"Migrant workers deserve to know the details of how they're being tracked, union says,"

The way migrant farm workers' productivity is tracked, and the possible consequences for moving too slowly, are at the centre of a campaign by a union that represents them.

Last year, the Ontario government passed legislation requiring businesses with more than 25 employees to create policies and let workers know how employers might be using their personal information.

Santiago Escobar, a national representative with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), said it wants to raise awareness that for workers in agriculture, tracking information is already being used.

"For instance, this will impact local and migrant agricultural workers and they deserve to know exactly the type of information, the type of data that the employer is using," he said...

Richard Lee, executive director of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG), said the technology has been around for a while and helps farming operations find efficiencies and track food safety issues...

But Escobar said he's heard from workers that the data is used to measure progress and speed, and can result in punishments for employees who aren't working fast enough...

Lee said the data is essential to making farming sustainable, and it can be used to reward employees.