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8 THE RURAL VOICE '
Jeffrey Carter
There are two sides to farm workers' issue
Jeffrey
Carter is a
freelance
journalist
based in
Dresden,
Ontario.
By Jeffrey Carter
I read with interest in the April 23
Ontario Farmer the article on page 2
written by Laura Carter concerning
the situation faced by migrant
workers.
Mike Fraser of the United Food
and Commercial Workers and Stan
Raper, the co-ordinator of an
outreach program, commented
extensively.
Here's some of what they had to
say:
• "Just because someone comes from
Mexico shouldn't mean they have to
live in substandard conditions in
Canada."
• "In some cases living conditions are
horrendous... There may be 60 or
more people living in a one -storey
building with three showers."
• "In rural Southern Ontario, if you're
not white and Anglo-Saxon then
you're not respected... Not everyone
is like that, but it's true for some."
I think it quite likely that Fraser
and Raper are making valid points.
Substandard conditions do exist and
some of them may even be described
as "horrendous." I've heard some of
these stories myself from sources I
deetn reliable. Most at risk, I think,
are those workers who come to
Canada on a freelance basis without
benefit of the official government
program which is quite stringent.
That said, I do take exception to
the comments about racism, even
with the qualification. The employers
that mistreat their workers do so
irrespective race, creed or colour. If
they're prejudiced as well, I suspect
that's just an unhappy coincidence.
I'd also like to put the situation in
perspective.
Consider the example of three
showers for 60 workers. If there's an
adequate supply of hot water, I'd say
those workers have a darn good
chance of wiping off the grime of the
day's work. When I'm camping, it
takes me Tess than five minutes to
shower and get clean. With 60 guys
and three showers that works out to
60 minutes for the whole lot of them.
An hour and a half on the
outside. That's reasonable.
I myself, have lived in substandard
conditions as a worker. There was
that three-month stint up in Zama
Lake, Northern Alberta working for a
fellow by the name of Hank
Stenstrom.
Do not get me wrong. I'm not
complaining. Hank was a great
fellow. The money was good and the
accommodations met my needs but
I'm willing to bet Hank's facilities
wouldn't make the kind of grades
Fraser and Raper are talking about.
Then there was the place where I
grew up. Again, I'm not complaining.
Quite the opposite. But the septic
system wasn't quite up snuff, I'm
thinking, and we had a hand dug well
close to the barnyard. You know
what I'm saying.
That said, there's no excuse for
employers, whoever they are, to
mistreat their employees.
I'd just like Fraser and Raper to
descend a little bit from their lofty
perch. It might also be a worthwhile
exercise to consider some of the
farmers who are doing an exemplary
job in treating their workers. I know
that there are lot of them out there.
Providing positive reinforcement will
do as much good as concentrating on
the "horrendous" cases.0
The Rural Voice
welcomes your opinions
for our Feedback letters to
the editor column.
Mail to: The Rural Voice,
PO Box 429,
Blyth, ON NOM I HO