on August 3, 2008.

Much of the debate has focused around the apology needing to be made in the House of Commons in order for it to be afforded the respect and dignity it deserves. Many South Asian-Canadians have expressed that the racist discrimination inherent to the Komagata Maru incident in 1914 is being enacted today in the treatment of the community as second-class citizens who are not considered worthy of a full apology by the Conservative government.

A history of racist exclusion

In order to discourage South Asian migration, the Canadian government amended the Immigration Act in 1908 with the "continuous-journey regulation," under which travel to Canada required a continuous passage from country of origin and entry with at least $200 cash.

These measures were intended to reinforce a "White Canada" policy, in conjunction with for example the Chinese Head Tax, to restrict migrants of colour at a time when massive numbers of European immigrants - over 400,000 in 1913 alone - were entering Canada.

Canada Hands US Iraq War Resister Over to Pentagon For Punishment

Gary — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:07:45 -0400

By Keith Jones, 18 July 2008.

Canada’s Border Services Agency turned Iraq war resister Robin Long over to US authorities Tuesday morning. Long, who fled the US Army in 2005 after learning he was to be deployed to Iraq, was immediately sent to a Bellingham, Washington county jail. He has since been transferred to the US Army base in Fort Carson, Colorado where he will be subject to military discipline for “desertion”—an offense for which US military personnel can be court-martialed, jailed and, in time of war, executed.

A US military spokesman told Canwest News Service that “the unit commander will look at the facts” and make a recommendation “about what disciplinary actions will ensue.”

The 25-year old Long had been in the custody of Canada’s border and immigration police, the CBSA, since last October. He had sought political refugee status in Canada, arguing that the 2003 US invasion of Iraq was illegal, that were he deployed to Iraq he would be complicit in war crimes, and that he would suffer irreparable harm if deported to the US.

Workers at 3 Toronto Hotels Could Strike

scottn — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:11:21 -0400

Workers at 3 hotels could strike: Unions negotiating wages, conditions as contracts expire in peak tourist season
by Lesley Ciarula Taylor, Toronto Star, July 12, 2008.

At the height of Toronto's summer tourist season, unions at three hotels, including the Fairmont Royal York, have moved into strike positions.

Eighty-one per cent of the 850 workers at the Royal York voted to strike as early as July 16, the date their contract expires, if negotiations fail.

Contracts for 134 workers at the Holiday Inn and Radisson hotels on Dixon Rd., near the airport, expired yesterday, putting them in a position to strike at any time.

Abdul Husseini came off shift as a waiter at the Holiday Inn's restaurant yesterday and went right into a meeting of Local 75 of Unite Here, the union organizing employees at hotels across North America.

"The important issue is standards," Husseini said. "Our first cook gets $14.76 an hour. At the Hilton down the road, the first cook gets $18.86 an hour and Westmont (Hospitality Group) owns them both. At least they could fill the gap.

"There are 18 people working in the kitchen, we're open 24 hours a day, most of them are recent immigrants from India and Sri Lanka and they really work hard."

Racism in the Tar Sands: exploiting foreign workers and poisoning indigenous people

scottn — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:51:23 -0400

Racism in the Tar Sands: exploiting foreign workers and poisoning indigenous people

By Macdonald Stainsby, June 12, 2008, reposted from Oil Sands Truth

The giant corporations that are determined to exploit the Alberta tar sands face a major problem — a serious shortage of local labour to do the actual work. So the Canadian and Albertan governments have a plan, ideal in their eyes, to solve the crunch.

Currently, employers desperate to find needed hands, backs and minds for the vast production targets of the “Gigaproject” are flying workers from the Maritimes from their homes for shift stretches and then back again, but that effort faces limits in terms of workers available. Nary a day goes without a business page article somewhere in Alberta bemoaning the lack of workers. Many of the Newfoundlanders who would have come out this way in the past will now work in Newfoundland premier Dany Williams’ new off shore oil and gas ventures, using skills learned in Fort McMurray, Alberta.