Migrant worker advocates shared common struggles for migrant workers rights at a lively gathering hosted by the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC).
Jose Sicajau worked in Canada as a migrant farmworker for four years. After standing up for another worker and speaking out about conditions at work, he was blacklisted from the program. Along with other migrant workers, he founded the organization Association of Guatemalans United for our Rights (AGUND) to organize with former migrant workers in Guatemala.
Inter Pares is hosting a tour of Jose and two other advocates supporting migrant workers in Guatemala; Father Juan Luis Carbajal Tejeda from the Pastoral Commission for Human Mobility (PMH) and Diego Lorente of Project Counseling Service.
During the gathering, participants shared the histories and goals of our organizing. Jose described the fear of reprisal workers face, even when they have returned home, and the abuses of private recruitment companies. MWAC members shared the experience of farmworkers and caregivers in Ontario, and the need to strengthen and extend protection against recruitment fees to all migrant workers.
Find out more about the delegation at Inter Pares website.