UFCW Canada engages migrant communities in Michoacán

Michoacán, Mexico – July 2, 2015 – UFCW Canada activists recently visited the migrant community of Tarimbaro, Michoacán, sharing information about the human and labour rights of Mexican migrant workers in Canada. The event, organized by the Secretary of Migrants of Michoacan, was geared to to reach out to migrant workers and their families in the community, and to facilitate immediate local access to information services and materials. UFCW Canada was joined at the outreach gathering by officials from ten state and federal-level institutions.

“Reaching out to migrant workers in their own hometown is an ideal way to provide information and develop a trusting relation with workers and their families” says Engracia Guadalupe Garcia, Coordinator of Public Policy at the Secretariat for Migrants. Over the past decade, UFCW Canada has worked closely with Michoacán civil society and government agencies, and helped in training municipal officials charged with servicing migrant workers before they set out from Mexico. Also, the outreach activities have allowed UFCW Canada to raise its local profile and bring its migrant rights message to more Michoacán communities.

UFCW Canada is Canada's leading and most progressive private-sector union, with more than 250,000 members across the country. In association with the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA), UFCW Canada also operates AWA agriculture worker support centers in agriculture communities across Canada.