Farm workers suffering in Canada - study
Published:Thursday | April 21, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Laura Redpath, Senior Gleaner Writer
CANADIAN researchers have revealed that some farm workers in Canada, including Jamaicans, developed health conditions such as chronic pain, gastrointestinal ailments and other illnesses from long-term exposure to pesticides and other chemicals.
The research, published on Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, cited harsh living and working conditions for the onset of chronic ailments and other illnesses in migrant workers of various nationalities.
Jenna Hennebry, who spoke to the Jamaican experience, is a social scientist with the International Migration Research Centre at Canada's Wilfred Laurier University.
According to Hennebry, of the 600 migrant workers sampled, approximately 100 of them were Jamaican.
She told The Gleaner that while farmers experience musculoskeletal injuries or suffer from the climatic extremes, many of them were afraid to tell their employers.
"Employers can send their workers home for not working even though they're sick. Many workers are fearful of reporting. They know they can be sent home," she added.
Chris Ramsaroop, the national coordinator of the Canadian organisation, Justicia (Justice) for Migrant Workers, supported Hennebry's statement, adding that employers, upon finding out about farmers' illnesses, have sent them home within three to four days and without health care.
"Temporary and foreign workers should be a (Canadian) national issue," Ramsaroop stressed, noting that immigration is changing in that country, and there has been a shift from permanent migration to temporary migration.
According to Hennebry, many migrant farm workers do not have access to transportation. Therefore, farmers who need to visit the clinic, or go grocery shopping, tend to rely mainly on their employers.
"Clinic operation hours are not aligned with free time. (Farmers) work on average six to seven days and work from seven in the morning to nine or 10 later at night, depending on a particular harvest. Many have difficulty accessing clinics as the clinics have set hours," Hennebry told The Gleaner on Tuesday.
"If (migrant workers) are lucky, their employers would take them into town to get groceries," she said.
Poor living conditions
Hennebry also spoke of cramped living conditions, where old building structures on farms are transformed into living quarters for 15-20 men.
"Usually, these structures have been adapted for housing, like a barn or a portable like a trailer. They'll have a fridge that can't hold enough food for 12 men," she said, noting the farmers would need access to groceries regularly. "They have crowded, shared cooking facilities, and are limited in what they can do. They are not sufficient at all."
Ramsaroop insisted that workers are supposed to be provided with "proper health care, proper protection for safety and proper workers compensation".
"On paper, everything looks great in Canada," he said. "But in reality, it's much different. Because of the structural nature of the programme, many of these workers are alienated."
Hennebry said the study shows that many farmers do not know about the provincial workplace safety insurance, which would allow them to file a claim.
Labour and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles was unavailable for comment up to press time.