Justice for Enrico Miranda, Fiera Foods Temporary Worker

Enrico Miranda was a temporary worker for about five years at Fiera Foods, an industrial bakery in North York.

Miranda died two weeks ago at work. He was crushed to death by a machine he was cleaning.

They say he was a kind man and his only dream is to be reunited with his family. Miranda worked as an engineer in the Philippines but since his income wasn’t enough, he flew to Dubai to gain more work experience. His wife, Tay, on the other hand, applied as a caregiver in Canada. Eventually, she was able to sponsor her family. Miranda together with his two sons migrated to Canada in 2009.

For 10 years, Miranda was unable to land a permanent job, instead he spent those long years as a temporary worker in Toronto.

Miranda marks as the fifth temporary worker to die in the workplace at Fiera Foods since 1999. People are putting the blame on the provincial government. Labour advocates and unions have held a protest last week in North York because of Miranda’s tragic death. They are asking the Ontario government to update and improve the provincial labour laws that will protect temporary workers and focus on cracking down agencies or companies that encourage treatment for such workers.

According to the victim’s family, the Ministry of Labour has still not reached out to them. What disappoints them the most is that the factory was still running its regular operations on the evening of the accident.

The family is currently raising money to pay for funeral expenses. They will all return to the Philippines to bring Miranda’s body back in his hometown, in Pampanga.