“Rally calls for urgent reforms to protect migrant workers”

On Monday, July 22, 2024, a crowd gathered at the Ministry of Labour in Toronto, rallying for justice for Garvin Yapp, a migrant farmworker who tragically lost his life in a workplace accident nearly two years ago. Organized by Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW), Injured Workers Action for Justice (IWA4J), and the Migrant Farmworker Legal Clinic (MFWLC), the rally underscored the urgent need for reforms to protect agricultural workers in Ontario.

Yapp was 57-year-old when he died at Berlo’s Best Farm in Southern Ontario. He was employed at the farm for nearly 35 years. The pre-trial against Yapp’s employer, the VanBerlo family, is set for Thursday July 25. This marks only the second criminal prosecution announced by the Ministry of Labour this year involving the death of a migrant farmworker. The first was the case of Van Ngoc Le, who was killed at a ginseng farm near Waterford, Ontario…

…Together, they voiced their demands for systemic changes to prevent further tragedies like Yapp’s. Chris Ramsaroop, an organizer with J4MW, emphasized the need for accountability and proactive measures…

…the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP)…ties workers to a single employer, limiting their labor and social mobility and requiring them to return to their home countries upon contract expiration…