Ontario Trial Begins in Wake of Jamaican Migrant Agriculture Worker Deaths

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 10, 2012) - A Walkerton, Ontario trial, scheduled January 11-14, comes 16 months following the deaths of two Jamaican migrant workers who died after exposure to toxic fumes while working at an Ayton, Ontario farm. Paul Roach, 44, and Ralston White, 36, both of Jamaica, died on September 10, 2010 while working at Filsinger's Organic Foods & Orchards. They were attempting to fix a pump for a vinegar vat when they were overcome by the fumes.

In the wake of an Ontario Ministry of Labour investigation into the fatalities, charges were laid under Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) against four individuals who are the first-ever charged under OHSA following a farm workplace fatality.

Debra Ann Becker, Shaun Ronald Becker, Cory Richard Becker and Brandon Kenneth - the operators of Filsinger's - stand trial facing multiple charges including failing to provide training, equipment and a rescue plan for workers in a dangerous confined space like the vinegar vat at the farm.

"The court will decide the fate of the accused but it cannot undo the tragic deaths of Paul Roach and Ralston White," says Wayne Hanley, the national president of UFCW Canada. "We hope this trial brings some closure to the victims' families, and that it is a wake-up call to the agriculture industry that safety is paramount and that agriculture workers are not disposable commodities," said the leader of Canada's largest private-sector union.

For more than two decades, UFCW Canada has led a campaign for equal labour, workplace and safety rights for agriculture workers. In association with the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA), it also operates ten agriculture worker support centres across Canada, including four in Ontario. The union called for a coroner's inquest in the wake of the September 10, 2010 fatalities, and UFCW Canada's legal actions were directly responsible for Ontario extending OHSA protections for the first-time ever to Ontario agriculture workers in 2006.

"Even with OHSA protection, Ontario agriculture workers will remain hesitant to report safety concerns for fear of employer reprisals," says Hanley. "That fear will continue, as long as Ontario farm workers are denied the right to unionize. Without that right, agriculture workers in Ontario will remain at the mercy of employers who would rather fire a worker than invest in proper safety equipment and training."