Alberta changing farm safety

By COLLIN GALLANT on November 21, 2019.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney shakes hands with Devin Dreeshen, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, after being sworn into office, in Edmonton, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Ag Minister Devin Dreeshen announced the long-awaited changes to the previous government’s “Bill 6 Farm Safety” on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019 stating that new standards flow from consultations with those farmers and ranchers that make up the industry. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

Changes to farm safety legislation tabled Wednesday in the Alberta Legislature are welcome according to those in the industry, but are “heartless and vengeful” according to workers’ advocates.

Ag Minister Devin Dreeshen announced the long-awaited changes to the previous government’s “Bill 6 Farm Safety,” stating that new standards flow from consultations with those farmers and ranchers that make up the industry.

If passed, the new rules would exempt operations with fewer than five employees from specific workplace safety standards announced last year, and no longer require participation in the Worker Compensation plan. Specific occupational safety standards will be altered.

“We’ve taken this feedback and built common-sense farm workplace legislation that works for people, not against them,” said Dreeshen.

However, the Alberta Federation of Labour and worker advocates in southeast Alberta says the new rules and changes are not in the best interest of workers who are in short supply, they say, in part do to poor working conditions in the sector.

“We’re thundering in reverse,” said Eric Musekamp, the head of the Farmworkers Union of Alberta, a Bow Island-based organization that advocates for workers’ rights but doesn’t bargain or organize workplaces.

“It’s profoundly damaging to workers and their families … but also profoundly damaging to the agriculture industry, to farmers and ranchers ultimately.”

Musekamp has argued modernizing the trade-dependent industry in Alberta was crucial, while better working standards would draw in better workers.

New rules would give farm operators with fewer than five employees the ability to opt out of Workers Compensation programs with proof of private liability insurance, and re-exempts agricultural workers from labour laws that allow them to form unions or bargain collectively.

It also moves greenhouse operations other than cannabis facilities, back under the agricultural classification.

Local greenhouse operator Albert Cramer said the industry was hurt by rising costs when the standard was changed under the previous government, and greenhouses should be recognized as farms.

“Being excluded from the definition of farms under the Employment Standards Code was a huge challenge for our industry and we are grateful that this has been rectified,” he was quoted as saying in the government’s release.

The AFL said changes mean “Albertans will no longer be able to track farm and ranch injury rates for the province, and farms with private insurance will be at risk for lawsuits.”

“At the same time, all temporary workers will now be exempt from the very basic employment standards protections that other workers in Alberta have. This denial of basic rights is unacceptable.”

Musekamp said that many ag producers will keep WCB coverage because it’s “iron clad” protection for the employer and less expensive, while providing better coverage for injured workers.

“You’d have to be nuts to let someone work on your land and be totally liable for their actions, even with private insurance,” said Musekamp.

The proposed legislation overhauls many of the farm and ranch rules put in place by the former NDP government, but which were met with large protests early on.

Right now, all paid farm workers – excluding family members – must have Workers’ Compensation Board coverage for death, dismemberment and disability.

Farms must also abide by employment standards covering minimum wage, leaves, termination notices and record-keeping. The United Conservative government estimates that about three-quarters of Alberta’s 41,000 farms would be classified as small operations.

“We’re making sure that this is reflective and responsive of what farmers are actually telling us, and farm workers as well,” Dreeshen said Wednesday before introducing the bill in the house. “We wanted to make sure that small family farms are protected.”

Dreeshen said farmers told him this summer that they wanted the changes and didn’t want unionization.

“Farmers would tell us that there’s no real place for a union on a farm,” said Dreeshen.

The government said that so far no farm workers have tried to unionize.

Previously, farms had to get workplace insurance through the Workers’ Compensation Board, but will be able to go through the board or a private provider if the bill passes.

Occupational health and safety rules would still apply across the board, but would be done broadly on an outcome-based basis rather than through rules tied to specific agricultural jobs.

That means they would qualify for specific rules for farms and ranches, including the small employer exemption, general holiday pay set at 4.2 per cent and four days of rest for every 28 days of work.

— with files from The Canadian Press