UFCW Canada and Michoacán's SEMIGRANTE sign new agreement
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Firma convenio de colaboración la SEMIGRANTE con Sindicato Canadiense
Un sindicato que sirve
De Michoacán, 6.87% de migrantes que ingresan a Canadá |
UFCW Canada and the Mexican state of Michoacán have signed an enhanced mutual collaboration agreement to protect the human and labour rights of Michoacán migrant agriculture workers in Canada.
UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley and Secretary Luis Carlos Chávez of the Michoacán Migrants Secretariat (SEMIGRANTE), signed the agreement on September 27, in Morelia, the capital of Michoacán. The pact with the newly elected government of Michoacán builds on an earlier working agreement established with the previous administration in 2009.
Under the new agreement, UFCW Canada and SEMIGRANTE will collaborate on training, advocacy, information services, and monitoring efforts to improve the outcome for Michoacán migrant workers' in Canada. The program will provide orientation and information to improve access to social benefits; distribution of basic human and labour right materials; access to information and support via a toll free Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA) phone number; health and safety and labour rights training sessions provided by UFCW Canada; and increased assistance and protection for the workers through the AWA network of ten agriculture worker Support Centres across Canada.
With the new agreement in place, SEMIGRANTE and UFCW Canada are pledged to ensure a stronger voice and better rights-monitoring for Michoacán workers in Canada.
"We look forward to working with UFCW Canada in this new alliance," said Luis Carlos Chávez. "Together, we can raise awareness that human and labour rights should be respected for all workers, including migrant workers. They are not criminals. They simply trying to improve the lives of their families and communities back home," said the Secretary of SEMIGRANTE.
"We are committed to joining with SEMIGRANTE to improve the working and living conditions of every Michoacán worker who travels to work in Canadian agriculture," said Wayne Hanley, the National President of UFCW Canada. "The goal is to ensure that migrant workers coming from Michoacán has real access to their labour and human rights."
UFCW Canada is the country’s largest private-sector union and has led the fight for the workplace and safety rights of migrant workers for more than two decades. In association with the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA), UFCW Canada operates ten AWA agriculture worker support centres across the Canada.