The Aquilini Investment Group is calling allegations of poor treatment of workers from Guatemala employed at a company farm "extreme" and "unfounded."
Women who worked at the Golden Eagle Farms in Pitt Meadows in the summer of 2018 said they weren’t properly paid and lived in poor conditions.
"It was the saddest part of our lives," said Gloria Suy Hernandez, who spoke through a translator.
Sharing their story for the first time, they said injuries were ignored and some workers were denied water on hot days. Twenty-two people slept in one house.
"There were five showers, but only three were working," said Hernandez. "There was no privacy because managers could walk into our bedrooms at any time."
Mirsa Martinez tearfully told reporters their families needed the money and were counting on them, so they had to put up with it.
David Fairey of the BC Employment Standard Coalition said the company was ordered to pay $133,632.56 in back wages by the B.C. government in mid-May. It was also fined $500.
"The employer that pays their hockey players between $1 million and $7 million per year and all they're fined is $500 for violating the rights of 174 workers," said Faire. "This is a travesty."
"Many of these allegations are extreme, unfounded and false," wrote The Aquilini Investment Group. "The claim that water was withheld is particularly egregious."
The company added the workers were housed in facilities that are inspected annually.
"This is the first we have heard of many of these claims, and we intend to investigate them fully."
