Mexico City – August 25, 2014 – UFCW Canada recently attended the 152^nd Extraordinary Period of Sessions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), held in Mexico City, Mexico from August 11 to 15. The Period focused on general human rights issues in Central America and included a hearing session in which civil society and migrant advocacy groups presented their concerns on a number of issues, including migrant rights. 

Through a collaboration with 200 other non-profit organizations, UFCW Canada presented a detailed report on the rights violations faced by Mexican migrants in Canada. The Commission was also presented with a full report of Mexico’s anti-union blacklisting actions against Mexican migrant workers in British Columbia. As well, a document requesting an urgent revision to the gender biased hiring practices of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program was presented at the Period's women’s rights meeting.

During the Period, Commission President Tracy Robinson announced the release of an IACHR report on migrant rights, entitled The Human Rights of Migrants and Other Persons in the Context of Human Mobility in Mexico. UFCW Canada welcomes the publication of this report and looks forward to an effective regional response to the current migrant rights crisis going forward.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an agency of the Organization of American States (OAS), and is responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Americas. It consists of seven national commissioners from different OAS countries.

For more than a decade, UFCW Canada has been engaged in a continuous struggle to secure the rights of migrant and domestic agriculture workers. Together with the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA), UFCW Canada represents migrant farm workers in British Columbia and Quebec and operates ten agriculture worker support centres across Canada.