Voices of precarious labour: Unveiling the role of non-union employee representation models for migrant farmworkers in North America


Erika Borrelli, University of Windsor

In Canada, entry requirements for temporary migrant farmworkers are determined by Temporary Foreign Worker Programs. These programs limit participants to working in the agricultural sector, a high-risk industry with limited institutional oversight and union protection. These entry conditions contribute to precarity among migrant farmworkers, whose employment is linked to their immigration status, giving employers significant control over immigration decisions. This authority creates a climate of fear regarding repercussions, such as deportation or exclusion from future contracts, significantly hindering their ability to voice concerns or address workplace issues. Similarly, undocumented migrant farmworkers in the United States experience precarious conditions characterized by limited job security and minimal social protections. The temporary and often informal nature of their employment further complicates their ability to assert rights or negotiate for improved working conditions. In advocating for migrant farmworkers to assert their rights, activists and social justice organizations have called for change and proposed various solutions. Social sustainability initiatives, through farm certification and product labelling, have recently emerged as a way to address precarity among migrant farmworkers in North America. Participating farms are required to uphold socially sustainable standards with a focus on ethical labour practices that are rigorously enforced through third-party audits. Certain social certification initiatives, such as the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI), include on-site, worker-led communication teams and advanced training for both employees and management as integral components of their implementation. These strategies aim to provide workers with knowledge of workplace practices, skills for ongoing verification of standards, and power to improve labour conditions. Conceptualized as non-union employee representation (NER) models in employment sectors where unionization is difficult to attain, this research aims to bridge a link between the concepts of voice and precarity to enhance our understanding of how NER models, like social certification, can contribute to empowering precarious workers by fostering their participation in shaping organizational decision-making processes. Based on findings from 25 qualitative interviews with undocumented migrant farmworkers at an EFI-certified farm in the United States, I contend that NER models, specifically those prioritizing worker training, knowledge advancement, and the establishment of worker-led communication teams, positively influenced participants. I argue that the implementation of these models has played a crucial role in nurturing consultative participation ­ – a mode of involvement in decision-making where workers are actively consulted, and their insights, feedback, and opinions are prioritized. By equipping workers, with tools and platforms for expressing their viewpoints and providing feedback to team leaders and management, a ‘culture of collaboration’ emerged. This democratic decision-making process, engendered a sense of inclusion among the workers, especially for those whose opinions were heard and acted upon, promoting agency and instilling trust in the organizational framework. The potential of NER models in the Canadian context remains largely unexplored. Drawing on insights from 35 qualitative interviews with migrant farmworkers across Ontario, I explore the voice farmworkers currently have and compare it to the voice they want. While NER models have demonstrated improved consultative participation among undocumented migrant farmworkers in the United States, my investigation also aims to examine the possibilities and limitations these models may encounter in shaping the voices of precarious farmworkers in Canada. Farmworkers interviewed in this study expressed reservations regarding the design and implementation of a NER model, like the EFI being implemented in Canada. At the same time, they believed, despite the need for a more robust and institutionalized mechanism for worker involvement, an initiative aimed at enhancing worker training and knowledge production could prove beneficial. In conclusion, this study highlights the transformative potential of NER models on precarious workers’ voices. The findings underscore the crucial role these models play in heightening the voices of precarious workers, providing them with the means to influence workplace processes. The significance of consultative participation emerges as a key factor in amplifying workers’ trust in organizational decision-making and thereby reinforcing a sense of agency. However, the inherent limitation of consultative decision-making, where authority allocation remains unchanged, introduces the risk of fostering a ‘false consciousness’ among workers. This risk is compounded by both the reliance on employers’ voluntary participation in these initiatives and their acknowledgment and action on workers’ suggestions. Nevertheless, NER models that facilitate consultative participation offer subtle and nuanced channels of influence for precarious workers.

This paper will be presented at the following session: