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Fraser Valley migrant farm workers celebrate opening of Abbotsford Support Centre
June 8, 2007
Abbotsford, BC - The first-ever Abbotsford Migrant Agricultural Worker Support Centre will be officially opened this Sunday, June 10, 2007 with a ribbon cutting ceremony, hospitality reception, and musical entertainment.
This community-based centre will provide services to the approximately 1,000 seasonal migrant workers who come to the Abbotsford and Fraser Valley region every year to plant and harvest crops ranging from vegetables to flowers to fruit, grapes and berries.
The migrant workers come to Canada under a federal program that contracts workers to specific area farms, but leaves the workers with no social, or legal support; and no protection from retaliation for reporting an abusive employer.
Since 2002, United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW Canada) has filled that gap at its own cost by providing health and safety training, translation assistance, ESL classes, legal assistance (compensation, insurance, etc.) and recreational activities.
UFCW Canada has also fought a decade-long public and legal campaign to gain migrant and domestic farm workers decent, safe working conditions and workplace rights.
The new Abbotsford Migrant Agricultural Worker Support Centre joins five other centres operated by UFCW Canada located in Leamington, Simcoe, Virgil and Bradford, Ontario, and in St. Rémi de Napierville, Quebec.
Approximately 18,000 migrant agricultural workers come to Canada every year. For a comprehensive overview of migrant agricultural workers in Canada go to www.ufcw.ca and click on the link for The Status of Migrant Farm Workers in Canada report.
UFCW Canada represents over 240,000 workers across Canada in all aspects of the food industry and many other industries.
Date: Sunday, June 10, 2007
Time: Reception begins at 12:00 noon, Ribbon cutting at 1:00 pm
Place: Abbotsford Migrant Agricultural Worker Support Centre
203 - 2642 Cedar Park Place, Abbotsford, BC
(east of Clearbrook along South Fraser Way)
For more information contact: Lincoln Ellis, UFCW Canada National Office, 1-416-579-9232 or lellis@ufcw.ca
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