We will begin our Series with a look at the North Carolina Farm Workers
Agriculture:
Twenty-one Percent of the total Labor Force in North Carolina is in the Agricultural business. North Carolina has long depended on the influx of immigrant workers. Vestiges of the Old South have not been kind to them. Unions have been despised in this State, probably due to the mindset of workers who were raised in the Company towns of Textile, and Manufacturing. Working for the same company your Daddy did, was good enough back when, but the times have changed. Companies do not value their work force in the same way. To them, it is an era of outsourcing,low wages,and cuts in Health benefits. Workers are disposable,especially older ones.
Look Deeper…
For the Agricultural worker, this has always been. From Wages, to Safety and lack of any benefits, the Poorer of our labor force, have always struggled. Some small things point to improvements, here at last, in the 21st Century, but only a glimmer of hope for the future.
“In the past, workers have feared speaking up about unsafe conditions such as being exposed to pesticides. One worker, Raymundo Hernandez, died in 1995 from such exposure, say leaders of FLOC. Workers who pull tobacco often experience “green sickness” when they are first exposed to the nicotine in the plants. But, union leaders say, because workers are indentured to their smugglers and rely on employers for their H2A visas or their livelihood, they have not fought against these injustices. Those who lose their jobs could be sent back to Mexico and labeled as troublemakers, effectively barring them from working in the United States and earning the money they need to support their families.”
LINK
The Boycott of the Mt. Olive Pickle Company helped to raise the consciousness of both citizen and worker. As a result of joint efforts, this past September, after six years, agreements were reached.
” In spearheading the campaign, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) reached an agreement with the North Carolina Growers Association, enabling as many as 8,000 workers on more than 1,000 farms throughout the state to form a union without employer interference.Under the agreement, workers will receive at least one-half day of rest per week in a freedom-toworship clause, a full day’s pay for a day when a worker is injured, a grievance procedure, a seniority system, three days paid funeral leave and other new rights. FLOC now has ended its boycott of Mt. Olive after it signed the pact and agreed to pay the farmers slightly more for their crops.” LINK
Farm Worker Health is another important factor to discuss. With the Bush Administration dismantling of American Health Benefits, along with passing many of these costs to the State, higher burdens will be placed on State and County shoulders, not to mention the tax burdens to their citizens.
There are many trying to study these issues, including the Southern Coastal Agromedicine, and The Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention.
But these are Academic type studies. The Political will to change the working environment has to be there. Our immigrant Labor Force is not
well represented in this arena. Many of the work force are of legal working status…but many are not, and therefore not registered Voters. The owners of large Farms are registered, and support their Politicians with Campaign contributions, and apply pressure by means of large Lobbying campains. As always, the breaks lean towards those that have.
The corporate tomato grower Ag-Mart was virtually unknown in North Carolina four years ago when it planted hundreds of acres of grape tomatoes in a swath of coastal plain. Today, the Florida company is accused of the worst pesticide violations in North Carolina history. And state health officials are investigating whether pesticide exposure is to blame for three deformed babies born to Ag-Mart employees — one with no arms and legs and another with no visible sex organs. Last fall, the N.C. Department of Agriculture’s pesticide section fined Ag-Mart $184,500, the department’s largest fine ever. Inspectors say it exposed workers to a host of poisonous chemicals, some linked to birth defects and other health problems.
Four months later, Ag-Mart and the state are still negotiating payment. “It’s cheaper for them to pay fines than it is for them to operate aboveboard,” said Fawn Pattison, head of the N.C. Agricultural Resources Center, a nonprofit that opposes the use of toxic pesticides. LINK
ISSUES
EDUCATION – According to 2000 Census data, Latinos generally have fewer years of formal education than NC’s population as a whole, with only 43% of Latinos having a high school diploma.Forty-four percent of Latino young adults born outside
the 50 states or the District of Columbia were high school dropouts. In North Carolina, immigration status and state tuition are directly related to high Latino dropout rates and education disparities. Many high school students in NC with years in the public school system cannot see a future in higher learning because they do not qualify as a resident for tuition purposes.
The NC Limited English Proficiency (LEP) program receives funds according to a complex formula that provides very little money to have a satisfactory program to teach English to LEP students. Insufficient class time for language learning directly affects scholastic achievement at grade level.
HEALTH – Latino patients continue to face significant barriers that impede access to appropriate health care, and health care providers have also become overburdened in their efforts to serve North Carolina’s changing population. Providers overwhelmingly report that language is the most significant barrier to providing adequate care for the Latino population.
A Latino-accessible non-profit community-based mental health agency located in the Triangle has had a 500% increase in its Latino clients over the last five years.
LABOR – Current law exempts agriculture employers from providing worker’s compensation insurance, unless the employer is regularly employed 10 or more full-time year-round agricultural workers. Agricultural workers have 14% of work-related deaths even though they comprise only 3% of the nation’s workforce.
HOUSING – North Carolina residents are not always aware of their rights or responsibilities as tenants under the state’s landlord/tenant law. Latinos are particularly vulnerable to “bad” loans and violations of the Federal Fair Housing Act. LINK
Sources:
US Bureau of the Census 2000
State of the South report (MDC, 200)
Selig Center for Economic Growth (University of Georgia)
El Pueblo, Inc.
East Carolina University’s Regional Development Institute for Assistance
National Center for Education Statistics
NC Center for Public Policy Research, 1999
Seems to me, this affects everyone in the State, not too mention, the entire Country. Write your Congress Critter. Make them aware, that you Care.