British Columbia Federation of Labour

Jim Sinclair, President of the B.C. Federation of Labour, testified today at the Coroner’s Inquest into the deaths of three farmworkers who died in a van crash in 2007.  The women died when the overloaded passenger van in which they were travelling collided with two other vehicles on the Trans-Canada Highway near Abbotsford.

In his testimony, Sinclair spoke of systemic problems with the inspection process used to ensure the road worthiness of the 15 passenger vans used to transport farmworkers in BC.  “The enforcement system was easily circumvented and wholly inadequate to provide any degree of safety for the passengers of these vans,” says Sinclair.

Sinclair also pointed to recommendations that came out of an investigation into an earlier van crash that killed a farmworker in 2003.  “The government failed to act on recommendations that would have made these workers safer and could have prevented the accident that killed these three women in 2007,” Sinclair says.

The B.C. Federation of Labour also wants criminal charges laid in cases where there is clear criminal negligence in a workplace.  “The system of financial fines that the Workers’ Compensation Board has in place now isn’t working.  The fines are too often not even paid and fines are clearly not providing the deterrence that would make farmworkers safer,” says Sinclair.

"The best way to improve farmworker safety is to conduct a full public inquiry into working conditions in the agricultural sector," Sinclair adds.  "We know that British Columbians do not want food on their tables that has come at the cost of killed and injured farmworkers."

Sinclair is also calling on the Minister of Labour to agree to implement all of the Coroner’s jury recommendations once their findings and recommendations are released. 

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For more information: Evan Stewart, Director of Communications (604) 430-1421.