Migrant farm workers demand protection from exposure to brutal heat

He has harvested tons of fruits and vegetables in Ontario farms over the years — apples, carrots, tomatoes and many others that would end up on Canadians’ dining table.

 

The migrant farm worker from Trinidad and Tobago is proud of what he does because the job allows him to provide for his family back home. That’s why he’s been returning here annually for the last 12 years.

 

However, amid the recent brutal heat dome, he and other workers, struggling in temperatures between 38 and 45 C, were upset when their boss made them stay out to remove all the bins of apples from the fields so the fruit wouldn’t get sunburn.

 

“If the apples can get sunburn, what about us who are there working in bare heat with no shelter?” questioned a worker at the farm in Haldimand Norfolk in southwestern Ontario. The Star is not naming him for fear of work reprisals.

 

But he said no one dared to disobey the order or raise a stink for fear that they would not be called back to work in Canada next year.

 

Advocates are familiar with these complaints from migrant farm workers and have demanded the Ontario government put in heat protection regulations for the tens of thousands of agricultural workers employed in the province.

 

They were hopeful that changes would come soon when they were told last year that the province was committed to enacting such rules to better protect farm workers, whom the labour minister at the time, Monte McNaughton, called “heroes.”

 

But since then, there has been radio silence, said Taneeta Doma, staff lawyer at Windsor’s Migrant Farmworkers Clinic, which, along with Justicia for Migrant Workers, wrote an open letter to the province this week to reiterate the demand.

 

“Even when folks are fainting or having other types of reactions to the heat, they’re not being given more breaks to just chill,” said Doma. “There’s nowhere to even go into the shade if you’re in the fields. If they’re trying to stay hydrated, they don’t have proper access to washrooms.

 

“That’s more than exploitation and degradation. They’re not being treated like human beings.”

 

Citing an American research study on occupational heat-related mortality, Doma said agriculture had more than 35 times the risk of heat-related death compared to most industries, followed by construction, which had 13 times the risk. The two sectors that accounted for 58 per cent of all cases.

 

On Wednesday, talking to reporters, Premier Doug Ford said employers are required to ensure they have proper facilities to keep workers cool but “that’s going to be up to the employer and the employees.”

 

In a statement to the Star, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development said the province takes worker safety very seriously and all workers have a right to be safe in their workplaces from any potential hazards including heat stress.

 

“Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers and supervisors have a duty to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker, including protection in hot environments,” the ministry said in an email.

 

“Specific to heat stress, the employer should establish a heat stress control plan for the summer to manage job tasks in high temperatures and humidity.”

Doma said it’s true that workers can complain to the labour ministry if their employers are being not reasonable or accommodating, but it doesn’t work in reality because of the power employers hold over the workers, especially against migrants with precarious status in Canada.

 

“We’re calling for specific regulations with respect to heat and with respect to the cold and air quality,” she said. “It needs to be spelled out for these employers what exactly they need to be doing, because putting it in employers’ hands is not going to work.”

 

She said officials must legislate the trigger temperatures, proper breaks, hours of work, as well as access to shade and water — and invest in enforcing the rules.

 

Currently, both British Columbia and Quebec in their occupational and safety laws stipulate heat stress assessment and exposure controls, and so do some U.S. states such as Washington, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Colorado. This month, President Joe Biden’s administration just proposed new rules to protect workers exposed to extreme heat.

 

The farm worker from Trinidad and Tobago hopes Ontario will follow suit.

 

“Enough isn’t being done for us,” he said. “A lot of workers that are on farms work in conditions that a normal Canadian citizen will never do.”

 

 

 

This article was first reported by The Star