The Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA) serves and advocates for agricultural workers across Canada. It works towards the human and civil rights that other workers have enjoyed: health and safety protection, the right to form unions, and reasonable wages, pensions etc..

This poster really hit home with me, especially given my experiences picking strawberries years ago as a Frontier College labourer-teacher alongside the hardest working men I have ever met.

AWA Advocacy

The AWA was organized in partnership with the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW Canada) and brings the UFCW's expertise and resources to the fight for labour rights as human rights (Video of Stan Raper discussing this topic). Canadians too often take food for granted and do not consider the human impact of cheap food: exploited workers and squeezed farmers. The AWA is a focus point for advocacy to raise awareness and encourage governments to allow agricultural workers to access the protections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and other labour laws. See their site for a great history or the UFCW's involvement in the 

Services

• Issues surrounding working conditions
  • General Labour Rights - we raise awareness general labour rights in Canada and the particularities of each province
  • Working Conditions - we help members access information regarding payroll deductions, hours worked, statutory holidays, and vacation pay entitlements in general and in particular as it pertains to each province/jurisdiction
  • Health and Safety - we address general Health and Safety issues and best practices and particular provincial regulations; as well as options when faced with unsafe working conditions
• Preparation of Canadian Income Tax Returns
• Canadian Pension Plan – Quebec Pension Plan
• Parental Benefits - Employment Insurance Program
• Workers’ Compensation
• General Support Services
  • Translation
  • Health cards

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