MEDIA ADVISORY

JUSTICIA - Justice For Migrant Workers/ONTARIO/23 September 2010 – This Thanksgiving Day migrant workers from the fields, farms and factories of Ontario will undertake an historic march for justice, equality, dignity and human rights. The Pilgrimage To Freedom March will commence in Leamington on October 10, 2010 at 7am and end in Windsor at 7pm. The march is aimed at raising attention around the deplorable working and housing conditions of migrant workers in Southern Ontario and the value of their work in supporting the Canadian economy and their families back home.

“If you take a look at your dinner table on Thanksgiving, it’s very likely that your fruits and vegetables were grown, harvested and processed by migrant workers right here in Ontario,” says march organizer Tzazná Miranda Leal. “These workers are an essential part of our economy, yet they are subject to lax labour regulations, intimidation, deportation and severe forms of exploitation.”

Approximately 18,000 migrant farm workers from Thailand, Mexico, Guatemala, the Philippines, and the Caribbean arrive in Canada to work in our fields, orchards and greenhouses every year. Justicia is a volunteer-run collective that strives to promote the rights of migrant farm workers(participating in the Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program and the Low Skilled Workers Program) and farm workers without status. 

For media interviews contact Chris Ramsaroop 647 834 4932; ramsaroopchris@gmail.com or Tzazná Miranda Leal 647 618 5325; tzazna@justicia4migrantworkers.org 
justicia4migrantworkers.org