'precarious labour': b.c.'s female farm workers at risk, new report says
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families of the dead farm workers, such as the daughter of darshan puni, left, were comforted at the sentencing in 2008 for the driver of the van involved in the crash that killed three women farm workers.
les bazso
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province
avneet sidhu was seven years old when her mother died on the way to her job as a farm worker in b.c.’s fraser valley, after her employer’s overloaded van crashed.
nearly two decades later, sidhu said safety improvements are still needed to protect b.c. farm workers, and she continues to push for change as a community advocate in a south asian legal clinic.
“it’s still precarious labour,” said sidhu, the daughter of sarbjit kaur sidhu, one of three female agricultural workers killed in 2007 near abbotsford. “what we would want people to realize and understand is that (farm workers) are human beings. they have families to go back to every single day.”
a new report, to be released wednesday, tells the story of 20 south asian female farm workers in the fraser valley, and concludes “they are routinely denied basic workplace safety protections,” such as access to clean washrooms and drinking water.
“we were shocked to find that despite all the dizzying technological changes our world has seen in recent years, south asian farm-worker women in b.c. are still growing our food under archaic labour conditions,” said co-author anelyse weiler, university of victoria associate sociology professor who researches safety hazards facing workers. “(canadians) want to see a really strong local food economy, but that doesn’t need to come at the expense of workers’ dignity.”
the report, done in partnership with the b.c. society for policy solutions, found people who harvest, can or pack berries and vegetables, or work in ornamental nurseries, face high injury risks and low pay.
“most earned less than $25,000 annually,” the report says.
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it makes 11 recommendations mainly directed at the provincial government and worksafebc, calling for changes in labour policy, wage structures and workplace inspections.
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in an email tuesday, the labour ministry said it gathers feedback from the agricultural sector “on how policy and programs can be further improved,” and added it would review the report after its release wednesday.
worksafebc, in an email, said it conducted 8,471 agricultural inspections between 2021 and 2025 to ensure farms are following safety rules. there is no fixed schedule for farms, but inspections are done proactively during busy seasons, as followups to previous problems, or triggered by complaints.
concerns have existed for years about the safety of these workers, who are often new to canada and may not speak english, and some safety improvements have been made, especially in response to the 2007 van crash.
sidhu’s mother was in a 15-person van packed with 17 people, which had only two seatbelts, wooden benches instead of seats, and deflated tires. it flipped on highway 1 near the sumas exit and the driver, a contractor who places labourers on farms, didn’t have a proper driver’s licence.
“we nearly never see those types of vans transporting farm workers anymore,” sidhu said. she added they’ve been replaced by minibuses or other types of vehicles approved for large groups.
the scene of the fatal 2007 crash in abbotsford
ian smith
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vancouver sun
but other “pervasive health and safety risks” continue today, weiler said, based on her 2023 interviews with 20 women who mainly spoke punjabi, including allegations of sexual harassment.
some women didn’t witness any harassment. others, such as leila, a single mother, said she was sexually exploited by an abbotsford labour contractor who accommodated her need for flexible work hours.
“he would abuse young girls and i was also affected by it,” she said. “nobody tried to warn me.”
dismeet told the authors that her supervisor would touch her bra strap and chastise her for not being friendly. when she complained to the farm owner, she was told: “he’s a really nice man.”
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the women in the report are identified by only first names.
women complained of inadequate access to drinking water and clean washrooms, something the public should care about, the report noted, because the risk of gastrointestinal illness increases if berry and vegetable pickers have dirty hands.
in some cases, handwashing stations were temporarily installed for worksafebc inspections and then removed. at a nursery, there was one portable washroom shared by 40 workers, which got so busy that many just relieved themselves outside.
in the report, haroop said she saw her friend fall from scaffolding for mushroom picking, breaking her hip. manpreet witnessed her co-workers’ fingers get cut by the blades of a mushroom-scaling machine. charvi worked through her back pain because she needed money to support relatives.
“i thought, ‘ok, i have to do this,’ ” charvi, who earned less than $20,000 annually, is quoted as saying. “at least i get hours here every day, at least nine hours every day, six days a week.”
truck driver jagjeet sidhu is overcome by grief after his wife sarbjit kaur sidhu, 30, the mother of his three children was one of three farm workers killed in a horrific crash
les bazso
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province
among the recommendations in the report is to phase out private farm-labour contractors, describing them as “unregulated mediators” who assign the workers to farms and control their access to work hours, transportation and wages. the authors argue this system should be replaced by a government agency or a non-profit labour supply organization.
other agricultural workers are employed directly by the farms, which the women in the report said they preferred because of better work hours and other benefits.
the report also urges the province to follow through with the fair wage commission’s 2018 call for farm workers to no longer be paid a “piece rate” based on how much they pick, as this system is “fraught with abuse.” instead, they should be paid at least minimum wage, and no longer be exempt from overtime and statutory holiday pay.
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the labour ministry’s email didn’t commit to ending piece rates, but said 2024 policy tied piece rates for hand-harvesting of specified crops to annual inflation.
for worksafebc, the report urged regular checks for hygienic washrooms and lunchrooms, and to provide health and safety training for workers. in response, the agency said it legally requires agricultural employers to have sanitary washrooms, handwashing facilities and clean areas to eat food. it said workers have the legal right to raise health and safety concerns with worksafebc.
it also noted agricultural employers must providing health and safety training, which worksafebc supports with multilingual resources and information sessions.
as an abbotsford resident, sidhu frequently drives past the site of her mother’s fatal accident, and is reminded of the continued need for farm-worker protection.
“my dad referred to my mom’s case as they were being treated like third-class citizens a lot, which i think is really valid and true.”
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