A Voice for Migrant Farm Workers

Manitoba Labour Relations Board gives Manitoba workers right to join union.

Migrant workers from Mexico who work on a farm near Portage la Prairie have won the right to join UFCW Local 832. The ruling issued on June 26 by the Manitoba Labour Relations Board could have a major impact both within Manitoba and across Canada.

The situation in Manitoba is similar to three other 'right to unionize' cases involving migrant farm workers in Canada. The others involve workers at three Quebec farms. The outcome of these four cases is likely to have an impact on migrant workers everywhere in Canada by triggering similar votes on farms in other provinces.

The dispute over the right of the Manitoba farm workers to have union represention began last October after 60 migrant workers applied to the Labour Board for union certification. The employer, Mayfair Farms, took the position that the migrant workers were not eligible for union representation. Their main argument to support their stand was that the workers are not Canadian citizens. The Labour Board ruling does not support that viewpoint.

It's anticipated tht the Labour Board ruling will be the first step towards improved wages and working conditions for migrant farm workers. Until now, wages and working conditions for the workers were set by the Mexican and Canadian governments under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. All but three of the 60 workers who applied for union representation last year are Spanish-speaking migrant workers from Mexico who work between eight and 10 months of the year in Manitoba.

Every year, nearly 18,000 workers from Mexico and Caribbean countries come to Canada to help plant and harvest crops. Close to 1,000 of those workers toil on farms in Manitoba.