Worker conditions: metro, IGA and FTQ will keep an eye on Demers

Activist fired from Estri, Claude Dallaire Tuesday boycott movement. Grocery stores and restaurants are required to stop distributing Demers products as long as the business owner does not completely change the living conditions of its foreign workers.

Currently, Sobeys-IGA and Metro grocery store managers do not plan to remove Demers products from their shelves. However, discussions have taken place with the company to ensure that corrective actions are taken.

Furthermore, Sobeys-IGA spokeswoman Ann-Helen Lavoie told Radio Canada that a representative will go to the site, in St. Nikefor, to check on the progress of the work that has been carried out so far at the foreign worker shelters.

Sobeys-IGA also asks Demers to provide it A plan to take corrective actions so that buildings meet health standardsعا. The spokesperson added that Sobeys is concerned about this situation and requires all of its suppliers to ensure adequate working conditions for their workers..

On the metro side, Director of Communications Genevieve Gregoire told Radio Canada to monitor the situation closely and follow-up will take place. We will make sure that appropriate action is taken on their part as they have announced, By email.

On Facebook, some neighborhood grocery stores indicated they had removed Demers products from their shelves. This is the case, in particular, of Interarché Boyer, in Montreal.

The FTQ Solidarity Fund also announced that they are Concern about the information disclosed in the report and that discussions took place with the company on Monday. Mr. Demers has provided us with the procedures already in place, and we are confident that his plan for the coming weeks and months will rectify the situation. We will continue to follow the filesaid senior media relations advisor Patrick McKillkin.

The fund also indicated that it does not intend to divest from Productions horticoles Demers.

The debate in the National Assembly

The status of Guatemalan workers was transferred to the National Assembly on Tuesday afternoon. The Minister of Labour, Jean Boulet, was questioned by Quebec Solidere spokesperson in agriculture, Emilice Lesser-Terrain. Demers received $30 million in financial aid in March. Does the minister stop this loan as long as the workers are not residing in safe and healthy facilities?

Mr. Boulet wanted to be reassured without answering the member’s question directly. There are still meetings. My colleague from the Department of Agriculture contacted Mr. Demers, who is taking the necessary measures to ensure the conditions in which these workers live.

Quebec Solidere immigration spokesman Andres Fontesella replied: We understand from the minister’s response that taxpayer money can be used to exploit workers. “Take a little, but take care of it,” CAQ told us. We understand that for the world working in the fields, it takes more and we give it up.

At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, the Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault, indicated that he had found Unacceptable These living conditions. I hope this is an isolated case. The Minister of Agriculture, André Lamontani, spoke with Mr. Demers, who said he would rectify the situation. […] It is the federal government that must ensure that conditions are good for foreign workers.

In an interview with Radio Canada, Sherbrooke Solidarity MP Christine LaBrie described the situation as Unacceptable. There are responsibilities that employers must assume to treat their employees properly. It is not acceptable to give public funds to companies that do not respect the minimum expectations that a company can be. I think most Quebecers got scandalized when they saw that here, in Quebec, people were treated this way.

Inspection deemed compliant

For his part, Martin Gibolo, Chairman of the Foundation for Companies Employing Foreign Agricultural Labor (FERME), confirmed that the inspection was carried out as appropriate at Productions horticoles Demers, and that the facilities were found to be compliant. The organization is authorized by the federal government to carry out these inspections.

What happened next that caused this residence to deteriorate is really dangerous. We do not support such terms for foreign workers at all, He says.

The last inspection could have been carried out in May 2021, according to Martin Gibollo, who admitted it Did not read the report back and forth. However, he claims to have seen pictures of this inspection, Which shows traces of mold, but never seen in what appeared in the past few days.

I don’t understand why the workers didn’t denounce this before. It has been more than a year since the situation was condemned. I wasn’t notified a year ago, because we would have taken action sooner.

Martin Gibolo believes, however, that the vast majority of employers accommodate their workers in very good conditions.

For his part, Productions horticoles Demers CEO Jack Demers declined to comment further on the situation, simply stating that he is busy. To plan deadlines. Didn’t want to reopen workers’ housing doors so Radio Canada could check if improvements had been made since April, As he argued in an interview on Monday.