UFCW participates in Migrant Farm Worker Summer Festival
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Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont. – June 5, 2017 – UFCW Canada activists attended the 9th Annual Migrant Farm Worker Summer Festival and Information Fair this past weekend to support seasonal agriculture workers labouring in Ontario.
Organized by the Niagara Migrant Workers Interest Group, the annual event allows migrant farm workers to access health services, legal counsel, and health and safety training, as well as important information regarding labour rights and English as a Second Language (ESL) courses.
This year’s festival and fair included a free meal, karaoke, dancing, and a raffle draw with prizes donated from various community sponsors. Hundreds of migrant workers and community members attended the event, held at the Niagara-On-The-Lake Community Centre.
“Migrant workers face some of the most dangerous, grueling, and precarious working conditions in Canada, and they continue to lack access to adequate health care, transportation, and the right to join a union,” says UFCW Canada National Representative Stan Raper. “That is why the Migrant Farm Worker Festival is so important, as it provides seasonal agriculture workers with vital services and training while they are working in Ontario,” he adds.
For over a decade, UFCW Canada has worked tirelessly to secure basic human rights for agriculture workers across Canada. In Ontario, our union operates support centres in Virgil, Leamington, and Simcoe, where agriculture workers can gain access to free training, legal representation, and health and safety services.