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OPSEU voices concerns about COVID-19 and workers

OPSEU is putting it's weight behind migrant workers.

President Warren 'Smokey' Thomas and First Vice/Treasurer Eduardo Almeida released a statement Wednesday.

In a release they state that one of the great tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic is how it has spread through migrant workers who have come to Ontario to do temporary, seasonal jobs on farms and in greenhouses.

Approximately 20,000 migrant workers come to Ontario each year, mainly from Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean.

The two OPSEU officials point to reports of hundreds of farm workers who have tested positive for COVID-19, and many in the Windsor-Essex region. There have been three deaths.

The release goes on to push for more testing as only 750 tests have been done on migrant workers, but about 8,000 are currently working.

OPSEU has been working with the group Justice for Migrant Workers to educate Ontarians about the working conditions of migrant workers.

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