Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) decries the denial of justice for
families of the deceased
TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2012 /CNW/ - Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW)
decries the denial of justice for the families of Ralston White and
Paul Roach, two migrant workers killed while working near Ayton,
Ontario in September 2010. On Tuesday January 10th, 2011, four
individuals associated with Filsinger farms were set to go to trial on
multiple charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA),
in one of the first OSHA prosecutions involving migrant workers. These
individuals were to be held accountable for the deaths of Jamaican
migrant workers Ralston White and Paul Roach, who died of environment
asphyxiation as a result of a confined space accident at Filsinger's
Organic Farms.
If the case had gone to trial the four individuals would have faced the
charges for failing to: ensure a written program for a confined space
inside a vinegar tank was developed and maintained before the workers
entered the tank; ensure the workers received adequate training in
accordance with the relevant plan and followed the plan before entering
the tank; ensure adequate written site rescue procedures had been
developed and were ready for immediate implementation; ensure that each
worker entering a confined space inside a vinegar tank was adequately
protected against suffocation and other hazards by adequate means;
appoint a person to perform adequate tests before and while workers
entered a confined space inside a vinegar tank; ensure that where
atmospheric hazards existed in a confined space inside a vinegar tank,
the confined space was purged, ventilated or both, before workers
entered; take the reasonable precaution of ensuring that the workers
did not enter a vinegar tank; provide information, instruction and
supervision to the workers on the dangers of working inside a tank.
However due to an agreement between the Ministry of Labour and the legal
representative of the accused, all charges were dropped against three
of the four individuals. A fourth person pleads guilty to a single
charge of failing to 'take reasonable precaution to ensure that the
workers did not enter a vinegar tank'. This same individual, a
supervisor, was also fined $22,500 for the deaths of Mr. White and Mr.
Roach. The owners of the company were not found responsible or
penalized in any way. The fine, according to the presiding judicial
official, was meant as a 'deterrent' to other employers.
J4MW believes that this agreement is not a deterrent but instead sends
the message that employers will go virtually unpunished for workplace
violations. "This decision tells employers that the Ministry of Labour
will go easy on them if workplace violations cause the deaths of
migrant workers," says Tzazna Miranda Leal, an organizer with Justicia
for Migrant Workers (J4MW). "Two people died and company gets off the
hook and a supervisor gets a slap on the wrist. This will not make
migrants feel any safer," continues Miranda Leal.
Justicia for Migrant Workers is renewing its calls that the provincial
government enact the following steps to protect workers:
*Snap inspections for all workplaces and accommodations where migrant
workers live and work *A coroner's inquest into the details relating
to these workplace deaths; *an appeals mechanism built into the SAWP
and TFW so that migrant workers cannot be arbitrarily and unilaterally
repatriated to their homeland (anti-reprisal protection) *Industry
specific regulations for the agricultural industry under the
Occupational Health and Safety Act *increased labour rights and
protections for all migrant workers; and a criminal investigation into
this workplace fatality as mandated by section 217.1 of the criminal
code of Canada.
The code states that: Everyone who undertakes, or has the authority, to
direct how another person does work or performs a task is under a legal
duty to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm to that person, or
any other person, arising from that work or task.
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