Thank you, Mr. Chair.
On behalf of the United Food and Commercial Workers, I would like to thank the standing committee for the opportunity to share our perspective today and also for the work of the committee on this important subject.
Before I put forward some of our thoughts, it might be good to say a few words about who we are.
The UFCW is the voice of Canada's food workers. We are one of the country's largest unions and are very proud and privileged to represent more than a quarter of a million hard-working people across Canada. About 80% of our membership work in food-related sectors. As we like to say, you can find UFCW members everywhere in the food chain, from field to fork.
Throughout the pandemic our members have played a central role in holding the front line and providing the food and other crucial products and services that Canadians need for their day-to-day lives.
I can tell you that the last 12 months have not been easy for food workers in Canada. For good reason, many of our members have been afraid to go to work. They are afraid to get sick; they are afraid to bring the virus home to their families. Thousands of our members have tested positive, a number have been hospitalized, and some have died.
As a food workers union, we've been calling for a number of measures and responses to the pandemic, many of which have been implemented in varying degrees by industry and by major employers in particular. However, consistency and enforcement remain a problem.
The CFIA, of course, watches over production, but they have made clear to us that their job is to ensure the safety of the food in the plant, not the people in the plant. That responsibility, as you know, falls to the provinces, with whom we have had, to say the least, mixed experiences throughout the pandemic.
The elephant in the room throughout the pandemic and long before COVID is line speed. The speed of the production line has made physical distancing practically impossible. For many years it has been the leading cause of repetitive strain injuries and mental health issues for many UFCW members.
The truth and the bottom line is that to protect Canada's food supply we must protect Canada's food workers. There remain some major structural issues that stand in the way of fully achieving that.
When we turn our focus to labour recruitment challenges, then, these are factors that must be considered as part of the problem.
That said, food processing is still a sector with a lot of potential. It's a sector that could and should be recruiting and creating more jobs for Canadians.
UFCW is very concerned about the exponential growth of the temporary foreign workers program in recent years. We strongly recommend a more varied approach to the situation facing our industry, one that prioritizes the expansion of federal and provincial nominee programs and one that makes sure that Canadians are fully aware of the opportunities and pathways that exist in the food-processing sector.
Government needs to ensure that investments are being made in developing domestic labour markets. We've seen data to suggest that there is an inverse relationship between TFW usage and public investments in active labour market policy initiatives, which quite frankly is no way to build the future.
Going forward, we urge the committee to recommend a stakeholder-based approach to developing recruitment, skills and strategies for the sector. UFCW, for instance, is very well positioned to help champion the food service and industrial trades. If employers were compelled to work with us on these issues, perhaps through the LMIA process, to identify domestic labour sources, that could result in better outcomes that benefit the sector as a whole.
In any event, the last thing we want as the food workers union is to see Canada's entire food system become reliant on a temporary, precarious and vulnerable workforce, such as we have now in primary agriculture. To do so would mean less stability, security and food sovereignty for one of Canada's most crucial sectors. With that said, thank you to the committee for the invitation and for shouldering this very important work. I look forward to answering any questions you might have.
In any event, the last thing we want as the food workers' union is to see Canada's entire food system become reliant on a temporary, precarious and vulnerable workforce, such as we have now in primary agriculture. To do so would mean less stability, security and food sovereignty for one of Canada's most crucial sectors.
With that said, thank you to the committee for the invitation and for shouldering this very important work.
I look forward to answering any questions you might have. Thank you.