IPolitics reporter Kelsey Johnson, who writes our weekly Capital Letters column, last week tackled the contentious issue of labour shortages in the agricultural sector.
There was no shortage of reader commentary.
One reader who goes by the name “anonymous” said:
“Perhaps the agriculture sector needs to take a long hard look at how to improve working conditions and wages to attract the necessary talent.
“My family farmed for years. Our hired help (was) provided with on site housing (free), free eggs, milk and meat, 44 hour work weeks (Monday to Friday), three weeks of vacation, a year and a monthly salary of $2,000. If overtime hours were required, then family members worked them, not the hired staff.
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“While attending university, I drove home every weekend to assist so the staff could have the weekend off. My father never had trouble finding staff and most stayed long term. This was back in the ’80s.
“What is distressing for me is to see that real wages for agricultural workers haven’t really appreciated over what my father was paying and fewer perks, especially housing.
“How are local people (to)compete when foreign workers are provided housing and transportation (something that is a necessity when living in a rural area), and yet a Canadian is required to provide, on their own, housing and a vehicle?”
In response to those apparently well-paid working conditions plus perks, a reader named “Todd” replied with the following observation:
“That could be why your family used to farm! The ’80s were great… It’s tighter, much tighter now!”
One point raised in Johnson’s column was the severe worker shortage in meat processing and packing plants, industries hit hard by recent changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
A reader named “Kelly” wrote this in response:
“The question here should be what can these employers do to attract people to these jobs? Minimum wage with no overtime pay, no statutory holidays, no benefits and no WBC coverage even (Alberta growers) with no on-site housing offered whatsoever, with a 45 (minute) drive each way each way to get to work, is the norm in the greenhouse industry and yet they have the nerve to say Canadians “don’t want” these jobs.
“The fact is, and this is coming from someone who worked at one of these places and saw the applications received, is that Canadians do apply for these jobs, but they are shunned by employers in favour of TFW.
“Maybe if these same employers put as much work into helping their local applicants as they do each year applying for an LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment), and actually offered them the same help with housing (very little vacant rental housing for local workers) and transportation (no public transportation in these areas) that they offer the TFW, then they wouldn’t have this problem.”
A reader calling himself “FarmerJoe” took issue with some of the points raised in that anonymous posting:
“No farm job ends at 5 p.m. or 44 hours a week. Maybe some days, but not regularly. Does it really distress you the value of wages? How about the value of our crops?
“I would love to pay my guys 30+ an hour if wheat could just hold steady at $10 per bushel, or canola at $14. That is what is distressing those of us who risk borrowed money every year in the hope of breaking even.
“It really irks me when people post on here pretending to be farmers with no clue as to what is really going on. We pay what we optimistically think might pencil out, after all the fertilizer, fuel, chemical, Workers Compensation Board, pension fund, landowner, crop insurance, equipment companies, food safety programs take their cut, and nine times out of 10 no Canadian will work for $18 when they were making $25.”
What do you think? Please share your thoughts on this or any other column or story. You can find the column that generated the comments above via the following URL: bit.ly/1x8W5VD.
Contact paul.yanko@producer.com
