Pilgrimage to Freedom Caravan 2011
Last year, over 150 migrant workers and their allies made history by marching over 50 Km, an equivalent of 12 hours, from Leamington to Windsor, Ontario demanding justice, respect and dignity for the hundreds of thousands employed under the auspices of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Programs. Over the last year, thousands of people have heard the testimonies and the stories that led to organizing the march. Demands for permanent residency and citizenship status, an end to repatriations and deportations, labour law reform, equal access to social entitlements and an end to the coercive role of recruiters and contractors has inspired many others about the realities faced by migrant workers in Canada.
Migrant workers and members of Justicia for Migrant Workers have continued to organize in rural Ontario and are once again demanding that the chains of indentureship in Canada be broken! This year the pilgrimage continues as a form of a caravan across rural Ontario. Migrant workers and their allies will be recreating the stops of the underground railroad to pay tribute to the important struggles of resistance that we base our struggle upon. On September 4th, 2011 we visited St. Catharines, Virgil, NOTL, and Niagara Falls during the first stage of the Pilgrimage to Freedom, and it was very a very successful and touching day.
J4MW is requesting the support of community, religious, labour and allied organizations to join us for this year’s two remaining actions.
September 4, 2011
St. Catharines – Virgil – NOTL- Niagara Falls
************September 25, 2011***************
Windsor – Leamington – Chatham – Dresden
Meet at 11:00 pm at the Tower for Freedom Monument, at 100 Pitt st East, Windsor Ontario, and get on the bus for the Pilgrimage to Freedom Caravan.
*RIDES: Being a grassroots organization, we have very limited funding and it will go to paying for the buses of the tour and transporting farmworkers, so we cannot offer a bus leaving Toronto. We will do our best to coordinate rides so people can attend from out of town.
Agenda for the day will be posted very briefly.
October 2, 2011
Simcoe – Brantford – Hamilton – TORONTO!!!!
Coverage of our Sept 4 action:
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1049164–annual-labour-day-march-to-honour-jack-layton-and-defend-public-services#article
