by: Michael Flood

Working long hours in smouldering heat; returning after work to crammed living conditions; and facing fears of deportation should one get injured or complain – not exactly ideal terms of employment, but this is the reality faced by some of the 2,500 Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) hired on at fruit farms in the Okanagan.

About one third of the total number of workers employed on the region’s farms is Temporary Foreign Workers.

According to a report by the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission (COECD), the gross revenue of the fruit farms in the Okanagan Valley was a whopping $120,147,514 in 2016. Even with that number, it is understandable that profit margins might be thin in the agricultural industry due to high production costs and the price received for the sale of cherries varying from season to season. While farms do fork out the cost of travel and basic living expenses, hiring foreign workers is seen as a tactic to capitalize on workers willing to do the laborious tasks for a low salary, a gap that cannot be filled by locals.

A UBCO student who spent two weeks of his summer cherry picking noted that he couldn’t decide which was more difficult, “waking up at 4am to pick, or the intensity of the picking itself in the hot weather”. Due to the difficulty retaining local workers, the SAWP (Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program) allows farm owners to hire workers who come from an agricultural background in their native countries.

This past summer, I had the opportunity to volunteer with RAMA (Radical Action with Migrants in Agriculture), a local non-profit set-up to support these labour migrants with anything from a trip to the drug store to advocating for their rights at a national level.

What surprised me about the experience were the poor living standards, the racism and discrimination, and the levels of depression experienced by these workers. One worker from Jamaica, who asked to remain unnamed, reported having derogatory remarks frequently made against him and his peers while on the job. While this behaviour should never be condoned or tolerated, it seems outrageous that individuals who contribute to an extremely important industry in the Okanagan receive no gratitude and, instead, face discrimination.

Fortunately for the migrant farmers in the Okanagan, RAMA exists to support workers during their stay, and has been instrumental in the debate on the rights of temporary foreign workers.

When Justin Trudeau visited UBCO in August, a representative from RAMA was able to pose some suggestions to the Prime Minister. She highlighted the reality farmers are facing in the Okanagan, despite the governments apathy towards refining some details of the SAWP. The suggestions included replacing the tied work permits that lock migrants to one farm, instead offering them a traditional work permit allowing movement between farms should some of the aforementioned abuses take place. The RAMA spokesperson highlighted “that the employers know that the workers can’t leave, so the conditions don’t need to improve.” Further suggestions included granting workers an upon-arrival healthcare guarantee, which they currently don’t enjoy – this poses great risk when working in the injury-prone field of agriculture. Finally, RAMA highlighted the need for “some kind of different status that makes it more difficult to send workers home simply because they complain.”

The ultimate conflict they, and others, are trying to solve, is how to protect the basic rights of workers who play such an important role in the Kelowna agricultural economy.

This past October, RAMA was given the opportunity to continue their advocacy work, meeting with the B.C. Minister of Agriculture to express their concerns. They continue to be instrumental in the fight for migrant rights in this region and elsewhere.

For information on RAMA’s efforts, visit their Facebook page.