Josie Baker recognized for migrant workers' rights work

Canada needs to face up to the reality of migrant workers, said Josie Baker of P.E.I.'s Cooper Institute at an awards ceremony this week.

Baker accepted an Agricultural Workers Advocates Award from the United Food and Commercial Workers' Union and the Agricultural Workers Alliance Tuesday in Toronto.

The citation said Baker's work has helped bring the issues and voices of migrant workers to the attention of policy makers.

In her acceptance speech, Baker said Canadians need to understand the role migrant workers play in the economy.

"Migrant workers have become entrenched and indispensable in Canada's food systems," she said.

"But still this is an unpopular truth; it is a truth that forces citizens to re-frame our understanding of what Canada is as a nation."

Alberta's premier Rachel Notley was also recognized for bringing in legislation to protect farm workers and make it possible for them to unionize.

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