UFCW Local 501 applies at another Quebec farm

MONTRÉAL, October 28, 2008 – UFCW Canada Local 501 has applied for certification at another farm in Quebec. The application to represent 16 seasonal agricultural workers at the Jardins du Sorel farm near Montreal was filed October 28 with the Quebec Labour Relations Board, which is currently considering an application filed in July for another Quebec farm.

Like that application, the Jardins du Sorel application challenges the constitutionality of Article 21.5 of the Quebec Labour Code which bars agricultural workers from forming a union unless there are at least three ordinary and continuous employees.

"Most farm work is seasonal, so Article 21.5 is a discriminatory roadblock to most agriculture workers in Quebec ever exercising their rights under the Charter to organize for the purposes of collective bargaining," says UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley.

"It also makes it impossible for offshore workers, working in Quebec under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP), to access the protections provided under a collective agreement," said President Hanley.

"UFCW Canada will continue to organize and advocate that all agriculture workers in Canada, foreign or domestic, have the constitutional right to join our union and bargain collectively. Labour rights are human rights and Article 21.5 can't deny them."

The Jardins du Sorel application is the twelfth filed by UFCW Canada at various agriculture operations across the country. Five to date are now certified.

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