Protest at Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development 400 University Avenue Toronto, ON M7A 1T7
Dear injured workers, allies, and supporters,
Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) is organizing public action in front of Ontario’s Ministry of Labour to highlight the extreme weather conditions that workers are currently facing.
Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW), Injured Workers Action for Justice (IWA4J), allies, supporters, and community activists will target the Ontario Ministry of Labour to highlight the extreme heat and other weather conditions that workers face across the province.
In a symbolic protest, we will fry an egg outside the offices of the Ministry of Labour (MOL) to illustrate the impact of extreme temperatures on agricultural workers and all workers. The fried egg and a demand letter will be served to members of the MOL after the action.
As migrant workers continue to suffer from heat stress, the MOL also continues to ignore migrant workers who will bear the consequences of the province’s refusal to implement protections against extreme weather conditions.
For several years, advocates have raised awareness about the lack of protection from extreme weather events. In 2022, in response to an open letter from J4MW, the province committed to enacting heat stress protections under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).
The following year, Ontario reneged on its commitment, leaving workers to fend for themselves. Ontario continues to put the profit of employers ahead of the health of workers.
In a 2023 interview with the Toronto Star, an apple farm worker shared their experience with being told to “remove the bins of apples out of the fields because they were getting sunburned.” The worker asked themself, “If the apples can get sunburn, what about us who are there working in bare heat with no shelter?”
We will pose this question to the ministry and demand immediate protections for workers, given the increasingly extreme heat events such as those occurring in Toronto now, the severity of which will be evidenced in their action on Thursday.
It’s time to put workers first.
Please come out and demand justice for migrant workers and all workers! Together, we can make a system that works for workers.
In Solidarity!