Two months after three farm workers died in a controversial early morning highway crash that injured fourteen others, the minister of labour and citizens' services has announced a series of regulatory changes that will require seatbelts for all passengers in farm labour transport vans, add a total of six staff at WorkSafeBC and the Employment Standards Branch and toughen inspections and penalties for unsafe transportation of farm workers.

The changes will prohibit growers from using unlicensed labour contractors and suspend the licenses of contractors who repeatedly violate WorkSafeBC or Motor Vehicle Act regulations.

Minister Olga Illich said in a press release Thursday morning that "These changes build on the work we have done previously to protect farm workers -- and we are prepared to enforce new measures fully."

"B.C.'s farmers fully support all government initiatives around safety and compliance on the farm or during transportation to the workplace," the government press release quotes Steve Thompson, executive director of the BC Agricultural Council.

Some observers say the May 3rd announcement represents a victory for the families of the workers killed in the March tragedy and for the unions, advocates and community groups that called then for immediate action on farm worker safety.

However, they caution that the battle is only half-won.

They point out that while the government's proposed policy changes will address many concerns about worker safety, they do nothing to restore protections under the Employment Standards Act that were stripped away from farm workers in 2002 and 2003, changes which they say leave B.C. farm workers treated as second class citizens.

There are also, they say, questions of accountability left unanswered by what the Minister announced today.

'Chose to fight'

"This announcement is an important step forward for the families of the women who died, and for all farm workers," B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair told the Tyee in a phone interview on Thursday evening. "These folks didn't just go away with their grief and loss. They chose to stand up and fight, and their victory today is a lesson to us all. It is wonderful that most of the safety changes we urged when we met with the minister in March have been implemented, but the public accountability and scrutiny we asked for isn't there, and the return of Employment Standards protections we demanded isn't there either."

"One of our central demands when we met with the Minister," Sinclair said, "was for an inter-agency farm worker committee that would co-ordinate the work of all the agencies concerned, and would report monthly to a public advisory committee that included actual farm workers. There is nothing in today's announcement to indicate that we're going to see that kind of transparency and accountability. It isn't enough to just have resources. They have to be co-ordinated, and the public has to know that they are being used effectively."

"These changes are a really good start," said Sarah Khan, staff lawyer with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Vancouver and an experienced advocate for farm workers. "There is a great recognition here of the need to deal with safety issues. But we think there should be more done on Employment Standards. There are no provisions in this announcement for restoring the protections workers lost. I am hearing from lots of farm workers that they want back the protections they lost in 2002 and 2003."

'Key issues of human rights'

Charan Gill, a former officer of the Canadian Farmworkers' Union and currently the head of the Progressive Intercultural Community Society, agrees that the Minister's announcement represents a useful first step, especially on safety issues, but he shares Khan's concerns regarding the silence on Employment Standards reforms.

"They didn't give an inch on rights," he told The Tyee in a phone interview. "There is no movement on statutory holiday pay, overtime, or vacation pay. These are key issues of human rights, and need to be addressed."

Raj Chouhan, like Gill a veteran of decades of organizing and advocacy for farm workers, is now NDP MLA for Burnaby Edmonds. He told the Tyee in a May 3rd phone interview that the minister's announcement fell far short of the "complete overhaul" needed in the way the government treats the province's agricultural workers.

"When we met with the minister and the families of the killed workers," he said," we gave her a brief with 29 recommendations. If she is serious, she needs to implement all the recommendations. Without restoring Employment Standards protections, she is leaving farm workers as second-class citizens. The picking season is around the corner. If the minister is serious she should move quickly on the issues she missed in today's announcement."

Minister Illich told The Tyee that she had no plans to make the suggested changes in the Employment Standards Act.

'Not going back'

"We are not going back to the one-size-fits all approach of the NDP," Illich said. "We're making sure people are safe, but the changes we made in Employment Standards coverage are consistent with other provinces and with American jurisdictions, and they make the industry more competitive. We spoke with farm workers who are happy about the changes. They can work as many hours as they want now. These changes in overtime have been made in other sectors too, such as the high tech industry."

When asked by The Tyee for names of farm workers who approved of the 2002/2003 changes in Employment Standards protections, the minister said she couldn't remember any. However, she did recall that the workers she was quoting had come to meetings with her accompanied by representatives of growers and other agricultural employers.

"The fact is," said BCFL president Jim Sinclair, "that the minister can't produce one farm worker or farm worker's organization that supports the cuts to Employment Standards protections. I just came tonight from a meeting with the survivors of the March crash and family members of the women who died. They were clear about wanting Employment Standards Act protections returned to farm workers. They want to be treated like other workers. We're a long way from done on this fight.

"The family members want a meeting with the minister here in Abbotsford," Sinclair added. "And we are sending a letter supporting that demand."

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• Labour Double-Standards Blamed for Farmworkers' Deaths
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• Farm Workers' Deaths: A Tragedy Foretold
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• New Farm Worker Abuses Uncovered
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