Farm work fightback

A non-profit legal clinic in Ontario, Canada, has criticised the Jamaican Government over what it says is its lethargic response in helping injured farm workers get compensation from its Canadian counterpart.

Labour Minister Pearnel Charles Jr has rebuffed the claim.

Sang-Hun Mun, community organiser at Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario (IAVGO), also criticised Jamaican liaison officers who he said are based in the North American country to “cooperate with employers and even help them” to send farm workers back to the island.

IAVGO is a not-for-profit, community-based legal clinic that provides free legal services to injured workers in Ontario.

Mun’s assertions follow a landmark ruling by Canada’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal last month that migrant farm workers who have been permanently injured because of the job are to be compensated beyond the 12 weeks practised by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).

The WSIB is the Canadian Government’s workplace compensation board for provincially regulated workplaces in Ontario.

IAVGO recently brought four appeals to the tribunal, including one for Jamaican Leroy Thomas, who permanently injured his back in 2017 but had loss-of-earning benefits cut after the 12 weeks.

Thomas struggled to get adequate medical assistance or provide for his family as a result.

Mun, in a Gleaner interview last Tuesday, argued that Thomas and other injured migrant workers under Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Work Program are “healthy and strong” when they arrive in Canada but often leave without adequate healthcare and compensation.

“It’s too difficult. [The] Jamaican Government needs to do better,” Mun charged.

“They need to do better to help workers when they send them back. Help them to fight back. They were injured in Canada. Unfortunately, they are not doing this and we know because this programme is from 1965. It’s not just a recent problem. It’s a long-term problem,” he added.

Thousands of Jamaicans have worked on the temporary work programme. In 2021, eight thousand eight hundred and twenty-six (26 per cent) Jamaicans were employed under the programme, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data emailed to The Gleaner.

That number increased in 2022 to 9,364, representing 26.5 per cent of migrant workers. Up to July this year, 7,885 Jamaicans were on the programme.

Data for August and September are not yet available.

‘RACIAL, XENOPHOBIC’

Mun, who is also a member of the Injured Workers Action for Justice, argued that the WSIB limiting Jamaican and other migrant workers’ loss-of-earning benefits to only 12 weeks is a “racial and xenophobic” practice.

He noted that a similar limit is not placed on Canadians.

The WSIB has indicated that it will review its policy amid the ruling of the tribunal.

“The Jamaican Government must [observe] this and promote it in Jamaica. WSIB now must review all migrant workers whose benefits they have cut for many decades … . A lot of migrant workers have been sent back to suffer and go into poverty.

“[The] Jamaican Government needs to do better to help them. This is a great opportunity to help migrant workers going through difficult times,” Mun said.

But according to Charles Jr, “many” Jamaicans choose not to pursue legal claims, while others are engaged in complex legal matters.

He told The Gleaner on Sunday that Jamaica has a framework that prioritises Jamaican farm workers, providing them with information and support through a strong team of liaison officers dedicated to protecting them from discrimination and other issues while ensuring that any engagement of them is within the law.

The minister said that to cast aspersions on the Government “is very unfortunate”, even as he welcomed concerns and criticism.

“This can only cause us to look at our system and perhaps improve it, but I wouldn’t accept what they are saying as being factual or true. I don’t see the basis on which they would say so,” he said.

He said advocate groups are guilty of dismissing the framework of the agreement between Jamaica and Canada for the programme, which prioritises the support and protection of farm workers, even where liaison workers may fall down on the job.

He said for legal claims, many are beyond the Government’s reach even while it still offers support through legal representation in Canada.

The minister said that over the last three months, work has been done to strengthen the channels of communication so that workers can share concerns without fear of victimisation.

Over the last year, there have been mounting complaints about the programme some Jamaicans have described as modern-day slavery.

The Jamaican Government deployed a fact-finding team, twice, months apart amid claims of abuse.

Charles Jr said the recommendations from those investigations are being implemented to improve the process.

“Both jurisdictions are invested in this programme and have vested interest in making sure that farm workers are protected,” he said, adding that the concerns of farm workers are taken “very seriously”.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com