Document Details

2011-08-23

J4MW

J4MW Press releases

Join Justicia for Migrant workers to Demand Justice, Respect and Dignity
Get on the Bus, come and support Migrant Worker Solidarity Caravan Sunday September 4, 2011@ 12: 30 pm
Salem Chapel First British Methodist Episcopal Church
92 Geneva Street, St. Catharines, Ontario L2R 4N2 [map]

Thousands of migrant agricultural workers are employed in the Niagara region. Migrant workers from Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatamala and Thailand have been the backbone of of our agricultural industry. Millions of dollars of profits have been made on the backs of migrant workers, communities who are denied basic rights while in Canada.

On September 4 to October 2nd, 2011 Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) will be expanding on last year’s Pilgrimage to Freedom with a series of actions and caravans to expose the hidden realities that agricultural workers face. For this year’s Pilgrimage to Freedom Justicia for Migrant Workers has chosen to revisit several of the stops of the Underground Railroad. The towns that we will be visiting, as part of the Underground Railroad, represented a land of freedom, hope and oportunities, but are now agricultural that are highly dependent on exploitative temporary migration programs for labour. The caravan will highlight the current labour laws, the restrictions of migrant worker programs, the profits of the agricultural industry and how Canadian society profits from the indenutureship of migrant labour. We ultimately want to ask: do these towns still symbolize freedom and hope or do they now evoke oppression and exploitation?

The first action of this series will take place on September 4 in the Niagara region and will consist of a community reality tour. It will start 12:30 pm at the Salem Chapel First British Methodist Episcopal Church (92 Geneva Street) in St. Catherine’s and will make several stops in the areas around Virgil, Niagara-on-the-Lake and ending the day’s actions in Niagara Falls.

While the community prepares to celebrate its annual wine festival and the astronomical profits that has been attributed to the sacrifices of the migrant community. This caravan is to celebrate their contributions, demand changes to our laws to reflect their realities and to expose the hidden realities of temporary forreign worker programs across Canada.

Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW)
On September 4th 2011

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Agriculture and horticulture workers

Policy analysis, Documented cases of abuse, and Support initiatives

(Im)migrants workers, Policymakers, Journalists, Public awareness, Employers, agencies and their representatives, Researchers, Unions, and NGOs/community groups/solidarity networks

Right to change employer, Right to choose place of residence, Right to unionize, Labour standards, Health and safety at work, Newcomers integration programs, Health care & social services, Access to permanent status, Family reunification, Legal aid, Employment insurance, Social security, Housing standards, Right to liberty, and Right to dignity

Ontario

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