Alberta Farm Workers Day

August 20, 2005

Why Farm Worker Day?

• Alberta Farm Worker Day is a day to raise awareness of the working conditions faced by agricultural workers in Alberta, and to remember farm workers killed at work
• The Farmworkers Union of Alberta (FUA) originally called for the day
• The AFL, at its 2005 Convention, endorsed Alberta Farm Worker Day

Why August 20?

• August 20, 1999 is the day Terry Rash, a farm worker near Taber, was stabbed to death by his employer after accidentally tipping a water truck into a ditch
• The employer, a local farmer, was given a 4 year sentence
• August 20 is an appropriate day for reflecting upon the types of working conditions farm workers face

Will there be future Farm Workers Days?

• The AFL is committed to recognizing Farm Worker Day until the government agrees to include farm workers in employment legislation

Would Legal Protection for Farm Workers have prevented the death?

• No one can say for sure if legal protections would have prevented the tragic incident
• Court reports indicate Rash attempted to refuse to drive the truck for safety reasons, but was forced to perform the task by the employer. (Both men were intoxicated at the time).
• If Rash was covered by OH&S Act, he would have a legal right to refuse unsafe work without repercussions. Without this protection, refusal meant losing his job.

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