50 Years of FarmWorker Resistance

Rise Up and Shine Toronto! Do you enjoy pancakes on a Sunday morning? How about seasonal fruit to go along with those pancakes? Then join us to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program with the Harvesting Freedom Campaign. Demand that the Canadian government provide Permanent Immigration Status to migrant farm workers in Canada-- the same workers who have been putting food on your table year after year!

Justice for Migrant Workers and the Harvesting Freedom Campaign will be embarking on a caravan starting in Leamington, Ontario on September 4th, 2016 and traveling to its final stop in Ottawa on October 2nd. The caravan, consisting of migrant workers and allies, will be making several stops and solidarity actions in towns across Southern Ontario along their route.

On September 25th, it will be Toronto's turn to welcome the caravan. Come join us at the Ontario Food Terminal to raise awareness and put pressure on the government of Canada to bring justice to the tens of thousands of farmworkers who have put food on Canadian tables for the last 50 years without any chance to lay roots in the country.

The Ontario Food Terminal is the Canada's largest wholesale distribution centre for fruit and produce, making it the economic heart of the industry which has long profited from farmworkers' precarious labour. There is no better place for us to send a clear message to the agricultural sector and to the government that 50 years of exploitation is enough! Farmworkers deserve permanent status now!

The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program SAWP is a labour-migration program that has brought tens of thousands of Caribbean and Mexican migrant farm workers to toil in fields across Canada. Migrant workers are tied to a single employer by their work permits and cannot change jobs. Workers can be sent home by their employers at any time, have no access to Permanent Residency status, and must return home after their contracts end, regardless of how many years they have worked in Canada. Despite being described as a temporary migration program, the SAWP has supported Canadas agricultural industry for half a century and is very much a permanent part of our industry and our communities.

Workers need your support! Come and help us send a clear message to the Canadian Government.

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We need to come together early in the morning on September 25th as the Food Terminal's peak hours of operation is from roughly midnight to 9am. Coffee and pancakes will be served. Rides to the action are also being organized. Stay tuned to the comments section below for updates about getting a ride.



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50 Years of FarmWorker Resistance

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