No More Deaths: Solidarity Rally for Garvin Yapp in Lead Up to Criminal Prosecution Against Employer

Why: Urgent reforms are needed to protect agricultural workers

TORONTO, July 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW), Injured Workers Action for Justice (IWA4J) and the Migrant Farmworker Legal Clinic (MFWLC) are organizing a solidarity rally to demand justice for Garvin Yapp, a migrant farmworker who was killed in a workplace accident on August 14, 2022. Comrade Yapp worked for 34 years in Canada under the auspices of the Commonwealth Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (CSAWP), a labour migration scheme that brings thousands of workers to be employed on agricultural operations across Canada.

Workers employed under the CSAWP are tied to one employer, are denied labour and social mobility and must return to their home country after the expiration of their contract. The rally is taking place in advance of a scheduled pre-trial by the Province of Ontario, who has initiated a criminal prosecution against Yapp’s employer. The pre-trial will take place on July 25, 2024. The province has not announced the charges against the employer.

This is the second criminal prosecution announced by the Ministry of Labour this year. In January, a pre-trial was announced into the death of migrant farm worker Van Ngoc Le, who was killed at work while working at a ginseng farm near Waterford, Ontario.

The action is being organized to demand strengthened legal protections for all agricultural workers in the province of Ontario. Agricultural workers are excluded from multiple provisions of the Employment Standards Act. There are no industry specific regulations for agriculture under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and farmworkers do not have the right to unionize.

Migrant workers face heightened barriers to access to justice as a result of their precarious immigration status. Multiple legal decisions have highlighted the special vulnerabilities that migrant workers endure, including the recent WSIAT decision in the ‘deeming’ of migrant agricultural workers.

“Since our inception in 2002, J4MW continues to see how both levels of governments play Russian roulette with the lives of agricultural workers. We demand answers from both the province and the federal government. When will you take the necessary and critical steps to end this cycle of structural violence against agricultural workers? Proactive steps including additional legal protections, strengthened anti reprisal mechanisms and increased enforcement are necessary if we want to take steps to protect agricultural workers. No worker should return home in a body bag!” said Chris Ramsaroop, an organizer with Justice for Migrant Workers. “We will continue to hold both levels of government to account as their inaction will continue to lead to injuries, illness and death until we compel both governments to level the playing field.”

“Migrant farmworkers are injured and pass away because of the purposeful inaction of this government. A family's only option shouldn't be to prosecute the employer responsible for their loved one's death,” said Taneeta Doma, a staff lawyer with the Migrant Farmworker Legal Clinic. “The Ontario government needs to step up and legislate stronger protections for workers, and ensure that employers are not deciding whether or not workers are safe.”

“Until the Ontario government takes action, how many more migrant workers have to suffer injuries or lose their lives? The absence of enforceable provincial legislation and labour regulations to protect workers’ rights to cooling facilities leaves us vulnerable to hazardous working conditions,” says Sang-Hun, an organizer with the Injured Workers Action for Justice. “We call on the provincial government and the Legislative Assembly to pass legislation that should include, but not be limited to, regulations around heat, cold, and air quality. The Ontario government must legislate trigger temperatures, proper breaks, work hours, access to shade and water, and other comprehensive legal protections to create a safer work environment.”

For more information please contact Chris Ramsaroop (J4MW) 647-834-4932 or ramsaroopchris@gmail.com or Taneeta Doma 519-903-7376 or j4mw.on@gmail.com

Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW) is an all-volunteer collective that consists of current and former workers, labour and community activists and scholars who advocate for fairness, dignity and respect for agricultural workers.

The Migrant Farmworker Clinic (MFWLC) is the first legal clinic for migrant farmworkers in Canada, and is a project founded by J4MW in collaboration with Windsor Law. It uses a “law and organizing” framework and offers a place for racialized migrant farmworkers to address their complex, intersectional legal needs while simultaneously building structural power to challenge systemic oppressions.

Injured Workers Action for Justice (IWA4J) is a grassroots organization of injured workers and their families who fight for fair compensation and respect from the WSIB.

NEWS RELEASE TRANSMITTED BY Globe Newswire