Major victory in Manitoba: Rights of Migrant Farm Workers Recognized

By Dave Hall
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
July 12, 2007

It has been a good summer for workers’ rights in Manitoba – at least on the legal front. On June 26th, the Manitoba Labour Board (MLB) issued a groundbreaking ruling on seasonal agricultural workers at Mayfair Farms.

The Manitoba Labour Board approved the application by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) to represent some 65 agricultural workers at Mayfair Farms, near Portage La Prairie.

Almost all of the workers are Mexicans brought in under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). After more than 65 per cent of the workers signed union cards, UFCW applied for automatic certification in October, 2006. The employer challenged the application on a number of grounds.

In its final ruling, the MLB rejected all of the challenges. The thoughtful and detailed ruling offers a strong defence against future attacks on the collective bargaining rights of agricultural and migrant workers. With some 18,000 agricultural workers coming to Canada under SAWP in 2006 and more coming every year, this is not a small gain.

Both as agricultural workers and as temporary migrant workers, these employees are among the most exploited in Canada. SAWP sets out a number of ways to establish wage rates, but in practice they tend to be at or near the provincial minimum wage plus on-farm accommodations. It also sets out a ‘normal’ work day of eight hours and work week of 40 hours. While no statistics are available, anecdotal information from both workers and employers indicates that work days are routinely 12 hours or more. Days off are irregular, and during busy times, weeks can pass without a day off. No premium rate is paid for overtime.

Given the low wages, the long hours of often gruelling physical labour are the only way the migrant workers can make the trip worthwhile. One study of migrant workers from Tlaxcalan State in Mexico indicated that they had to work an average of 63 hours a week over five months in Canada to transfer a median of $4,900 a year to their families.

They accept long hours and hard work. But without union representation, they have no practical way to set any limits to the hours or to seek some pay premium for overtime – things that are set out in law for most workers in Canada, but not agricultural workers. Nor do they have any practical way to address working or living conditions on the farms.

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