(This page is still under construction, any helpful tips are welcome!)
The Women's Centre works to engage the community in looking out for one another in general, and migrant workers are a part of our community, whether they are youth from Quebec picking our fruit in the summer, Australian backpackers working at the ski-hill, construction workers from Jamaica, Mexicans on the BCSAWP program, you name it!
Just as you might share information with your neighbour on her legal rights as a tenant, we invite you to consider whether the workers that you see, who have come from far away, are able to access their basic needs, and the laws that protect them.
In this context, migrant workers in BC include farm workers, construction workers, nannies and live-in caregivers,
and hospitality and tourism staff.
Issues facing migrant workers include: language & cultural barriers, access to transportation, access to community services, sometimes access to accomodation,and even access to their rights (such as maternity/paternity benefits, medical EI, CPP, WCB, and Medical Services Plan).
Here is a collection of some relevant information, from a variety of sources.
The following links will lead you to leaflets that we distribute to farm workers to inform them of their rights,
in English, French and Spanish and Punjabi. Feel free to copy and paste them, print them off and pass them out!
French: "On a des Droits!" |
Spanish: "Todos Tenemos Derechos!" |
Punjabi, PDF File to print |
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Punjabi, PDF File to print |
The Penticton & Area Women's Centre saw a gap in services for farm workers as early as 1999, when we hired a social researcher to survey women who worked seasonally in agriculture, on the issue of sexual harassment.
This study found that one in three female farm workers had experienced some form of sexual harassment or even sexual assault.
This led to a project called Safe Harvest, which for the following three years sought to raise awareness amongst farm workers, farmers and the community on this issue. During the course of the Safe Harvest project, many other issues were raised about the general working and living conditions of farm workers in the South Okangan - Similkameen. The Safe Harvest project had to expand, and incorporated as a new non-profit society in 2004. The Safe Harvest Coalition has worked to inform workers of all their rights, and to rally the community to address issues such as working conditions, access to accomodation and transportation, drinking water and washing, equality, and many others.
Safe Harvest & the Women's Centre have always worked closely together, and the PAWC Board, staff, and volunteers continue to work towards social justice and gender equality for every marginalized person, including workers from other places.
Neither Safe Harvest nor the Women's Centre have been involved in working to unionize workers. PAWC is committed to defending the right of all kinds of workers to organize and unionize themselves, but it's not in our mandate to facilitate their process.
This page (like the rest of the information this website) is intended to make information more accessible to the community,
in simple, relaxed language. Feedback is always welcome, as we work towards this goal!