S Symons
Foreign Workers
Government Hints at Changes to the Foreign Workers Program
The federal government had been making much noise about the need to reform the Employment Insurance system. Changes introduced at the end of May would see some E.I. recipients lose their benefits if they don’t take available work, within a given period of time, even if pay is substantially lower than previous positions. The idea is to force the chronically, or habitually unemployed to take up positions they would normally avoid.
Since the new requirements have limits based on commuting time it is unlikely that anyone, other than locals, would be pressured to take fruit picking jobs.
Although federal Human Resources Minister Diane Finley specifically mentioned foreign workers in her talks on the E.I. revisions; she appears most concerned with foreign workers used for service outlets like fast food restaurants, rather than agriculture.
Finley also suggested employers make more effort to find willing workers, but so far, it is unclear what new conditions may be imposed to find those workers.
Coral Beach Farms is a fourth-generation, large operation in Lake Country renowned for its cherries. Coral Beach takes in a couple of hundred Mexican workers each year through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP).
A spokesperson, who did not want to be identified, says they would prefer to hire Canadians but they can’t find enough of them. He says they go beyond what is required under the SAWP when advertising for Canadian workers, but still can’t attract enough.
Whatever the number of unemployed Canadians who might lose their benefits or be forced to work on farms, Glen Lucas, manager of the B.C. Fruit Growers Association, is frankly skeptical. He says, “Forcing people to take farming work, doesn’t work.”
Canadians have become, he believes, an urban folk who do not relate to farm work and often don’t see a future in it. They don’t like heavy labour jobs and won’t do them. Immigrants see it differently.
Lucas says immigrants are essential for the continuation of farming in this country. “If we’re going to have farms in 20 or 30 years we’re going to have to figure out who’s going to be the farmers. We need more immigration.”
This year costs for hiring foreign workers have increased, partly because of the increase in the province’s minimum wage. Hiring Canadians is also less expensive because plane fare and a guaranteed length of employment are not requirements for Canadian workers. Even so, the Coral Beach spokesperson reports it saves them money to hire Mexicans because the foreigners are dedicated to staying. Too many Canadians will stay on for only a few paycheques before moving on. Some treat orchard work as a sort of working holiday.
The E.I. changes will likely have little impact on that kind of transient job behaviour.
Down in Creston, the Snow family runs a much smaller cherry operation at the LW Truscott Farms. Gary Snow says the farm is shrinking. Cherries have become money losers because of a huge expansion coming from Washington State and increased production in Europe.
Picking employment on the Snow farm is down to 40 positions from 70 in past years as he switched from growing cherries to processing the cherries into juice.
For their 40 positions the Snows received 600 applicants last year and Gary expects to get the same this year, primarily from Quebec youth. He is also aware that those pickers will apply for work at many farms. Snow guesses all the farms in Creston require a total of 400 to 500 workers.
While Truscott Farms has never hired Mexicans, he acknowledges that they don’t have enough work to consider the program (under the SAWP workers must be guaranteed six weeks of employment, longer than the Snows need to bring in their cherries).
Other farmers in Creston employ Mexicans, but Gary says that is because they own larger farms with a variety of crops so they can move the Mexicans from one crop to another.
Susan Snow says they don’t want to hire non-Canadians and likely will never need to. Like most farmers they offer jobs first to returning pickers. At Truscott Farms pickers are paid by piece work, unlike SAWP which must offer an hourly wage. Truscott pickers can do very well. Gary says top notch pickers can earn up to $50 an hour.
The federal government’s changes to E.I. and requirements for hiring Canadian workers will come into effect over the course of the next year. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), the ministry responsible for administering programs like the SAWP, would not comment, saying only that details should be released within a “few months.”
Coral Beach reports no changes to the temporary worker program this year so whatever bureaucratic changes are going to occur won’t affect farmers until 2013.