Our Addiction to Cheap Farm Labor

Raleigh News & Observer
By Chris Liu-Beers, NC Council Of Churches

Immigrant farmworkers picking sweet potato

As we enter this holiday season of feasting, we need to be honest about how our food is produced. America has always relied on cheap labor to make agriculture work.

The source of much of that labor used to be slave ships making the Middle Passage. Today it’s no longer slaves but immigrant workers, primarily undocumented people from Mexico and Latin America, whose cheap labor makes possible both low prices at the grocery store and high profits for agribusinesses.

Farmworkers don’t often make the news. Even though 85% of fruits and vegetables are still harvested by hand, farmworkers and their families remain largely invisible to our society. We don’t like to think too much about who is doing the dirty work.

But recently farmers and farmworkers in Georgia and Alabama have made national headlines as labor shortages have forced us to pay attention. Crops are rotting on the vine and growers are staring at huge losses, unsure of how to move forward without a reliable pool of cheap labor.

Why Georgia and Alabama? Both states recently passed harsh new immigration laws designed to crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Proponents said the new laws would open up thousands of jobs for legal residents, especially on farms.

But with average annual salaries of $11,000, 14-hour days in the heat of summer, and shockingly unsafe working conditions, do you think U.S. citizens are rushing to fill these jobs?

The new hit NBC show Rock Center recently highlighted the labor shortage on Alabama’s farms:

We met Jess Montez Durr, who was picking tomatoes on the Jenkins tomato farm on Chandler Mountain in northern Alabama. Durr said he’d stick with this as long as he could, but he preferred his previous job as a dishwasher at Applebee’s. “The work was a whole lot more easier than this,” he said. Since our visit, he and the other American workers have quit.

Consumers, growers, politicians, we’re all caught up in this bind. We want cheap labor and cheap food, but it turns out we don’t really want the people who make it all possible – and all the “inconveniences” of educating children or protecting workers. On our farms we’ve always relied on marginalized and vulnerable workers to do backbreaking manual labor, and now we’re pretending that they are the problem. With these new state laws we’re criminalizing them, telling them that their help is no longer wanted. So they’re leaving.

In Georgia, Gov. Deal suggested that ex-cons should do the work. But it turns out even this population can turn down jobs that are “unsuitable,” and most have. It seems that the few who tried often didn’t last a day in the fields.

So how do we move forward? The solution is not to find yet another vulnerable population to exploit in the fields. Instead, we need to end our addiction to cheap labor.

To start, farmworkers should have the same protections and safety standards as other industries. Despite the passage of the 1935 Fair Labor Standards Act, farmworkers – many of whom were African-American sharecroppers at the time – were excluded from many of its provisions. Decades later, farmworkers are still fighting for the most basic protections that other workers have, like overtime and child labor laws.

Farmworkers should have legal status, too. We all benefit when workers are on a level playing field. Honest employers who obey the laws would no longer be at a competitive disadvantage against unscrupulous employers who take advantage of undocumented workers. At the same time, workers would be able to leave bad jobs and complain about unsafe conditions without fear of being deported.

Finally, farmworkers should earn more than poverty wages. A study of migrant workers in Eastern NC found that nearly half don’t have enough food to feed their families year-round. But if farm wages were to rise by 40 percent, each seasonal farmworker would be lifted above the federal poverty line. The total cost to consumers? About $15 more per household per year. (Check out “Room for Debate” at the NY Times for more on this.)

In a down economy with high unemployment, it’s no surprise when politicians heap blame on the most vulnerable populations, like undocumented farmworkers. But the hard truth these politicians won’t admit is that farmworkers didn’t steal our jobs. We invited them. We needed their cheap, reliable labor and we were content when times were good and workers didn’t complain.

Now that we’re criminalizing undocumented workers in unprecedented ways, we’re merely reaping what we sowed. We have no one to blame but ourselves.

Click here to read this editorial at the Raleigh News & Observer.

Indy Weekly Notes Appalling Conditions in NC Fields

Earlier this month, the Independent Weekly did a feature-length story on farmworker conditions, especially in North Carolina’s tobacco fields. With the insight of a new report issued jointly by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee and Oxfam America, the public is learning more and more about the deplorable conditions in the fields that make possible huge agribusiness profits. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

We found shocking pieces in all of those different categories. We've seen some pretty bad conditions, but this was the first time that we were able to really take an in-depth, personal look and hear from the workers in a very detailed way about a lot of the abuses," says FLOC representative Briana Connors, who helped write the report and conduct 86 farmworker interviews.

In another Wilson County camp, I spoke with a group of teenage workers from Guatemala. The young men opened a flimsy wooden door to reveal a cramped, flea-infested space with unfinished particleboard flooring and old mattresses void of sheets, bedding or pillows, their corners black with mold. According to the report, when some workers complained about bedbugs, their growers allegedly told them to buy Clorox and bleach their mattresses, or to spray the mattresses, and themselves, with Raid.

Similar complaints were filed with the North Carolina Department of Labor (DOL), according to farmworker accounts in the report, which stated the agency initially investigated them but did not follow up.

Continue reading the story and download the report here. You can also learn more about a recent complaint filed against the NCDOL for not enforcing existing laws on the books that are meant to protect farmworkers.

Farmworker Conditions Make National Headlines

NBC News recently ran a national story that highlights the poor living and working conditions that farmworkers face here in North Carolina. From the report:

WILSON, N.C. – The lines on Celdin’s face and the dim look in his eyes make him seem at least 10 years older than his age, 53. They reflect the 12 long years the undocumented migrant worker from Honduras has spent laboring in the fields of North Carolina and doing construction in the United States.

"Kneeling down is hard on my knees," Celdin said in a tired voice as he showed off the inflatable bed that he keeps on the floor. "But it sure beats getting devoured by bed bugs." He says he saved up to buy the plastic mattress that helps keep the insects away.

He wouldn't begin to describe the bathroom conditions at the labor camp in Wilson, N.C., that he shares with dozens of other workers. He wanted me to see it for myself. 

Walking in, one is immediately hit by a dreadful stench coming from a small garbage can on the floor that’s overflowing with used pieces of toilet paper. At the end of the room stand three showerheads with no curtains, and to the left, three toilets side by side, but without stalls or panels to provide workers any privacy.

Continue reading here.

Help put an end to these dehumanizing conditions - get involved in the Harvest of Dignity campaign today.

Farmworkers and Human Trafficking

Legal Aid of NC’s Caitlin Ryland was featured in a recent WRAL Investigates story about human trafficking. The news story shines a spotlight on the disturbing ways that traffickers abuse individuals: 

Caitlin Ryland, an attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina, says human trafficking does not always involve the sex trade. Some people are forced to perform other labor, such a farm work.

“Essentially, individuals are held somewhere against their will, and through force, fraud or coercion are forced to perform a commercial sex act or do labor,” Ryland said.

“Human trafficking is real, it’s here, it’s in North Carolina,” she added.

Douglas Coasey says he has worked on three farms in North Carolina and lived in labor camps where workers slept on the floor or in unsanitary beds with bed bugs. They also lived with leaky roofs and had rudimentary bathroom facilities and little access to food. The camps are often deep in the woods where workers are isolated and have no transportation to leave.

“They promise you these different things, but you don’t ever get it,” he said. “You end up sleeping on the floor. You end up taking a bath outside in the woods because of the crowdedness.”

Coasey says he finally left farm work last year and went into construction. He snuck away when his boss left the farm and was able to call a friend to help him escape from the camp.

Click here to watch the report:

Several years ago, there was another high-profile trafficking case involving workers from Thailand who were forced to do farm labor in North Carolina. CNN has the report here:

These horrific stories remind us that farmworkers are often extremely vulnerable to abuse. In many cases, workers are isolated and rely completely on their employer for every aspect of their livelihood, including access to food, transportation, and medical care.

Farmworkers, like all people, deserve safe places to live and work. Be part of the solution – join the Harvest of Dignity campaign today.

Thank You!

Thanks to everyone who made our Día de los Muertos celebration a big success. Thanks especially to Dos Taquitos Centro, our speakers, FAN members and allies, and the elected officials who attended.

News accounts were published by the Associated Press, EFE (in Spanish), and others.

We'll have lots of pictures and video up soon. In the meantime, here's a short video of the daytime press conference:

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Celebrations

Tuesday, November 1
6:00pm - 9:00pm

Dos Taquitos Centro
106 S. Wilmington Street
Raleigh, NC 27601 

Please join us to honor and celebrate the lives of farmworkers and farmworker children who have died while working in the fields.

Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday and celebration that takes place on November 1st and 2nd, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints day and All Souls’ Day.

Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts.

Info, RSVP, comment on Facebook here.

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If you cannot make it to the party in Raleigh, we'd like to invite you to host your own Día de los Muertos celebration at your home, church, or community center. Please let us know if you're hosting a party and we'll help make sure you have everything you need to make it a success.

Here's a packet with ideas for how to make this work:

Host a Day of the Dead Celebration
North Carolina Farmworker Obituaries

NC Dept. of Labor Neglects to Enforce Laws that Protect Farmworker Health and Safety

Raleigh, NC – Legal Aid of North Carolina's Farmworker Unit has filed a CASPA (Complaint Against State Program Administration) with the US Department of Labor (USDOL) due to the fact that the North Carolina Department of Labor (NCDOL) is failing to ensure safe working and housing conditions for farmworkers in North Carolina. The Agricultural Safety and Health Bureau of the NCDOL is responsible for inspecting farmworker housing prior to occupancy, investigating complaints when housing is substandard, and following up on any OSHA violations which include field sanitation and health and safety in agriculture. NCDOL is also responsible for inspecting poultry industry worksites.

Farmworker advocates report that NC Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry has repeatedly ignored concerns raised by them over the years about substandard migrant farmworker housing and working conditions. Many migrant housing units are overcrowded, in disrepair and have unsanitary cooking and washing facilities. Fields where farmworkers risk exposure to pesticides and extreme temperatures harvesting crops may lack bathrooms and safe water for drinking and hand washing. “Since the farmers aren’t getting any complaints,” says a 19-year old Triangle-area farmworker, “they’re going to keep on going and working like they regularly do, without any water, port-o-john, drinking water, [or even] water to wash your hands."

Despite numerous housing and field safety violations, federal and state audits, as well as independent research, have determined that NCDOL simply fails to enforce the law. For example, NCDOL is cited for being inconsistent in the way it issues penalties, classifies violations incorrectly, and routinely reduces and/or negotiates fines downwards, even in cases where NCDOL found a high probability of serious injury. NCDOL’s own internal audit determined that it does not always follow the proper procedure for classifying violations and calculating penalties. Even when employers were aware of the violation and took no action, the violations were still not classified as “willful,” which means that the employer knew the law and violated it anyway.

Rob Segovia-Welsh, former NCDOL inspector reports that, “For over four years I conducted and accompanied co-inspectors on compliance inspections for NCDOL and I can say that 99.9% of the monetary penalties attached to health/safety violations are dramatically reduced by both the mandatory set penalty calculator devised by USDOL and by outright bargaining with the employer.”   

Many agricultural employers abide by the law. But in 2009, only 55 migrant camps were inspected after workers arrived, when violations are more likely to be evident, out of more than 1200 registered camps and over 4000 total migrant camps in North Carolina in any given season. NCDOL is failing farmworkers and their children as well as honest employers who work hard to provide legal, safe working conditions. Poor migrant housing and working conditions can lead to acute and long-term illnesses and are an affront to human dignity.

For more information on the CASPA complaint contact Mary Lee Hall, Managing Attorney of the Farmworker Unit of Legal Aid of NC, at 919-856-2180 or maryleeh@legalaidnc.org. For information on research surrounding farmworker living and working conditions in North Carolina, please see below or contact Bart Evans at 919-660-0704 or bdevans@duke.edu. 

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Background & Facts

Download this fact sheet.

Nearly all of North Carolina’s more than 58,000 migrant farmworkers live in housing that is provided by the grower or crewleader. The Agricultural Safety and Health Bureau of the North Carolina Department of Labor (NCDOL), which is headed by Commissioner Cherie Berry, is responsible for inspecting migrant housing prior to occupancy, and for investigating complaints when the housing is substandard. Federal and state audits, as well as independent research, reveal the following serious problems in NCDOL’s enforcement practices.

1) NCDOL is inconsistent in the way it issues penalties. 

• The amount NCDOL fines someone for a migrant housing violation can vary significantly for the same violation. For example, according to NCDOL’s recent internal audit, unadjusted penalties for failing to register a migrant camp ranged from $100 to $5,000.

2) NCDOL does not classify violations correctly, resulting in incorrect penalties.

• NCDOL was criticized by the US Department of Labor in 2009 for using guidelines that are weaker than federal guidelines, resulting in lower penalties. NCDOL rarely, if ever, classifies a violation as willful, (meaning the employer knew the law and violated it anyway), doing so only once in 2009. USDOL was 62 times more likely to cite an employer for a willful violation than was NCDOL, and more than twice as likely to classify a violation as serious.
• A review of NCDOL’s migrant housing inspections between 2006 and 2009 by the Farmworker Advocacy Network reveals that some serious violations did not result in a penalty, even at the initial citation stage. Even when employers were aware of the violation and took no action, the violations were still not classified as willful.
• The NCDOL’s internal audit determined that they do not always follow the proper procedure for classifying violations and calculating penalties. 

3) NCDOL routinely reduces and/or negotiates fines downwards.

• In every migrant housing inspection reviewed by FAN during a three-year period, fines were reduced, even in cases where NCDOL found a high probability of serious injury.
• NCDOL frequently reduces penalties for housing and field sanitation violations if the employer requests an informal conference, but there are no guidelines calling for a reduction at this stage.
• A recent USDOL investigation found that NCDOL’s policies for calculating and reducing penalties resulted in inappropriately low fines for serious violations—on average only $512. NCDOL refused to change its policies in response to this investigation.

4) NCDOL does not focus its inspections on the worst migrant camps.

• In 2009, only 55 migrant camps were inspected after workers arrived, out of more than 1200 registered camps and over 4000 total migrant camps in North Carolina in any given season. There are only 7 inspectors for the entire state. According to recent research conducted by Wake Forest University, camps are more likely to have violations mid to late season after workers are living in the housing, rather than before they arrive.
• NCDOL acknowledges that it "has not met its follow-up inspection goals." Only 0.8% of inspections in 2009 were follow-up inspections to check on situations where problems were found in the past. Housing problems can persist and even worsen for years because of lack of follow-up.
• H2A camps are more likely to be inspected than non-H2A, even though housing violations are more common in non-H2A camps. 

Recommendations from recent reports/research:

• Set up stricter requirements for penalty reductions.
• Change the current policies on how citations are grouped and fined as a single violation, so that serious violations are appropriately identified and addressed.
• Use the correct criteria for issuing willful violations and issue appropriate penalties when such violations are found.
• Issue serious violation citations in all instances where health and safety hazards are documented in the investigation.
• Review the effectiveness of NCDOL-initiated investigations in detecting high hazard establishments.
• Target repeat violators for follow up investigations and issue higher penalties to repeat violators.
• Increase the number of housing inspectors.
• Increase the number of post-occupancy inspections conducted.
• Expand efforts to identify and inspect unregistered camps.
• Target a portion of post-occupancy inspections to camps with no H2A workers and camps with more than 10 residents.
• End the practice of reducing fines at the informal conference stage, and strictly adhere to deadlines for requesting an informal conference.

Background Information

• Housing for migrant farmworkers is often overcrowded and unsanitary. Many migrant housing units have inadequate laundry, kitchen, and bathroom facilities.
• A 2004 Study of NC Farmworker Family Housing found that 40% of the farmworkers surveyed lived in overcrowded housing and most (63-84%) did not have washing machines or dryers.
• Most farmworkers live in labor camps in isolated, rural areas that lack telephones and their own transportation, making it difficult to get assistance in the event of an emergency.
• Many farmworker housing units lack locks on doors or windows, making them susceptible to break-ins and robberies.
• Poor migrant housing conditions lead to increased rates of lead poisoning, respiratory illnesses, ear infections, parasitic infections, and prolonged pesticide exposure.
• All H-2A camps are inspected annually by the NC DOL before they are occupied, whereas less than half of other farmworker housing is inspected at all. Scarce resources of the NCDOL are currently not focused on the housing most likely to have problems
• Uninspected camps, along with those that are repeat violators, have some of the most dangerous conditions.  

Sources Include: (1) Arcury, et al., Housing Conditions in Temporary Labor Camps for Migrant Farmworkers in North Carolina, Policy Brief, Center for Worker Health, Wake Forest University School of Medicine. (2) Employment Security Commission (3) Ellen Phelps, North Carolina Migrant Housing and Safety Standards: An Empirical Assessment of Compliance and Enforcement Statistics, 2006. (4) NC Department of Labor – Agricultural Safety and Health Bureau, Annual Report to the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural and Economic Resources, 2009. (5) NCDOL Internal Assessment Report, March 26, 2009. (6) US Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Enhanced Federal Annual Monitoring Evaluation (FAME) Report of the North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Program, October 1, 2008 – September 30, 2009. (7) September 17, 2010 Letter from Allen McNeely to US Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Betting the Farm

Earlier this month, there was a fascinating article by the Philadelphia CityPaper about how homeless men in Philadelphia sometimes end up picking potatoes in North Carolina. With the promise of housing and steady work, recruiters find men who are willing to make the trek down South. The article highlights their experiences, which often consist of various kinds of exploitation.

Exploitation of farmworkers, whether homeless men or recent immigrants, is no accident. As the story notes:

For the 4,000-some labor camps across North Carolina, the state's Department of Labor has only seven employees inspecting for working violations, according to Melinda Wiggins, executive director of Student Action with Farmworkers in North Carolina, who is herself the daughter and granddaughter of sharecroppers. She and her team visit labor camps across North Carolina to interview migrant workers and encourage them to stand up for their rights.

They also pressure federal and state authorities to crack down on housing and labor violations. Beyond the lack of resources, she says, is a lack of will by federal and state officials whom she says have been heavily influenced by the agriculture lobby. In 2008, the Charlotte Observer reported that campaign donors for the Department of Labor commissioner, Cherie K. Berry, had systematically reduced fines for labor law violations for certain companies. The Observer investigation found that companies that donated to the commissioners' campaign saw a reduction of 70 percent in their citation fines.

Click here to read the whole article.

Student Action with Farmworkers is a founding member of the Farmworker Advocacy Network.