COVID-19 is spreading through populations of migrant agricultural farm workers in Canada. But why? Join host Sukanya Pillay in conversation with Syed Hussan, Executive Director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change in Canada for an in-depth conversation on the topic. Hussan provides crucial insights into the problems of national and global injustices against migrant workers, how we get here, and concrete steps and strategy for change.
Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program and Temporary Farm Workers Program creates a system that perpetuates exploitation. Every year, tens of thousands of migrant workers come to work on Canadian farms. But too many migrant farm workers live in squalid conditions, working long hours, doing demanding work for sub-standard pay, and denied fundamental rights and respect for their dignity. Routes to permanent residence or citizenship are obstructed.
Migrant farm workers have enabled Canada's agricultural industry to become a global force. But COVID-19 is revealing how badly these essential workers have been treated.
The episode begins with brief interviews that shed light on why so many Mexican farmers and rural residents turned to migrant farm worker in Canada over the past fifteen years.
Then Syed Hussan in a detailed interview explains the issues that must change, the specific changes sought, and the strategies employed by the Migrant Farm Workers Alliance. Key to MWAC is that they are a migrant worker led group.
MIgrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC) website: https://migrantworkersalliance.org/
Report of MWAC "UNHEEDED WARNINGS: COVID-19 and Migrant Workers in Canada" is available here: https://migrantworkersalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Unheeded-Warnings-COVID19-and-Migrant-Workers.pdf
To donate: https://migrantworkersalliance.org/donate/
Sound editing by OMS Entertainment