Getting Children Out of the Fields

New immigration policies could help undocumented farmworker youth

By Griselda Casillas, Toxic Free NC 2012 Farm Worker Outreach Intern

Last month President Obama announced new deportation policies stating that undocumented immigrants under age 30, who came to the US before age 16, and who are currently in school or have graduated from high school or earned a GED, are not to be deported. Also, those young undocumented immigrants who qualify can apply for two-year work permits that will allow them to work in the United States legally.

This policy change will affect the lives of many young undocumented farmworkers, who often work long hours in the fields of North Carolina in order to feed the nation.  

Agricultural work is classified as one of the three most dangerous occupations in the United States because of the many dangers workers are exposed to that put their lives at risk. Those dangers include constant exposure to pesticides, green tobacco sickness, heat stress, musculoskeletal injuries and many other health problems.

In North Carolina, children are legally permitted to work in the fields at the early age of 12, though recent field investigations have discovered children much younger than 10 filling up buckets of blueberries to help their families make more money in order to put food on their table.

Children are the most vulnerable farm workers because their bodies are still developing.  They have a higher chance of dying from a work-related incident in the fields than an adult. The pesticide exposure they receive comes with short-term effects like nausea, vomiting, cramping and itchy/burning eyes, breathing difficulty, as well as long-term effects such as cancer, miscarriage, memory loss and depression.

Teen farm workers talk about their experiences working around pesticides in the fields of North Carolina. Video courtesy of Toxic Free NC.”

A majority of the time children and adults are not informed about the dangers of pesticide exposure, or their rights in the field. They are not often notified whether the fields have been recently sprayed.  Farmworkers, especially youth, may not have been told what procedures they should follow to protect themselves, or what to do if they get sick from exposure to pesticides.    

On top of that, many undocumented children and teenagers have limited access to medical care.  This means that if they are injured or become ill on the job, they’re less likely than other children to receive proper treatment and care.

Due to work-related illness, family stress and sheer exhaustion, farmworker children are also more likely to perform poorly in school and are at greater risk of dropping out of school.  Many undocumented farm worker youth lose motivation to complete high school when they learn that it will likely be impossible for them to go on to college.

The Obama administration’s new deportation policy enacted last week will help young undocumented immigrants, including those who work in the field, to find jobs that don’t put their lives at risk. The two-year work permits will allow many farmworker youth to seek jobs that typically require proof of citizenship or residency, for the first time in their lives. Under this policy, undocumented youth will also be able to apply for drivers’ licenses and other types of documentation that are currently unavailable to them.

This policy will help young farmworkers to improve their lives in several concrete ways. They can get out of field work and seek jobs in other occupations that don’t expose them to pesticides, extreme heat, heavy lifting and harmful repetitive motion stress. They can seek higher paying jobs that will allow them to provide meaningful help to their families and save money for college, breaking the cycle of poverty.

With the possibility of legal residency, youth will be encouraged to perform better in school and pursue a college education after high school.

Perhaps most importantly, though, the implementation of this policy will mean that undocumented farmworker youth no longer have to live in fear, and that’s a very welcome change.

For Readers Who Can Perform Miracles

Guest blog post by April Simon

I am rarely at a loss for words. In four years of sharing farmworker justice with children, I have never been faced with a question that I could not immediately answer, or quickly find information on. Presenting to a particular fourth-grade class this spring, I found myself in a unique position.

“Is there a book we can get for our class, so we can study more?”

There is no shortage of literature on migrant and agricultural workers in the United States. Much of this is geared toward adults and, at the risk of offending authors and researchers, often rather dry and pedantic. Not exactly kid-friendly.

With a handful of exceptions, books geared toward children focus on Cesar Chavez. While it is indisputable that the man and his work were of monumental importance to the movement, there is so much more to the story.

I explained this to the class, and made a few suggestions (my favorites, Amelia’s Road, by Linda Jacobs Altman and Gathering the Sun, by Alma Flor Ada). They were, unsurprisingly, not satisfied with that. Youth are interested in the now, what is happening today, and how they can get involved.

“Why don’t you write a book?”

This is where they stumped me. I had, in fact, often ruminated on writing a book to accompany the curriculums I developed for pre-K through sixth grades. Though there was clearly a need, there never seemed enough time, and I wondered if there was even a real interest. The fourth graders were telling me loud and clear that there is- and they wanted to know why I wasn’t doing anything about it.

At home that night, I couldn’t shake the idea. The seed they planted stuck hard. After years of going out and telling kids that they can go out and make a real difference in the world with whatever talents they possess- they had finally turned  the tables on me. It was my turn to act.

My degrees are in Child Development and Spanish, with a minor in English writing. My curriculum has been presented to every age group from three-year-olds through the aging Rotary Club set. Who better, I was forced to ask myself, to tackle this task?

“I don’t want to write for adults. I want to write for readers who can perform miracles. Only children perform miracles when they read.” —Astrid Lindgren

There will be two books. One, a picture book geared toward children aged seven and under. This is a day-in-the life story of a worker. The text comes from the account of a man I met a few years ago, and relates life in los campos to his experiences and family in Mexico. For this, I have asked Emily Drakage to collaborate/illustrate. Her experiences, particularly with farmworker youth, and her amazing artistic talent will give a depth and sincerity often lacking in literature for the very young.

The second will be for grades 2 through 6. It will include facts, activities, personal stories, and pose questions to the readers to help initiate conversations. There will be a glossary and resource list in the appendix, and possibly an updateable online component for the tech-savvy.

If you would like more information, or are interested in contributing to this project, please contact me (April Simon) at:  alsimoncds@gmail.com.

Worked to Death

As the summer begins to heat up, it’s a good time to remember the people who work outside – especially in the fields. Hot summer days are a mild inconvenience for those with desk jobs, but for those who labor in agriculture, the heat can be a matter of life and death.

Last month, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration kicked off a national outreach initiative to educate workers and their employers about the hazards of working outdoors in the heat and steps needed to prevent heat-related illnesses. The initiative includes new training materials in Spanish and a smartphone app that workers and employers can use to monitor the heat index.

“For outdoor workers, 'water, rest and shade' are three words that can make the difference between life and death," Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said. "If employers take reasonable precautions, and look out for their workers, we can beat the heat."

Each year, thousands of outdoor workers experience serious illnesses such as heat exhaustion. For 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 4,190 workers suffered from heat illness and 40 died from heat stroke and related causes on the job. Although outdoor workers in a variety of industries are susceptible to heat illness, those in construction and agriculture are the most vulnerable.

Bringing It Home

In North Carolina, heat stroke killed seven farmworkers within a recent five-year period. One of those workers was Juan Jose Soriano, who died of heat stroke while harvesting tobacco in Wayne County on August 1, 2006.

The NC Department of Labor (NCDOL) investigation found that “the employer did not furnish to each of his employees conditions of employment and a place of employment free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees, in that employees were exposed to heat-related hazards without adequate provisions to protect them.”

The investigation also found that “12 migrant farmworkers were exposed to heat indices of 105-110 degrees without the opportunity to adequately hydrate or cool down” and that subsequently one worker died of hyperthermia. The grower has contested the findings and the proposed penalty of $2100. The Workers’ Compensation claim is currently denied by the grower’s insurance carrier. At the time of death, Juan Jose Soriano had 5 children, 3 under the age of 18.

Every farmworker should have access to clean water, breaks and shade when the temperature gets too hot. No one should be worked to death in our fields.

Get involved in the Harvest of Dignity campaign today.

U.S Department of Labor Keeps Children in Harm’s Way

By Emily Drakage, NC Regional Coordinator, Children in the Fields Campaign - Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs

This spring North Carolinians are enjoying their local farmers markets as they begin to overflow with a myriad of fresh fruits and vegetables planted and harvested here in the state. Joy can be found on the faces of folks as they purchase a rainbow of delectable and affordable produce. Springtime for migrant and seasonal farmworker children in North Carolina, carries an entirely different implication. Many of these children must labor 40+ hours a week in the fields to help their families get by.  They are subjected to unsanitary, hazardous, and back-breaking labor conditions. It seems surreal for a state with an over-abundance of agricultural revenue to have child labor tangled up within it. 

Meanwhile, agriculture continues to be the most dangerous industry for children to work in.  In fact, three-quarters of the children under age 16 who died while working for wages in 2010 were killed while working on farms according to the Bureau of Labor statistics. The Department of Labor recently proposed safety updates to the rules governing child labor in agriculture—it would have been the first change in 41 years.

The updates were common sense changes to protect farmworker children from known dangers and would still have allowed children to perform any type of task on their parents’ farm, at any age. This is an exemption secured through the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which is statutory and therefore cannot be changed by a federal agency. Members of Congress also introduced legislation in the House and Senate to block the implementation of the protections called, "Preserving America's Family Farm Act."  Even after advocacy groups held a press conference with a panel of experts from the education, health and agriculture communities to dispel the misinformation surrounding the proposed rules, the Obama administration in the end conceded to the large and misguided outcry from the opposition.   

Throughout the summer let us not forget the farmworker children who sacrifice their childhood, health, and wellbeing to bring us the fruits of their labor at what appears to be a “low cost.”   

For more information, click here: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/the-administration/225809-labor-department-abandons-child-farmworkers.

Workers’ Memorial Day: Remembering those who have died on the job in NC

By Tom O'Connor, Executive Director, National Council for Occupational Safety and Health

2011 was a bad year for North Carolina’s Hispanic workers, especially those working in construction and agriculture. Although they make up only about seven percent of the state’s population, Latinos accounted for 30 percent of deaths on the job in NC in 2011 according to a report to be released this week in conjunction with Workers’ Memorial Day, April 28. A majority of these deaths occurred in the construction and agriculture industries and most were due to highly preventable causes.

"North Carolina Workers: Dying for a Job," produced by the Raleigh-based National Council for Occupational Safety and Health and the recently formed Triangle area Jobs with Justice chapter, found that:

• The State Department of Labor grossly understates the problem of worker deaths in NC. The NCDOL reported earlier this year that 53 people died on the job in NC in 2011. The report counted a total of 83 deaths.
• Fines imposed by Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry’s OSHA are pathetically low, even in cases of worker deaths. The median fine paid by employers in cases of worker deaths in NC in which at least one OSHA violation was found was only $3,250. These fines are far too low to act as an effective deterrent to unsafe employer behavior.
• State and local governments are using taxpayer dollars to support some employers who criminally neglect their workers’ safety and health, sometimes with tragic consequences.

The case of Triangle Grading and Paving is a prime example. Luis Castaneda Gomez, an employee of the company, told his wife that he feared for his life on his construction job. “Luis didn't want to work for the company….He would say they would force him to do stuff that was dangerous,” his wife told a reporter. But he couldn’t find any other jobs in the slow economy. Sadly, the 34 year old construction worker’s worst fears came to pass. He and a co-worker, Jesus Martinez Benitez, were sent down into a manhole on the site of a road construction project in Durham. The men had not been given oxygen detectors nor equipment that is required for work in confined spaces. Both men died from asphyxiation in the oxygen-deficient atmosphere of the manhole. The company had been awarded the contract because they were the lowest bidder, despite a long history of OSHA violations and a previous fatality. (Click here for more on this case.)

The groups will be releasing their report at a Workers’ Memorial Day commemoration event in front of the State Department of Labor office at 4 W. Edenton St. in downtown Raleigh on Friday April 27 at 12:00 noon.

Please come out and show your support for safe workplaces for all North Carolina workers!

The NC Farm Bureau Shares Concern about Immigration Enforcement’s Effects on Agriculture

By Erin Krauss

This spring, the North Carolina Farm Bureau released a video-advertisement that encourages North Carolina lawmakers to think about the implications of harsh immigration enforcement policies on the agriculture industry. The NC Farm Bureau, founded in 1936, claims to represent 500,000 member families with ties to the agriculture economy.

The video’s message is clear: when agricultural states crack down on immigrant workers, there is a huge cost to farmers and the states’ economies overall.

Alabama is mentioned as an example; and recent events there make for a depressing situation. Last summer, AL enacted a harsh local immigration law that resulted in numerous consequences for the immigrant community. After the law went into effect, a mass exodus of community members fled the state causing a major blow to the state’s farm industry, which depends heavily on immigrant labor to be successful. Replacing these workers has proven to be virtually impossible.

As one AL farmer states in an interview on NPR: "That isn't the kind of job most of us want to do…I don't blame them for not wanting to do [it], but somebody's got to do it if we're going to keep eating for the price that we are eating at." The interview goes on to quote a farmer who recognizes that many farmworkers have come to make the US their home and have families and community here: "You got people's been living here 25 years. They've raised families here, they've got a residence; they've made a life here… I've got very good friends, almost like family, that's been working for us for years and years. I don't think that's right."

Here at home, North Carolina has been facing it’s own set of proposed anti-immigrant legislation. Beyond instilling fear, anger, and magnifying a strong sense of dehumanization in the immigrant community; these kinds of immigration laws threaten to bring the local agriculture industry to a halt. How would NC presume to be any different or be any more prepared than Alabama was to deal with the consequences of ostracizing and criminalizing an already undervalued workforce? The success of North Carolina economy depends heavily on agriculture (it provides 22% of the state’s income), and it could not survive without the workers that keep fruits and vegetables moving from the fields to our tables.

Farmworkers, farmworker advocates, and the farm owner community don’t always agree. But this year, the concern about draconian immigration enforcement and the inevitable devastation of NC agriculture is one concern that many stakeholders share. Although farmworker advocates have long recognized that farmworker justice cannot be achieved by way of immigration advocacy only (fair treatment of farm workers is a labor rights issue that should be recognized as such for any population working in the fields), there is no denying that immigration law *does* effect the farmworker community and the agriculture industry in North Carolina.

We must think deeply about the multiple impacts (economic & humanitarian) of immigration laws, and in doing so, perhaps we will begin to finally recognize the human element behind immigration enforcement & the human element that has always existed behind the production of our food.

"Uprooted Innocence" featured on "The State of Things"

Photo by Joe Wolf

Did you know that almost half a million children work in agriculture in the U.S.?

Emily Drakage with the Children in the Fields campaign and Catherine Bittar, a Duke University student who helped produce the short documentary "Uprooted Innocence" talk about the reality of child labor with WUNC's "The State of Things."

• Listen to "The State of Things"
• Watch "Uprooted Innocence"
• Take action with the Harvest of Dignity Campaign

Independent Weekly Highlights Child Labor in NC

Last week, the Independent Weekly published an excellent article on the realities faced by children working in the agricultural industry in North Carolina.

The reporter interviewed several members of the Farmworker Advocacy Network, including the NC Justice Center attorney Carol Brooke and Emily Drakage from Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs' Children in the Fields Campaign. Here's an excerpt:

While the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 sets the minimum working age at 14, the law allows children ages 12–14 to work in the agricultural industry as accompanied minors or with parental consent. According to Carol Brooke, a lawyer with the NC Justice Center specializing in child labor laws and policy, it is legal in North Carolina for children as young as 10 to be a paid employee in agriculture. They can work as long as 14 hours a day.

The law hasn't been touched since 1938, says Emily Drakage, a regional director at the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs and co-founder of NC FIELD. At the time, U.S. agriculture was based on family farms, not agribusiness.

Nearly 75 years later, Drakage says, the law "does not reflect the current realities of industrial agriculture. There is a big difference between working for your dad who is a farmer, and a farmworker."

You can read the full article, share it and comment on it here. Many thanks to the Indy for giving this issue the attention it deserves!