|
The United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada has launched a constitutional challenge in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against the federal government.
The union charges that requiring migrant agricultural workers to pay premiums under the Employment Insurance Act for benefits they can't claim violates Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Migrant agricultural workers come to Canada from Mexico and the Caribbean under the federal government's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program to plant and harvest crops between February and November of each year.
The Employment Insurance Act is a social insurance scheme that provides income replacement benefits to unemployed workers. Benefit entitlement is based on the premiums the worker has been paying into the fund.
By law, migrant agricultural workers must pay premiums. But when they are no longer working, they cannot claim unemployment benefits or sick leave benefits because they must leave the country. An individual must be physically in Canada and available for work in order to receive benefits.
Most migrant agricultural workers earn Ontario's minimum wage-$7.50 per hour. On average they work in Canada for about 18 weeks and make about $8,500. During harvest time, they often work 14-16-hour days with only a half-day off per week.
In 2002, migrant agricultural workers paid $3.4 million in EI premiums. Their employers paid a further $4.8 million in premiums on their behalf for benefits the workers can't claim. At the end of the 2002-2003 fiscal year, the EI Fund had a surplus of $44.3 billion.
|
