News December 26 2025

Charles Jr, Coore-Lobban firm on safety for farm workers

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  • Labour and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jr (second left) shakes hands with farm worker Zeneice Nixon at a send-off ceremony for 95 workers who departed the island for Toronto, Canada, last April under the Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Workers Labour and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jr (second left) shakes hands with farm worker Zeneice Nixon at a send-off ceremony for 95 workers who departed the island for Toronto, Canada, last April under the Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Workers Programme. Looking on is Dr Norman Dunn (left), state minister in the labour ministry. The send-off ceremony was held at the ministry’s Overseas Employment Centre in Kingston.
  • Many Jamaican women were in 2022 working on a 2,500-acre apple farm in Canada, which was visited by a Jamaican team of fact finders who were probing the status of Jamaican farm workers in Canada. Many Jamaican women were in 2022 working on a 2,500-acre apple farm in Canada, which was visited by a Jamaican team of fact finders who were probing the status of Jamaican farm workers in Canada.

The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Programme (SAWP) between Canada and Jamaica is being hailed as one of the most successful and longest-running labour mobility programmes in the world. Known more commonly as the Farm Work Programme, the SAWP has seen tens of thousands of Jamaican men heading to Canada over its 60 years of existence. However, over the years the programme has faced criticism, with concerns raised about how migrant workers are treated.

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