by sanam
Last month, a Car Accident near Abbotsford, Vancouver in British Columbia saw three migrant farm workers die as their van flipped in the median on a highway. The workers were packed in benches lined up in the back place of seats, without any seat belts, in gross contravention of local laws. All 17 of these workers were women, Indo-Canadians. The age group varied from teens to mid sixties. Question is why were they traveling in such inhuman conditions. Answer is, driven by diminishing land holdings, low income levels and hearing stories of NRIs returning home with all those “made a million” overnight stories, force them to immigrate to west as if money grows on trees there waiting to be picked up. I am sure, I wont find many takers who would believe me that actually the kind of labor which Indians do there, if they do even a fraction of the same back home, they may not need to immigrate. I am not writing this blog to discourage from immigrating but to point the ground situation that would greet you there. I been to a pizza shop in Surrey, run by an Indian family at 2:00 AM, and I saw seven people, including 2 children about 12, and young ladies in their mid thirties, all family members, sleepy eyed, working; right from packing pizzas, washing dishes, mopping floors etc. I bet, when those beautiful damsels, would visit India, they wont even care to fetch a glass of water themselves.
These persons, ignoring safety standards, were working with contractors as seasonal farm workers, as vast majority of semi qualified Indo-Canadians workers do. In the wake of the accident and the uproar that followed, the British Columbia government has finally bought in tough measures this month to combat the problem. The van involved in the accident was reported altered to accommodate seating for farm workers. These benches were reportedly not there, when the van passed a mandatory inspection just a week prior to the accident and was altered immediate after the clearance. Also, the passengers were not wearing seat belts, as a result of which, some were thrown out of the vehicle as it flipped on the median. Reportedly, there were only two seatbelts in the van in the Abbotsford mishap - for the driver and the front seat passenger. And, it was this seat belt which saved the life of 23 year old Manjinder Dhillon, the front seat passenger in the van. "She was sitting right in front when the tragedy struck," said Harnek Singh Dhillon, her father. The accident brought the families of the victims together and they called on the government for tougher safety measures.
The farm workers union and the BC federation of labor have been pressing for more rights and improved employment standards for a very long time. The provincial government has bought in a regulation under which seatbelts must be provided to al farm workers being transported to B.C.'s farms and berry fields. New immigrants from India, who cannot find jobs in a new country, are forced to work on farms. The Indo-Canadian seniors, who land in Canada end up working as farm workers - picking berries, as they are not entitled to pension right away. These jobs are not unionized and do not meet employment standards. Hence, these workers enter a cycle of exploitation. They rarely or never complain as they fear losing their jobs. The contractors exploit these workers, and force them to work extra hours, sometimes even upto 10 hours a day in tough inhuman conditions without proper food, health care and other facilities. One worker that I met, was a immigrant from Nawashahr, Punjab and was desperate to return home country but could not as he had not enough money for travel and back home had borrowed money to immigrate, which he was to repay. What also discourages some of the people to return is the fear of ridicule from society back home as they would be branded as failures that could not settle in new country.
Last month, a Car Accident near Abbotsford, Vancouver in British Columbia saw three migrant farm workers die as their van flipped in the median on a highway. The workers were packed in benches lined up in the back place of seats, without any seat belts, in gross contravention of local laws. All 17 of these workers were women, Indo-Canadians. The age group varied from teens to mid sixties. Question is why were they traveling in such inhuman conditions. Answer is, driven by diminishing land holdings, low income levels and hearing stories of NRIs returning home with all those “made a million” overnight stories, force them to immigrate to west as if money grows on trees there waiting to be picked up. I am sure, I wont find many takers who would believe me that actually the kind of labor which Indians do there, if they do even a fraction of the same back home, they may not need to immigrate. I am not writing this blog to discourage from immigrating but to point the ground situation that would greet you there. I been to a pizza shop in Surrey, run by an Indian family at 2:00 AM, and I saw seven people, including 2 children about 12, and young ladies in their mid thirties, all family members, sleepy eyed, working; right from packing pizzas, washing dishes, mopping floors etc. I bet, when those beautiful damsels, would visit India, they wont even care to fetch a glass of water themselves.
These persons, ignoring safety standards, were working with contractors as seasonal farm workers, as vast majority of semi qualified Indo-Canadians workers do. In the wake of the accident and the uproar that followed, the British Columbia government has finally bought in tough measures this month to combat the problem. The van involved in the accident was reported altered to accommodate seating for farm workers. These benches were reportedly not there, when the van passed a mandatory inspection just a week prior to the accident and was altered immediate after the clearance. Also, the passengers were not wearing seat belts, as a result of which, some were thrown out of the vehicle as it flipped on the median. Reportedly, there were only two seatbelts in the van in the Abbotsford mishap - for the driver and the front seat passenger. And, it was this seat belt which saved the life of 23 year old Manjinder Dhillon, the front seat passenger in the van. "She was sitting right in front when the tragedy struck," said Harnek Singh Dhillon, her father. The accident brought the families of the victims together and they called on the government for tougher safety measures.
The farm workers union and the BC federation of labor have been pressing for more rights and improved employment standards for a very long time. The provincial government has bought in a regulation under which seatbelts must be provided to al farm workers being transported to B.C.'s farms and berry fields. New immigrants from India, who cannot find jobs in a new country, are forced to work on farms. The Indo-Canadian seniors, who land in Canada end up working as farm workers - picking berries, as they are not entitled to pension right away. These jobs are not unionized and do not meet employment standards. Hence, these workers enter a cycle of exploitation. They rarely or never complain as they fear losing their jobs. The contractors exploit these workers, and force them to work extra hours, sometimes even upto 10 hours a day in tough inhuman conditions without proper food, health care and other facilities. One worker that I met, was a immigrant from Nawashahr, Punjab and was desperate to return home country but could not as he had not enough money for travel and back home had borrowed money to immigrate, which he was to repay. What also discourages some of the people to return is the fear of ridicule from society back home as they would be branded as failures that could not settle in new country.
