It’s High Time for a Minimum Wage Increase: Farmworkers Harvest Our Food Yet Reap Low Wages
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing today on a proposal to raise the minimum wage. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, S. 460, would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 by 2016 and would subsequently increase the minimum wage yearly to keep up with inflation. The witnesses on the three panels included Thomas Perez, Secretary of Labor; Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director of the Congressional Budget Office; Dr. Heather Boushey, Executive Director and Chief Economist, Washington Center for Equitable Growth; Sister Simone Campbell, Executive Director, NETWORK; and Alicia McCrary, a fast food worker and mother of four from Iowa. The witnesses discussed the benefits of a raise in the minimum wage for low-wage workers, which includes farmworkers.
The minimum wage is critically important to farmworkers, who have a long history of discrimination in this nation’s labor laws and were originally excluded from FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime protections. Farmworkers are now covered by FLSA’s minimum wage provisions and this provision is an essential protection for farmworkers, who remain excluded from several major labor laws and FLSA’s overtime provisions because of their occupation.
The current minimum wage rate of $7.25 per hour is far too low. A significant proportion of farmworkers live just at or below the poverty line. A raise in the minimum wage will benefit many farmworkers, helping to lift them out of poverty. Farmworker wages are among the lowest in the country: poverty among farmworkers is roughly double that of all wage and salary employees.i According to the 2007-2009 National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) data, farmworkers’ individual average annual income from farm work was between just $12,500 – 14,999; and their average incomes from all sources was $15,000 – 17,499.ii
Many farmworkers earn little more than the minimum wage or are dependent on the minimum wage for their wage rate. An increase in the minimum wage will benefit farmworkers paid the minimum wage and also is likely to result in a bump up in wages for those farmworkers who are being paid slightly higher wages by employers seeking to retain good workers. Numerous farmworkers are paid by the piece (“piece rate”), and the minimum wage rate guarantees a floor in such circumstances.
The importance of raising the minimum wage is underscored by the fact that the majority of farmworkers lack authorized immigration status. Indeed, one would expect the wage rates of farmworkers to be even higher if it were not for the presence of so many undocumented workers, whose vulnerability generally deprives them of bargaining power. It is the most vulnerable workers who most need the protection of the federal minimum wage to sustain themselves and their families. Employers who do not exploit undocumented workers’ lack of immigration status by paying fair wages should not be forced to compete with those who do.
A raise in the minimum wage is not an onerous burden on agricultural employers but rather helps protect those law-abiding, decent farmers who pay market rates but are undercut by businesses that pay vulnerable, undocumented workers the low minimum wage. Of significance, several states with the highest numbers of farmworkers already have state minimum wages that are higher than the federal minimum wage. These states include California, Florida and Washington, with minimum wages of $8.00, $7.93 and $9.32 per hour respectively. Thus, many employers are paying above the federal minimum wage and they should not be forced to compete for business against companies that insist on attempting to pay sub-poverty wage rates.
The minimum wage should be substantially increased. It’s good policy for workers, families, and our nation’s economy; and it’s fair.
iKandel, Profile of Hired Farmworkers, A 2008 Update, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Report No. 60 (2008). http://www.ers.usda.gov/ersDownloadHandler.ashx?file=/media/205619/err60_1_.pdf.
iiNational Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), Public Access Database, United States Department of Labor, Fiscal Years 2007-2009.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing today on a proposal to raise the minimum wage. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, S. 460, would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 by 2016 and would subsequently increase the minimum wage yearly to keep up with inflation. The witnesses on the three panels included Thomas Perez, Secretary of Labor; Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director of the Congressional Budget Office; Dr. Heather Boushey, Executive Director and Chief Economist, Washington Center for Equitable Growth; Sister Simone Campbell, Executive Director, NETWORK; and Alicia McCrary, a fast food worker and mother of four from Iowa. The witnesses discussed the benefits of a raise in the minimum wage for low-wage workers, which includes farmworkers.
The minimum wage is critically important to farmworkers, who have a long history of discrimination in this nation’s labor laws and were originally excluded from FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime protections. Farmworkers are now covered by FLSA’s minimum wage provisions and this provision is an essential protection for farmworkers, who remain excluded from several major labor laws and FLSA’s overtime provisions because of their occupation.
The current minimum wage rate of $7.25 per hour is far too low. A significant proportion of farmworkers live just at or below the poverty line. A raise in the minimum wage will benefit many farmworkers, helping to lift them out of poverty. Farmworker wages are among the lowest in the country: poverty among farmworkers is roughly double that of all wage and salary employees.i According to the 2007-2009 National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) data, farmworkers’ individual average annual income from farm work was between just $12,500 – 14,999; and their average incomes from all sources was $15,000 – 17,499.ii
Many farmworkers earn little more than the minimum wage or are dependent on the minimum wage for their wage rate. An increase in the minimum wage will benefit farmworkers paid the minimum wage and also is likely to result in a bump up in wages for those farmworkers who are being paid slightly higher wages by employers seeking to retain good workers. Numerous farmworkers are paid by the piece (“piece rate”), and the minimum wage rate guarantees a floor in such circumstances.
The importance of raising the minimum wage is underscored by the fact that the majority of farmworkers lack authorized immigration status. Indeed, one would expect the wage rates of farmworkers to be even higher if it were not for the presence of so many undocumented workers, whose vulnerability generally deprives them of bargaining power. It is the most vulnerable workers who most need the protection of the federal minimum wage to sustain themselves and their families. Employers who do not exploit undocumented workers’ lack of immigration status by paying fair wages should not be forced to compete with those who do.
A raise in the minimum wage is not an onerous burden on agricultural employers but rather helps protect those law-abiding, decent farmers who pay market rates but are undercut by businesses that pay vulnerable, undocumented workers the low minimum wage. Of significance, several states with the highest numbers of farmworkers already have state minimum wages that are higher than the federal minimum wage. These states include California, Florida and Washington, with minimum wages of $8.00, $7.93 and $9.32 per hour respectively. Thus, many employers are paying above the federal minimum wage and they should not be forced to compete for business against companies that insist on attempting to pay sub-poverty wage rates.
The minimum wage should be substantially increased. It’s good policy for workers, families, and our nation’s economy; and it’s fair.
iKandel, Profile of Hired Farmworkers, A 2008 Update, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Report No. 60 (2008). http://www.ers.usda.gov/ersDownloadHandler.ashx?file=/media/205619/err60_1_.pdf.
iiNational Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), Public Access Database, United States Department of Labor, Fiscal Years 2007-2009.