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Bill 6, the government of Alberta's contentious farm workers' safety legislation, sparked public debate as no other legislation has done in recent years. The Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act provides a right to work safely and a compensation system for those killed or injured at work, similar to other provinces.
In nine essays, contributors to Farm Workers in Western Canada place this legislation in context. They look at the origins, work conditions, and precarious lives of farm workers in terms of larger historical forces such as colonialism, land rights, and racism. They also examine how the rights and privileges of farm workers, including seasonal and temporary foreign workers, conflict with those of their employers, and reveal the barriers many face by being excluded from most statutory employment laws, sometimes in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Contributors: Gianna Argento, Bob Barnetson, Michael J. Broadway, Jill Bucklaschuk, Delna Contractor, Darlene A. Dunlop, Brynna Hambly (Takasugi), Zane Hamm, Paul Kennett, Jennifer Koshan, C.F. Andrew Lau, J. Graham Martinelli, Shirley A. McDonald, Robin C. McIntyre, Nelson Medeiros, Kerry Preibisch, Heidi Rolfe, Patricia Tomic, Ricardo Trumper, and Kay Elizabeth Turner. In-depth look at social, political, and economic conditions affecting farm workers' struggles for their rights. "It will eternally be to Alberta's shame that it took so long for the province to protect its farm workers with occupational health and safety legislation and employment standards laws. Successive Tory governments had blood on their hands, as Bob Barnetson and Shirley A. McDonald so eloquently portray in the book they've co-edited, Farm Workers in Western Canada: Injustices and Activism... The story of Alberta's farm workers has cried out to be told for a long time. This hugely important book has done that story justice." Bibliography, notes, index "The book's subtitle - Injustices and Activism - captures the two main themes it explores: the horrible exploitation that many farm workers endure, and the efforts they and their supporters have made to organize for reforms. This book represents a compelling argument that those of us who depend on the life-supporting work done by Canadians and temporary foreign workers on Canadian farms ought to support their efforts to unionize and their insistence that existing safety regulations should be enforced more aggressively." [Full article at http://vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/book-review-exposing-the-injustices-that-lie-beneath-the-canadian-dinner-table] "Am currently reading 'Farm Workers in Western Canada: Injustices and Activism' and am absolutely convinced that the Farm Safety Enhancement Bill was the morally right decision to provide safety, protection and compensation for farm families and workers... In time Bill 6 may become recognized as one of [Alberta's] best, progressive pieces of legislation." "The nine essays in this volume show how dynamics such as global agribusiness concentration have made meat processors and farm workers vulnerable to low-wage, unhealthy and dangerous jobs. This timely book thus underscores why legislated worker rights are crucial... Interspersed throughout the book are first-hand accounts from the pesticide applicators and carcass disassembly lines. Candid stories from Alberta farm worker Darlene Dunlop's 15 years of activism are particularly memorable.... Several chapters on migrant workers in BC, Manitoba and Alberta powerfully illuminate the barriers faced by racialized, non-citizen workers in exercising their rights... While the struggle for justice in Canadian fields and factories is unfinished, this book reminds us of workers' perseverance despite grinding indignity." "One of the greatest strengths of this book is its emphasis on unsettling a series of longstanding myths about agriculture in western Canada.... In the second half of the book, the contr
In nine essays, contributors to Farm Workers in Western Canada place this legislation in context. They look at the origins, work conditions, and precarious lives of farm workers in terms of larger historical forces such as colonialism, land rights, and racism. They also examine how the rights and privileges of farm workers, including seasonal and temporary foreign workers, conflict with those of their employers, and reveal the barriers many face by being excluded from most statutory employment laws, sometimes in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Contributors: Gianna Argento, Bob Barnetson, Michael J. Broadway, Jill Bucklaschuk, Delna Contractor, Darlene A. Dunlop, Brynna Hambly (Takasugi), Zane Hamm, Paul Kennett, Jennifer Koshan, C.F. Andrew Lau, J. Graham Martinelli, Shirley A. McDonald, Robin C. McIntyre, Nelson Medeiros, Kerry Preibisch, Heidi Rolfe, Patricia Tomic, Ricardo Trumper, and Kay Elizabeth Turner. In-depth look at social, political, and economic conditions affecting farm workers' struggles for their rights. "It will eternally be to Alberta's shame that it took so long for the province to protect its farm workers with occupational health and safety legislation and employment standards laws. Successive Tory governments had blood on their hands, as Bob Barnetson and Shirley A. McDonald so eloquently portray in the book they've co-edited, Farm Workers in Western Canada: Injustices and Activism... The story of Alberta's farm workers has cried out to be told for a long time. This hugely important book has done that story justice." Bibliography, notes, index "The book's subtitle - Injustices and Activism - captures the two main themes it explores: the horrible exploitation that many farm workers endure, and the efforts they and their supporters have made to organize for reforms. This book represents a compelling argument that those of us who depend on the life-supporting work done by Canadians and temporary foreign workers on Canadian farms ought to support their efforts to unionize and their insistence that existing safety regulations should be enforced more aggressively." [Full article at http://vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/book-review-exposing-the-injustices-that-lie-beneath-the-canadian-dinner-table] "Am currently reading 'Farm Workers in Western Canada: Injustices and Activism' and am absolutely convinced that the Farm Safety Enhancement Bill was the morally right decision to provide safety, protection and compensation for farm families and workers... In time Bill 6 may become recognized as one of [Alberta's] best, progressive pieces of legislation." "The nine essays in this volume show how dynamics such as global agribusiness concentration have made meat processors and farm workers vulnerable to low-wage, unhealthy and dangerous jobs. This timely book thus underscores why legislated worker rights are crucial... Interspersed throughout the book are first-hand accounts from the pesticide applicators and carcass disassembly lines. Candid stories from Alberta farm worker Darlene Dunlop's 15 years of activism are particularly memorable.... Several chapters on migrant workers in BC, Manitoba and Alberta powerfully illuminate the barriers faced by racialized, non-citizen workers in exercising their rights... While the struggle for justice in Canadian fields and factories is unfinished, this book reminds us of workers' perseverance despite grinding indignity." "One of the greatest strengths of this book is its emphasis on unsettling a series of longstanding myths about agriculture in western Canada.... In the second half of the book, the contr