Come out to support Migrant Workers in BC
Please join Justicia for Migrant Workers BC (J4MW) for a screening of "EL CONTRATO" a powerful documentary film that traces the lives of Mexican migrant farm workers in Ontario and their quest for dignity and respect amidst poor working conditions. Followed by a panel discussion about the ongoing struggles of migrant farm workers in BC.
WHEN: Wednesday July 26, 2006
TIME: 7 - 9 pm
WHERE: Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway, Vancouver BC
ENTRANCE BY DONATION: this event is a fundraiser for Justicia's legal defense fund and the organization.
CONTACT: Becky, 604-879-9763; justiciaformigrantworkersbc@yahoo.ca
ABOUT THE FILM:
"EL CONTRATO" (2003) follows Teodoro Bello Martinez, a poverty-stricken father of four living in Central Mexico, and several of his countrymen as they make an annual migration to southern Ontario. For eight months of the year the town's population absorbs 4000 migrant labourers who pick tomatoes for conditions and wages no local will accept. Under a government program that allows growers to monitor themselves, the opportunity to exploit workers is as ripe as the fruit they pick. Grievances are deflected by a long line of others "back home" who are willing to take their place.
Despite fear of repercussions, the workers voice their desire for dignity and respect, as much as for better working conditions. El Contrato ends as winter closes in and the Mexicans pledge, not for the first time and possibly not the last, that it's their final season in the north. (courtesy of the NFB).
SPEAKERS
Hari Sharma
Ph.D, Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University, President of the South Asian Network for Secularism Democracy (SANSAD). Hari was an active organizer with South Asian farm workers in the 1970's and their struggle for improved living and working conditions and the establishment of the United Farm workers of Canada. He will speak about this struggle and how it relates to the current struggle of Mexican migrant farm workers as well as the broader socio-economic context that they emerge from.
Marcos Baac
A Mexican man who migrated to Canada in 2006 under a contract through the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). Subjected to terrible living and working conditions, he and his co-workers decided to go public with a letter demanding livable conditions, dignity and justice. A month later Marcos was fired by his employer with no just cause, and faced repatriation to Mexico within 24 hours. He will tell the story of the Mexico he came from, the workers struggle for their rights here, how he took his demands public and the challenges he now faces.
Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) is a grassroots organization based in Vancouver and Toronto that, together with the workers, fights to defend and to expand the rights of migrant farm workers who come to Canada every year under the federal government's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). The J4MW collective is motivated by experiences shared and lessons learned from migrant farm workers in BC. As allies, activists and friends we believe migrant workers deserve work with dignity and respect!
For more information: www.justicia4migrantworkers.org/bc
WHEN: Wednesday July 26, 2006
TIME: 7 - 9 pm
WHERE: Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway, Vancouver BC
ENTRANCE BY DONATION: this event is a fundraiser for Justicia's legal defense fund and the organization.
CONTACT: Becky, 604-879-9763; justiciaformigrantworkersbc
ABOUT THE FILM:
"EL CONTRATO" (2003) follows Teodoro Bello Martinez, a poverty-stricken father of four living in Central Mexico, and several of his countrymen as they make an annual migration to southern Ontario. For eight months of the year the town's population absorbs 4000 migrant labourers who pick tomatoes for conditions and wages no local will accept. Under a government program that allows growers to monitor themselves, the opportunity to exploit workers is as ripe as the fruit they pick. Grievances are deflected by a long line of others "back home" who are willing to take their place.
Despite fear of repercussions, the workers voice their desire for dignity and respect, as much as for better working conditions. El Contrato ends as winter closes in and the Mexicans pledge, not for the first time and possibly not the last, that it's their final season in the north. (courtesy of the NFB).
SPEAKERS
Hari Sharma
Ph.D, Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University, President of the South Asian Network for Secularism Democracy (SANSAD). Hari was an active organizer with South Asian farm workers in the 1970's and their struggle for improved living and working conditions and the establishment of the United Farm workers of Canada. He will speak about this struggle and how it relates to the current struggle of Mexican migrant farm workers as well as the broader socio-economic context that they emerge from.
Marcos Baac
A Mexican man who migrated to Canada in 2006 under a contract through the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). Subjected to terrible living and working conditions, he and his co-workers decided to go public with a letter demanding livable conditions, dignity and justice. A month later Marcos was fired by his employer with no just cause, and faced repatriation to Mexico within 24 hours. He will tell the story of the Mexico he came from, the workers struggle for their rights here, how he took his demands public and the challenges he now faces.
Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) is a grassroots organization based in Vancouver and Toronto that, together with the workers, fights to defend and to expand the rights of migrant farm workers who come to Canada every year under the federal government's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). The J4MW collective is motivated by experiences shared and lessons learned from migrant farm workers in BC. As allies, activists and friends we believe migrant workers deserve work with dignity and respect!
For more information: www.justicia4migrantworkers
posted by Chris Rooney | 8:59 PM
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