Guatemalan workers allege poor conditions at Aquilini berry farm

A group offemale farmworkers from Guatemala isalleging poorliving and working conditions at a B.C.berry farm ownedby the billionaire Aquilini family.

Seven women say there were a variety ofproblems last summer at the Golden Eagle Berry Farm in Pitt Meadows, including poor access to water on hot summer days, and also too much time spent in a cold storage room without warm clothing.

Some women also describecrowded and unsanitary living quartersincluding an instance of76 women living in one house with not enough working appliances or showers.

'Claim that water was withheld is particularly egregious'

The Aquilini family moved quickly to refute the claims.

Jim Chu, senior vice-president of the Aquilini Group, which runs Golden Eagle, issued a statement late Tuesday, saying thisis the first the group has heard of many of the allegations, stating it intends to investigate them fully.

"Having said that,"wrote Chu, "many of the allegations are extreme, unfounded and false; the claim that water was withheld is particularly egregious."

Chu also wrote that the workers' housingis inspected annually. He notedthehousing was inspected in advance of the women coming to the farm inJanuary 2018, and was found to be "in compliance with all government requirements."

Couldn't feel hands and feet

MirsaMartinez, 28, spoke Tuesday morning through an interpreter at a news conference in Vancouver, which was sponsored by advocacy group,Dignante Migrante Society.

Marinez said at one pointlast summer she hadto unpack fruit in a cold storage room at Golden Eagle for six hours.

She said she was so cold she couldn't feel her hands and feet.

Her sister, DeysiMartinez,30, also recounted stress from the cold. She saidthe worst part of her time at the farm was working 15 hours in the freezer area without proper equipment to protect her from the cold.

Cold stress assessment ordered

Documents obtained by CBC through a freedom of information request earlier this year show that Worksafe BC investigated reports of cold stress at the farm in September 2018.

The agency orderedGolden Eagle to conduct a cold stress assessment, which is required to determine the potential for hazardous exposure ahead of freezer work. The farm complied with the order in November.

Problems with medical help alleged

Osmery Arteaga, 31,said there waslittleattention paid to first aid or medical injuries, including when she hurt her hand.

In Worksafe's September inspection of the berry operations, Golden Eagle was found not to have completed an investigation report after a worker received medical treatment due to injury.

Golden Eagle was also found to have failed to complete a musculoskeletalinjury assessment for its workers.

Inboth instances the farm subsequently complied with Worksafe's requirements.

The Aquilini family owns the Vancouver Canucks hockey team.The family'sGolden Eagle Farm Group's blueberry and cranberry operations sit on approximately2,000 hectares in Pitt Meadows.

Aquilinis ordered to pay farm workers $133,000

The women were a part of a larger group of174foreign workers from Golden Eagle Berry farm who were awarded a total of $133,632.56 in back wages earlier this monthfrom the Aquilinisin an employment standards award. The amounts owed ranged from$10.02 to $1,943.27 per worker.

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The adjudicator ruled that the employees were entitled by their contract to 40 hours of work per week for their time at the farm.

A few days later, on May 21, the Aquilini Group wrote a letter to its employees,penned byChu.

Chu, who is a former Vancouver police chief, emphasizedall workers had been paid for their hours at the agreed rate of $11.35 per hour.

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The issue, he wrote, was "a disagreement in the Guatemalan contract interpretation ... and whether 40hours was a guaranteed minimum per week."

Aquilinis 'continue to co-operate'

Chu stated in the letter that after blueberry season ended in September, a group of 15 Guatemalan workers stayed in Canada and lodged complaints with regulators, claiming mistreatment.

"These complaints were never raised when they worked with us,"he wrote. "We cooperated and continue to cooperate with the investigations."

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In thestatement issued today, Chu wrote that Golden Eagle had received "an unsolicited letter of appreciation and support signed by many seasonal agricultural workers" who have worked at Golden Eagle. He attached a copy of the letter.

The letter is signed by two representatives, who state the 74 named people on the list could not sign "by relation to the distance."

Aquilini response tofemale famworkers'claims