Mexico Found Guilty of Blacklisting Mexican Migrant Workers in Canada Suspected of Being Pro-union

Vancouver, British Columbia (ots/PRNewswire) -

The BC Labour Relations Board (BCLRB) has ruled that Mexican
government and consular officials blacklisted Mexican seasonal
migrant workers from returning to Canada who were suspected of being
union sympathizers. The board also found that Mexico had altered
documents in an attempt to cover up its union-busting activities. The
evidence had been presented to the BC Labour Relations Board in 2012,
by UFCW Canada Local 1518 - the union representing migrant workers at
Sidhu & Sons Nursery Limited in the BC Lower Mainland.

Thursday's ruling by the BCLRB comes after three years of legal
wrangling by Mexico to stall and quash the charges against it. "It
has been a long battle, but finally the truth has won out," said Ivan
Limpright, the president of UFCW Canada Local 1518, following
Monday's ruling. "Every worker in Canada has the right to join a
union, including migrant workers. Mexico's blacklisting and coercion
violated Canadian laws and the rights of the workers involved."

The blacklisting charges had originally been brought to the board
in 2011. Hearings and testimony commenced at the labour board in
January 2012. The hearings were temporarily suspended after Mexico
petitioned to the BC Supreme, on the grounds of sovereign immunity,
to force the labour board to quash the evidence it had received -
including leaked Mexico government documents, as well as testimony
from former consular officials that corroborated the blacklisting
activity. The BC Supreme Court ruled against Mexico's petition, and
upheld the BCLRB's right to finally rule on the blacklisting
evidence.

"Mexico reached across our borders to blacklist and break the
human and labour rights of workers in our country," says Paul
Meinema, the national president of UFCW Canada. "Mexican President
Peña Nieto is well aware of what happened here, despite the denials
of his bureaucrats and consular officials. The time for pretending is
over. Now it is time to respect the the laws of Canada."

UFCW Canada (United Food and Commercial Workers union) is Canada's
leading and most progressive private-sector union, with more than
250,000 members across the country. For more than two decades, UFCW
Canada has led a campaign for the labour and human rights of domestic
and agriculture workers in Canada. In association with the
Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA), UFCW Canada also operates 10
agriculture worker support centres across the country, including
three AWA centres in British Columbia.

For further information:

Stan Raper, National Coordinator
Agriculture Workers Alliance
+1(416) 523-0937
sraper@ufcw.ca
http://www.ufcw.ca

ots Originaltext: United Food and Commercial Workers Canada
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