TY - RPRT T1 - AWA anti-discrimination campaign gains results:‎ Quebec Labour Standards Board responds on the issue of migrant farm workers N1 - Quebec agriculture operations that deduct a housing charge from Temporary Foreign Workers ‎‎(TFWs) have lowered their fee after it was noted the rate they were charging was beyond the ‎maximum allowed under provincial labour regulations. ‎ The action followed after the Quebec Labour Standards Board advised the Guatemalan ‎consulate, as well as FERME (a farm lobby group) that the $45 a week for housing that had been ‎deducted from about 4,000 Guatemalan Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) was in violation of ‎the $20 a week maximum allowable under provincial labour standards. The $45 charge had ‎originally been negotiated between FERME, the Guatemala authorities, and approved by the ‎federal government.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎« We are glad the Board has acted to end this flagrant violation of provincial regulations, » says ‎Andrea Galvez, co-ordinator of the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA) support centre in ‎Saint-Rémi, Quebec. « For many years we have voiced our concern about discriminatory ‎contracts and other violations forced on migrant farm workers in Quebec. »‎ ‎ ‎ Those concerns led to two complaints filed in Quebec last year, including one with the Human ‎Rights Commission that TFW contracts violated the Charter by denying TFWs equal treatment. ‎That charge is proceeding. A second complaint was filed with the Quebec Labour Standards ‎Board on behalf of 40 Guatemalan TFWs at a Quebec agriculture operation whose housing ‎deductions exceeded the provincial maximum. ‎ ‎ ‎ That deduction has now dropped to $20 per week for them, and other TFWs working on Quebec ‎farms, « who altogether were being overcharged more than $100,000 a week,» says Galvez. « ‎It’s been like that since 2003, so a retroactive remedy should also be considered. »‎ ‎ ‎ ‎« Housing is just one of many issues facing these workers. As we have for the last ten years, the ‎AWA will continue its efforts to make sure the labour and human rights of these workers are ‎respected. »‎ The AWA, in association with UFCW Canada, operates 10 agriculture worker support centres ‎across Canada.‎ PB - Agriculture Workers Alliance N2 - Quebec agriculture operations that deduct a housing charge from Temporary Foreign Workers ‎‎(TFWs) have lowered their fee after it was noted the rate they were charging was beyond the ‎maximum allowed under provincial labour regulations. ‎ A1 - Agriculture Workers Alliance,  Y1 - 2010/// UR - http://awa-ata.ca/en/media/e-news-2010/e-news-vol3-issue-8/ Y2 - 2011-05-30 T3 - AWA E-News ER -