Farm safety advocate calls for review, not repeal of Bill 6
The founder of the Farmworkers Union of Alberta says it is one thing to review the controversial Bill 6 legislation but repealing the act to what existed prior to 2015 would be a setback for agricultural workers.
Eric Musekamp, a Winnifred, Alberta based farm safety advocate, has been one of the few islands of support within the agricultural community in a province flooded with opposition to the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act.
Musekamp said that prior to the introduction of the act, “we didn’t do any of the normal protocols that every other industry in every other province, in every other civilized country. We didn’t do investigations. We had no standards for equipment – no safety standards. Not even child labour standards.”
Musekamp has good reason to fear a repeal of the legislation.