Farm Workers

Farmworker Union To Hold New Election

September 19, 2024 By Dan DiMaggio and Sindhu Sundar, Labor Notes. Resist! Democracy, Elections, Farm Workers, FLOC, Unions

Members of the second-largest farmworkers union in the U.S. will elect leaders on September 21 and 22. It’s a rerun of an election two years ago, following accusations that many members were effectively disenfranchised in that vote. The Farm Labor Organizing Committee agreed to the new election in a voluntary compliance agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) last year. The union has 1,500 members in North Carolina, Virginia, and Ohio. Its primary collective bargaining agreement, with the North Carolina Growers Association, covers 9,000 farmworkers scattered across 750 North Carolina farms.

Rolling Back Protections For Child Labor In The Name Of ‘Parental Rights’

June 18, 2024 Janine Jackson, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Educate! Child labor, Farm Workers, Parental Rights, Workplace Safety

One hundred years ago this month, I was reminded by Portside’s “This Week in People’s History” feature (5/29/23), a constitutional amendment passed both houses of Congress, with large majorities, and went to the states for ratification. It remains a proposal, not a law, to this day, because the necessary three-quarters of states didn’t accept it. The proposal is the Child Labor Amendment, giving Congress authority to regulate “labor of persons under 18 years of age.” Efforts to protect children from dangerous work continued anyway, of course, and the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act included prohibitions on children under 14 working in most occupations. Separate rules have been crafted for agricultural jobs (which is its own story).

We Want A Labor Law That Protects All Farm Workers

June 8, 2024 Sarah Tucker, The Stand. Organize! Farm Workers, Seattle, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Seattle - Farm workers at Windmill Mushroom traveled to Seattle on Wednesday to shed light on their years-long struggle for dignity and respect – and to urge lawmakers to pass legislation to ensure farmworker labor rights. Accompanied by United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero and joined by state legislators, farm workers spoke passionately about their fight to unionize and the need for labor laws that protect all farm workers, organized or not. The workers have been organizing together for more than two years at Windmill Farms – formerly Ostrom – fighting back against intense pressure and retaliation from the boss.

It’s Too Hot To Keep Using Pesticides

August 19, 2023 Harrison Watson, In These Times. Create! climate crisis, Environment, Farm Workers, Food and Agriculture, Pesticides

It’s summer and time to take in the sunshine. But beware: because of climate change, the planet is rapidly warming. Outdoor temperatures are climbing above 100oF. Raging heat waves are causing debilitating illness and death. In some places, floods sweep through the streets. In others, precipitation is declining and water sources are evaporating. The Union of Concerned Scientists has dubbed this time of year, from May to October, the “danger season.” Humans have not evolved to withstand such levels of heat stress. Still, over 2 million farm workers find themselves out in the fields. Some are suited up in heavy layers of clothing, including flannel shirts, pants, boots, gloves and coveralls.

Inside The Government’s Failing Program To Protect Farmworkers

April 23, 2023 Johnathan Hettinger and Sky Chadde, In These Times. Educate! Farm Workers, Food and Agriculture, Regulation, Worker Rights and Jobs

In early 2019 in Illinois, a farmworker, his wife and his son lived in a moldy house. Attempting to keep the winter cold at bay, he’d spray-foamed the windows shut. The toilet often malfunctioned. Unlike most farmworker housing, it hadn’t been inspected — the employer hadn’t registered it with the state. But the man had another option. He complained to a state employee whose job is to advocate for farmworkers’ rights. A crucial component of the advocate’s job is visiting fields and housing and forwarding complaints to law enforcement. Several farmworkers a week were contacted through this outreach. Between 2018 and 2020, Illinois forwarded 10 complaints — ranging from being sprayed twice by pesticides to illegally garnishing wages for medical treatment — to authorities.

Supreme Court limits California Union Recruiting In Favor Of Property Rights

June 25, 2021 Kate Cimini, Cal Matters. Resist! Class Struggle, Farm Workers, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

In a blow to labor, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a decades-old California rule inspired by César Chávez that allowed union organizers to meet with farmworkers at their place of work. Commercial growers applauded the conservative court’s ruling to uphold property rights while union representatives vowed not to be deterred. Two agricultural producers filed suit after organizers with the United Farm Workers sought to access their property to speak with farmworkers. The plaintiffs in Cedar Point Nursery v Hassid, Cedar Point Nursery and Fowler Packing Company, argued the California regulation requiring them to provide access up to three hours a day, 120 days a year was unconstitutional and unnecessary.

Days After Election, Trump Freezes Wages Of Farm Laborers

November 11, 2020 Jake Johnson, Commondreams. Educate! Department of Labor, Farm Workers, Trump, Wages

Just days after U.S. voters went to the polls to help deny President Donald Trump another four years in the White House, the Trump administration issued a little-noticed rule freezing the wages of farm laborers working under H-2A visas, a move that could severely harm low-wage guest workers who have already been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The rule (pdf), published in the Federal Register by the Department of Labor on November 5, will "help corporate interests deny pay hikes to frontline farmworkers who help maintain America's food supply," The Daily Poster's Julia Rock reported Monday.

Work In The Time Of COVID-19

August 5, 2020 Rebecca Gordon, Tom Dispatch. Educate! COVID-19, Essential worker, Farm Workers, Women's Rights

In two weeks, my partner and I were supposed to leave San Francisco for Reno, Nevada, where we’d be spending the next three months focused on the 2020 presidential election. As we did in 2018, we’d be working with UNITE-HERE, the hospitality industry union, only this time on the campaign to drive Donald Trump from office. Now, however, we’re not so sure we ought to go. According to information prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Nevada is among the states in the “red zone” when it comes to both confirmed cases of, and positive tests for, Covid-19. I’m 68.

As COVID-19 Surges, Farmworkers Are Paying A High Price

July 31, 2020 By Evelyn Nieves, Inside Climate News. Educate! COVID-19, Essential worker, Farm Workers, Food and Agriculture

Every day, California farmworkers worry that the pandemic plowing through agricultural hubs will catch them and kill them. They also worry that not working will kill them. The collapse of food service demands when most businesses and institutions shut down has cut farm jobs statewide by 20 percent, or 100,000. Many farmworkers who are still working have had their hours or days reduced, sometimes without warning. Lockdowns have also cost workers second jobs they needed to make ends meet. They are juggling bills and going hungry. These are some of the findings in a new survey of 900 farmworkers in 21 farm counties, released on Tuesday. The survey was coordinated by the California Institute for Rural Studies (CIRS), with a wide group of researchers, farmworker organizations and policy advocates. The Covid-19 Farmworker Study (COFS) reinforces the dire warnings that farmworker advocacy organizations made when the coronavirus lockdowns began: The least protected essential workers in the country

Farmworkers Are Walking Out To Protest Conditions During COVID-19 Pandemic

May 16, 2020 Mai Hoang and Le Talamo, Seattle Times. Resist! COVID-19, Farm Workers, Food and Agriculture, PPE

Yakima, Washington - Workers at Columbia Reach Pack and Hansen Fruit and Cold Storage Co. in Yakima walked out Thursday morning to protest their working conditions. They held signs asking employers for better COVID-19 safety measures, 6 feet of social distancing in the workplace, and protection from retaliation for protesting. They also want Columbia Reach to provide a hazard pay increase of $2 an hour. Thursday’s strikes are the sixth and seventh in Yakima County since Monday, with workers calling for paid sick leave, hazard pay, safer working conditions and protection from retaliation amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since May 7, workers also have walked out of Frosty Packing and Roche Fruit in Yakima, Matson Fruit Co. and Monson Fruit Co. in Selah, and Allan Bros. in Naches

COVID19 Threatens Seasonal Farmworkers At The Heart Of The Food Supply

April 6, 2020 Michael Haedicke, The Conversation. Educate! COVID-19, Farm Workers, Food and Agriculture

Many Americans may find bare grocery store shelves the most worrying sign of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their food system. But, for the most part, shortages of shelf-stable items like pasta, canned beans and peanut butter are temporary because the U.S. continues to produce enough food to meet demand – even if it sometimes takes a day or two to catch up. To keep up that pace, the food system depends on several million seasonal agricultural workers, many of whom are undocumented immigrants from Mexico and other countries. These laborers pick grapes in California, tend dairy cows in Wisconsin and rake blueberries in Maine. As a sociologist who studies agricultural issues, including farm labor, I believe that these workers face particular risks during the current pandemic that, if unaddressed, threaten keeping those grocery store shelves well stocked.

Heat Wave Safety: 130 Groups Call For Protections For Farm, Construction Workers

July 19, 2018 Georgina Gustin, Insideclimatenews.org Resist! Climate Change, Exploitation, Farm Workers, Workers Rights and Jobs

Parts of the country are expecting another round of searing, potentially record-shattering heat in the coming days, and many farm and construction workers will be out in it—with no federal heat stress standards directing their employers to offer them water, rest or shade. Despite recommendations going back more than 40 years, the federal government has repeatedly failed to set a heat stress standard for American workers. On Tuesday, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, along with United Farm Workers Foundation and Farmworker Justice, joined more than 130 public health and environmental groups in submitting a petition to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration calling for the agency to require employers to protect their workers from heat by imposing mandatory rest breaks, hydration and access to shade or cooled spaces, among other measures.

Florida Farmworkers Push For Fairness In The Fields

March 7, 2018 By Negin Owliaei, Inequality.org Organize! Class Struggle, Exploitation, Farm Workers, Florida, Labor

South Florida was known as a hotbed for modern-day slavery. Now, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers are using their innovative model to bring dignity to the tomato fields. Immokalee, Florida, is known for producing nearly all of the winter tomatoes in the United States. Up until recently, the town also had a reputation for being home to some of the worst labor exploitation in the country, with sexual violence, wage theft, and assault occurring regularly in the tomato fields. The working conditions were so bad that the town was considered “ground zero for modern slavery” in the United States. But one group has spent the last two decades transforming the conditions for Florida farmworkers. Through the use of boycotts, supply chain agreements, and an innovative monitoring program, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has made massive inroads in creating a safe workplace for one of labor’s most exploited communities.

Boycott Driscoll’s This Week In Support Of Workers

November 20, 2017 the Boycott Driscolls Campaign, www.popularresistance.org Resist! boycott, Farm Workers, Food and Agriculture, Worker Rights and Jobs

From the Boycott Driscolls Campaign. The 80,000 farmworkers in San Quintin, Baja California (Mexico), who are fighting for a collective-bargaining agreement with BerryMex, the Mexican subsidiary of Driscoll's Corporation, need your support. These are workers who toil in semi-slave-like conditions. They want improved wages and working conditions; they want an end to the sexual harassment of women fieldworkers; they want dignity and the recognition of their newly formed independent trade union: SINDJA.

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