Migrant worker left injured, unable to travel home to Jamaica after he's hit while on his bike in Niagara

Although Ceto Reid has been working in Canada for nearly two decades, each fall, he usually returns home to his family in Jamaica. 

Not this year, however. Reid, a seasonal agricultural worker, was hit by a car while riding his bike in St. Catharines, Ont., on Oct. 6, the night before he was to fly home.

Now he's recovering from surgery needed to fix a broken hip bone and estimates he is still weeks away from being able to travel. 

"[After being hit] I broke down crying because I realized I can't move my foot," Reid told CBC Hamilton, recalling the day of the crash.

Reid was biking back from a laundromat in St. Catharines, headed toward his residence around 15 kilometres away in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where he had been working for peach and grape producer P. G. Enns Farms.

In a bag on his back was a clean load of laundry when he was hit by a driver who told him they "didn't see him."

Reid said he was taken to a Hamilton hospital, where staff operated on his hip. 

Niagara police told CBC Hamilton the driver who hit Reid has been charged with careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario.

Reid has been coming back and forth from Jamaica to Canada for almost two decades to sustain his mother and three kids back home, he says.

His recovery from the crash has affected his ability to provide for his family.

"Most of the time, I break down because it's very challenging for me. I'm here, with my family back home," he said.

He said his "good spirited" co-workers and roommates have been very supportive, but that support won't last for long. They were expected to go back to their respective homes for the winter and Reid will be soon left alone in the residence with little support. 

Lack of laundry facilities a concern

Reid said he went to St. Catharines that day in October because there are no laundromats in Niagara-on-the-Lake, a town of more than 19,000 people which is known for its wineries.

Reid also said he lives in a residence provided by his employer, where there are no laundry facilities. 

Kit Andres, an organizer with Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, said Reid and his co-workers usually rely on a wash-and-fold service the laundromat provides, where they bring their clothes to the store, and then it gets delivered to them once its cleaned. Reid said his employer does not pay for the service.

On Oct. 6, since Reid was leaving the next day, Andres said he wouldn't have had enough time to wait for a delivery.

Andres said "the community" is now focused on the question: "why are there no washing machines or dryers provided?" If Reid had laundry at home, he wouldn't have been hit that day, Andres says. 

CBC Hamilton reached out to P. G. Enns Farms multiple times for comment on why there were no laundry facilities, why the company did not provide transportation to the laundromat or whether it is supporting Reid's medical expenses. The farm did not respond to CBC's requests. 

According to Niagara Region Public Health housing guidelines for employers of temporary foreign workers, the employer has to provide either a laundry tub or washing machine, and either a dryer or clothesline per 15 workers. If laundry is offsite, access to a laundromat must be provided at least once per week. 

According to Andres, washtubs provided by Reid's employer at other residences have not always been in the best condition.  

CBC Hamilton asked Niagara Region Public Health for comment on any housing inspections of residences run or owned by P. G. Enns Farms and if they passed the requirement for laundry facilities.

Public health said Monday "all farms must pass their inspections; otherwise, they will not be able to acquire their workers."

Federal guidelines do not mention a washtub as an option. 

According to the contract for employers under the federal seasonal agricultural workers program, employers are required to "provide accommodations equipped with laundry facilities including an adequate number of washing machines, and where possible, dryers."

If not, "the employer must provide weekly transportation to a laundromat at no cost to the worker," the contract says. 

Andres said none of these options were available to Reid.

"Because migrant farm workers do not have permanent status in Canada, they can't speak up when their housing facilities don't meet these standards," Andres said.

"When they speak up, they're at risk of being fired," they added, speaking broadly about employment experiences for farm workers in Canada.

Andres recalled Fermin Soto Sanchez, a worker from Mexico who was walking his bike with two friends along a road near St. Catharines when he was hit and killed by the driver of an SUV in June.   

"Thankfully, there were no deaths this time," said Andres. "But when I talked to other farm workers about what happened [in both cases], everyone is so shaken by this because they know that could have been them."

Reid won't know when he might be able to go back home until at least Dec. 14, when he sees his doctors again. 

He also worries he may not be able to fully recover of his injuries.

The founder of local advocacy group Niagara Workers Welcome, Jane Andres, said even if Reid returns home, accessing healthcare services will be a challenge. 

In Jamaica, Reid lives two and a half hours from the capital city, Kingston, where physiotherapists and other care providers would be. 

Niagara community rallies 

While Reid recuperates, the Niagara-on-the-Lake community has rallied behind him to make sure his extra months here are as bearable as possible. 

"The support has been unbelievable," said Kathy Brown, manager of the Avondale Food Store, in nearby Virgil, Ont., where Brown set up a jar for customers to donate to Reid. 

Putting jars up for local causes has been a tradition of Brown's almost since she started working at the store six years ago. 

She said the community usually comes through to help, and this was no exception. 

"When I started … there wouldn't have been any community interest in an injured worker. But things have really changed over the last 10 years," said Brown. 

The jar, which "is more for like loose change," wasn't big enough for larger donations some companies and individuals have wanted to make. 

Because of that, Jane of Niagara Workers Welcome started to receive donations for Reid via e-transfer.

She called the amount of support "very encouraging."

The Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce is also contributing to the cause. 

The chamber holds an annual candlelight stroll, and said for this year's event on Dec. 2, 50 per cent of the money raised from candles will be donated to Reid.

Another community member, Sherri Williams, also stepped up. Williams, or as Reid calls her, "this lovely lady," has been visiting him to help out in her spare time.

Reid told CBC Hamilton he feels thankful for the support he has gotten.

He's sent most of the money to his family so they can support themselves while he's unable to work, he says.