• Français
FacebookTwitterYoutubeInstagram
Find Your Local Union
Subscribe to E-news
 
Login
Contact

UFCW Canada - Union Logo

Canada's Private Sector Union

  • About Our Union
  • Media & News
  • Resources
  • Issues
  • Action Centre
  • Join the Union

Québec Commission helps migrant agriculture workers learn rights

fShare
Tweet

Mario Délisle addressing the Québec Labour Standards Commission.

This year the Québec Labour Standards Commission (CNT) held a conference to determine whether certain aspects of the Labour Standards Act need to be revised. Prior to the conference, the CNT conducted an inquest in 2010 that analyzed the extent to which the Act is being respected by employers. The inquest studied the strategies that employers are using to address labour shortages and found that, by devising new methods of hiring and classifying workers, employers have discovered ways to avoid their responsibilities under the Labour Standards Act.

Two examples are the federal government's Temporary Foreign Worker programs and the increasing tendency of employers to use employment agencies to recruit temporary and migrant workers.

Speaking at the CNT conference, Mario Délisle, secretary treasurer of UFCW Canada Local 501 addressed the current struggle of temporary foreign agricultural workers in Québec. He denounced the fact that foreign workers are not made aware of their employment rights and cannot access information on these rights from a reliable, independent source. In response to this problem, the Labour Standards Commission collaborated with the province's Occupational Health and Safety Commission and Human Rights Commission to develop a video that explains agricultural workers' rights in Spanish. The video was released this past June.

According to Louis Bolduc, Executive Assistant to National President Hanley, "the Labour Standards Commission has been very helpful in trying to improve the situation of temporary foreign agricultural workers and is aware that quite often their rights are violated by employers." Bolduc also sits on the CNT's board of directors and says that "as long as the right of these workers to return to and work in Quebec is not protected, they will always be fearful of raising issues with their employer or filing complaints. That is why we need to pressure employers and governments to improve the rights and working conditions of foreign agricultural workers in Quebec and across Canada."

  • Media & News
    • News
      • All News
      • Agriculture
      • By the Numbers
      • Campaigns
      • Directions Newsletter
      • Infographics
      • Politics
      • Social Justice
      • Women and Gender Equity
      • Young Workers
      • Health & Safety
    • Media
      • Videos
      • Photo Gallery
      • Posters
    • Subscribe to E-news
  • Join the Union
  • About Our Union
    • About Our Union
      • Find Your Local Union
      • National President
      • National Council
      • Constitution
      • Union History
      • Mission Statement
      • Annual Reports
      • Join UFCW Canada
  • Media & News
    • Media & News
      • News
      • Media
      • Subscribe to E-news
  • Resources
    • Resources
      • Union Training & Scholarships
      • Health & Safety
      • The National Defence Fund
      • Member Discounts
      • Great Canadian Food Products
      • UFCW Canada Equity Grant Program
  • Issues
    • Issues
      • Leukemia Fundraising
      • Political Action
      • Women and Gender Equity
      • Social Justice
      • The Union for Agriculture Workers
      • UFCW Pride – Union Pride!
      • Young Workers
      • Food Justice
      • Global Solidarity
      • Uber Drivers United
      • Conscious Cannabis
  • Action Centre
    • Action Centre
      • Stop the Hate! Support an anti-racist COVID-19 recovery
      • Add Your Voice to the Call for Universal Childcare
      • Take Action to Protect Farm Workers and Canada’s Food Supply
      • Show your support for frontline workers
      • Help Food Processing Workers!
      • Economic Security for All
      • What you need to know about COVID-19
      • Stand against conversion therapy in Canada
      • Support the expansion of EI benefits
      • Tell Coca-Cola to respect workers’ rights
      • Help support justice for First Nations children in Canada
      • Support Uber Drivers
      • Tell leading grocery giants across Canada to protect workers and ditch toxic receipts
      • Support good union jobs at The Beer Store
      • #NoMore campaign to end gender-based violence
      • Help close the Gender Wage Gap today
      • Stop Cargill’s union-busting in Turkey
  • Join the Union
    • Join the Union
      • Why UFCW Canada
      • Union Advantage
      • Union Facts
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Everything About Unions
      • Workplaces We Represent
      • How to Join a Union
      • Join Now

Login

FacebookTwitterYoutubeInstagram

Copyright © 2021 UFCW Canada. All Rights Reserved
United Food and Commercial Workers Union
Canada's private sector union