Jerome McCallum worked for 13 years at Chary Produce as a temporary foreign worker. He would work for several months on the farm in Mount Pleasant before heading back to his native Jamaica.
But the money he earned came with rigorous labour.
He says he would often work seven days a week with very short breaks for lunch.
Last week, a fire in the sleeping quarters at the farm left 32 seasonal workers from Jamaica with nothing.
Following the fire, McCallum and his wife Lorrie Wolf say they are more concerned than ever about the conditions on seasonal farms. They still have many friends who work at Chary Produce.
"Anybody who knows anything about these farm programs – not even just this farm in particular – the living conditions are horrible for some of these guys," says Wolf.
The Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Service (FARMS), however, says many workers want to work more hours.
“They will sit down with you and tell you ‘We’re not really interested in a 40-hour work week. We want to make more than that to take home to our families,’” says Ken Forth, a spokesperson for FARMS.
CTV News spoke with a pair of workers at Chary Produce, with the owners present for the interview. They said they are happy to be working.
“This is our place and we love it,” they said. “(We’re not going to) do anything to jeopardize because this is what is building our family, sending our children to college.”
Chary Produce also disputes the claims, saying that their workers can take days off whenever they like.
“That they’re somehow treated less than humans, and working in conditions that are inhumane. And that is not the case,” says Miriam Worley, one of the company’s owners. “Our housing is inspected. We follow all the labour laws. People don’t understand what farming is.”
McCallum disagrees, saying that wasn’t his experience at all. He says he just wants to see farm workers being treated the same as everyone else.
With reporting by Leena Latafat
