TORONTO -- Toronto immigration workers are rallying to stop the departure to Guatemala today of 18 mostly-female mushroom pickers who were fired from a Blenheim farm a week before Christmas.

The pickers, among a group of 50 let go, were to board a flight to Guatemala City today at Pearson airport.

"They are very disappointed and angry," Alexes Barillas, of the United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada, said yesterday. "Many of them incurred debt to get here and left Canada empty-handed."

MEDICAL CHECKS, VISAS

He said the pickers had borrowed money from family members to pay for medical checks and visas to come to Canada to work at Rol-Land Farms. They were at the farm for about four months of a year-long contract when they were let go. The company is attempting to restructure under bankruptcy protection.

Barillas said the remainder of the workers left Canada during the last three days. They can remain on their visas, but can't work, he said.

The pickers applied under a federal temporary workers program that allows them to work here for two years with a single employer.

Chris Ramsaroop, of Parkdale Legal Clinic, said another 70 workers, mostly from Jamaica and Mexico, were fired by Rol-Land Farms earlier this month. Those workers, who had about a year left on their contracts, have returned home.

"The temporary worker program is a form of indentureship," Ramsaroop said yesterday. "The program is flawed and allows abuse to take place."

Ramsaroop and other immigration activists are demanding the fired workers be allowed to work at other Ontario farms as long as their visas are valid.

Ramsaroop, who's also with the advocacy group Justicia for Migrant Workers, said the pickers should be eligible for status in Canada after working here for two years.

CHILDREN BACK HOME

"There's no path for citizenship or status in Canada for them," union official Sima Zerehi said.

Zerehi said the fired women travel here to earn money to care for their children and families at home. They cannot bring their families and live in company housing.

Rol-Land officials, in a release on Dec. 10, said their company, the third largest mushroom producer in North America, had received bankruptcy protection from creditors and the layoffs are part of its efforts to restructure.

In Ottawa, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada officials said a fired worker can still live and work in Canada provided they get another job with a farm approved by the department.

However, critics said the process is complicated and can take months.