The Labour College of Canada Labour Law students attending the SFL/CLC Spring School wish to congratulate you on your recent presentation to the United Nations regarding child labour in developing countries.  The position that the government has taken is admirable and worthy of recognition.

We ask, however, that the Minister of Labour's attention be drawn to a matter somewhat closer to home; a matter eerily similar to that of the unregulated working conditions in developing countries which you have recently spoken about.

In so far as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides that "every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination", we are appalled at the grievous exemptions allowed in the Saskatchewan Labour Standards Act.

Section 4, subsection (3) of the Act declares "…employees employed primarily in farming, ranching or market gardening…" to be excluded from the Act.  However, workers employed in "… the operation of egg hatcheries, greenhouses and nurseries, or bush clearing operations…" are entitled to the benefits of the Act.  Clearly, in our opinion, this provision is to allow for the existence and operation of the traditional family farm.  Unfortunately, the Department of Labour's interpretation of this clause also allows corporate hog barns, which process tens of thousands of animals a year, to deny workers the rights and benefits they are entitled to.

Bear Hills Pork, a subsidiary of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, is not a family farm.  The workers are not farmers; they are employees of a corporation, which is bastardizing the intent of Section 4 of the Labour Standards Act in order to exploit them.

The Provincial Government, in allowing this exploitation and by refusing to recognize these workers as employees in the Province of Saskatchewan, is, at the very least, hypocritical considering the concern they have shown regarding the plight of workers outside this province and country.

Therefore, Deputy Minister, in order to address this inequity, we have drafted legislation calling for the repeal of Section 4, subsection 3 of the Labour Standards Act, to provide agricultural workers with the same benefits and working conditions that any other employee in Saskatchewan enjoys.

We ask that you not only recommend that the Minister, Hon. Joanne Crofford, introduce this Bill to the Legislature but that she actively seeks to pass this piece of legislation.

Thank you.
 

On behalf of the members
SFL/CLC Spring School
Labour College of Canada
Labour Law Class
 

(see Bill - click here)