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Materials Available from One Sky Cross-Cultural Centre
Publisher: One Sky, 134 Ave. "F" South, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7M 1S8Year Published: 1981 Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical) Cx Number: CX2342 Abstract: 1) We're Here, Negotiate! This newsletter is published to raise public awareness of the issue of the lack of legal rights of farm workers in Canada, to mobilize public action to include farm workers in the Trade Union Act of Saskatchewan, and to provide publicity and support for the Canadian Farmworkers Union. The newsletter contains a series of articles which describe and analyse the position of farmworkers in Canada, their attempts to organize in British Columbia and the parallel between working conditions in Canada, and those of the Third World. Canada Manpower has two classifications for farmworkers: First, "Low Skilled" labourers in the fruit and vegetable, tobacco and sugar beet sectors of agriculture. More and more Canadians are refusing to work at hard labour for poor wages and seasonal employment. Therefore, farmowners and operators are importing foreign workers with seasonal permits. Every year approximately 5000 workers come from Mexico and the Caribbean to work alongside the 35 000 Canadians and resident immigrants awaiting citizenship. The largest concentration of these workers are in Ontario (15 000). The remainder are spread over Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia. The second category, "Unskilled Workers," involves more of the grain and livestock industry on the Prairies. They are predominantly the youth of rural areas who work on the farm for the summer months while attending school in the winter or in preparation for taking over the family farm operation. Included in this newsletter is an article written by a Plains Cree woman from the Sturgeon Lake Reserve in Saskatchewan. She tells of her experiences as a migrant sugar beet labourer in southern Alberta. Also included in the newsletter is a summary of a brief submitted by the Canadian Farmworkers Union to the British Columbia government in 1980. (24 pages, January, 1981 - 50c) 2) Taken for Granted - Farm and Domestic Workers. This slide-tape is available from One Sky and also from its producers, the Labour Advocacy and Research Association (LARA), c/o Rachel Epstein, 2520 Triumph St., Vancouver, B.C. This slide-tape production (and collection of background material) documents the historical and current conditions of these workers and looks at the ways people are organizing to improve the situation. The slide-tape show is in two parts: Part 1 discusses the history of farm and domestic workers in British Columbia; Part II discusses current working conditions and recent organizing attempts. Background material for the slide-tape show includes articles on: History of Farm Work; History of Domestic Work; Conditions of Farm Work/Domestic Work; Legal Rights of Farm and Domestic Workers; magazine articles on current organizing attempts; newspaper clippings; and legal information prepared by L.A.R.A. (35 mins. Purchase fee: $50) 3) Labour and the New Technology (Summer, 1981, 75c, 24 pages) 4) Women in the 80s (March, 1981, 75c, 24 pages) 5) Organizing the Unorganized. This report will be published in May, 1982. (75c, 24 pages) Subject Headings |