Press Room

Democrat & Chronicle Op Ed: Farmworkers are mistreated

Coachella Valley worker taken by Bruce Nov 2011

About 2.5 million men and women work on our nation’s farms and ranches; nobody knows how many of them are laboring on Monroe County’s more than 450 farms. It is hard work, made worse by our inhumane national immigration system which Congress seems determined not to fix.

Today the system serves neither our economic interests nor does it protect farmers and their workers, a majority of whom are undocumented immigrants. In the Rochester area, many work picking apples, which is particularly dangerous given the risks of pesticide exposure. Their wages are low and fringe benefits are rare. Housing, when available, is often decrepit and crowded. Undocumented status inhibits workers’ ability to speak up against wage violations, sexual harassment and other abuses.

Agriculture contributes $5.7 billion annually to New York’s economy, yet farmworkers do not have the right to join a union free from retaliation or to overtime pay, and they aren’t guaranteed a day of rest. Bills to address these basic needs stalled in New York’s State Senate. Both of us have first-hand experience with these issues. After entering the United States at age 15 as an undocumented immigrant, Librada joined her brothers picking apples in New York. A single apple tree might be sprayed three times a week or more with a dangerous mix of pesticides, exposing workers to serious long and short-term health risks. In college years later, Librada learned what her rights were and what workplace standards apply to the farms where she had worked. As a public interest lawyer and policy advocate, Bruce and his colleagues help farmworkers remedy their problems.

Our broken immigration system remains a barrier to progress for farmworkers.After months of negotiations between farmworker and agricultural stakeholders, a bipartisan group of senators in Washington produced a tough-but-fair compromise that is included in the comprehensive immigration reform bill. But obstruction in the House of Representatives has led to demands for President Obama to alleviate the harm unfairly inflicted on law-abiding,undocumented immigrants. The President should act, but only Congress can grant aspiring Americans the opportunity to earn legal residency and citizenship.

Goldstein is president of Farmworker Justice, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization in Washington, D.C. Paz, a former farmworker, is the Robert F. Kennedy human rights laureate for 2012 and a Brockport resident.

FARMWORKER JUSTICE APPLAUDS EXECUTIVE ORDER WHICH MAY STRENGTHEN PROTECTIONS FOR AGRICULTURAL WORKERS

Farmworker Justice President Bruce Goldstein participated in a White House press conference Thursday where President Obama signed a new Executive Order governing labor practices by federal contractors that could benefit American farmworkers, whose existing labor protections are often violated.

The President’s Executive Order requires prospective federal contractors to disclose findings of labor law violations and gives agencies more guidance on how to consider labor violations when awarding federal contracts. Because the federal government is a major purchaser of food for school lunch and other programs, the order could reach into the fields and ranches supplying big food contractors, where workers often are victims of wage theft and work in illegally unsafe circumstances.

The Executive Order includes the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the principal federal employment law for farmworkers. In addition, the EO applies to certain subcontractors, which can mean that when a wholesaler of produce is the government contractor, the grower that supplies the produce to the wholesaler may be subject to monitoring for violations of labor protections.

“We believe the President’s Executive Order, while no substitute for needed congressional action raising the minimum wage, is an important step forward in protecting workers, including those in agriculture. Government contractors and their subcontractors should comply with labor protections. We applaud President Obama for taking these needed steps,” said Goldstein.

Rural House Members Pressure Labor Department to Stop Enforcing ‘Hot Goods’ Provision on Farm Produce

The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Horticulture, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture held a hearing today on the Labor Department’s enforcement of the minimum wage for farmworkers using the so-called “hot goods” section of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Some grower groups and Congressional allies are pressing to exclude perishable vegetables and fruit from coverage … Read more Rural House Members Pressure Labor Department to Stop Enforcing ‘Hot Goods’ Provision on Farm Produce

Airport wrong on immigrant health ads: Farmworker Justice Board of Directors Vice Chair’s Letter to the Editor

Re "Airport, ACLU tussle over ads" (Our Region, July 21): The decision of Sacramento International Airport to not run the informational ads of the California Endowment regarding denial of health care coverage for undocumented immigrants is unjust and deplorable. As a longtime resident of Sacramento and a frequent user of the airport, I applaud the endowment for its efforts to provide factual statements on behalf of those who make considerable economic contributions to our region and state, yet are denied access to health care coverage.

How can we in good faith claim our region to be the farm-to-fork capital when the very people who plant, harvest, pick and pack our food are so unfairly treated? This is a critical public health and food safety issue that ultimately affects us all.

The only controversy I see here is the ignorance of airport officials for not allowing the shameful truth to be on public display.

— Mario Gutierrez, Sacramento

NYT Letter to the Editor: Beyond Foodie–It’s About Values

Mark Bittman’s column raises the important point that those who profess to care about “good” food must consider the structure and failings of our food system. This includes not only nutritional content and sustainability of production, but also the treatment of the people who plant and harvest the food for our tables.

There are about 2.5 million farmworkers across the country, at least half of them undocumented immigrants. These workers labor under difficult and dangerous conditions every day, vulnerable to weather, pesticide poisoning and employer abuse.

In New York State, for example, farmworker rights and protections lag significantly behind workers in every other sector. New York farmworkers do not have the right to bargain collectively, do not have access to overtime pay, and are not guaranteed a day of rest. Bills to address these basic rights have stalled for years in the New York State Senate.

The treatment of these workers is a great injustice in our food system and one that should be a concern of “foodies” everywhere. People who labor to produce our food should be treated with dignity and fairness.

BRUCE GOLDSTEIN
LIBRADA PAZ
Washington, June 26, 2014

The writers are, respectively, president of Farmworker Justice and the Robert F. Kennedy human rights laureate for 2012.

President Obama Plans Action in Response to Speaker Boehner’s Refusal to Call a Vote on Immigration Reform

Today, President Obama announced that he will take executive action to reform our immigration system. The President’s remarks came after House Speaker Boehner told him that the House would not pursue a vote this year on much-needed immigration reform. This refusal to address our immigration crisis hurts our economy and the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, including 1 million or more farmworkers.

“Farmworker Justice commends the President’s commitment to take administrative action to reform our broken immigration system. Hundreds of thousands of farmworkers who labor to put food on our tables suffer each day because they are unable to secure authorized immigration status,” said Bruce Goldstein, president of Farmworker Justice. “We urge President Obama to act boldly and to provide affirmative relief for undocumented farmworkers and other undocumented immigrants with strong ties to the U.S.”

“The refusal of the Speaker to bring comprehensive immigration reform to a vote hurts farmworkers, farm operators, our food system and our country. While it is now critical that the President take action, only comprehensive legislation will truly fix our immigration system. Speaker Boehner’s inaction is irresponsible and inhumane. Once again he has chosen to put politics over the needs of workers and our economy,” said Goldstein.

Rep. McCarthy Must Use His New Role as Majority Leader to Tackle Immigration Reform

Comprehensive Reform Would Benefit His Agricultural-Dependent District

Today, House Republicans elected Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as their new majority leader, a position that gives him the power to bring long-stalled comprehensive immigration reform to the floor for a vote.

“Rep. McCarthy represents one of the most important agricultural areas of our country, which suffers under our broken immigration system,” said Bruce Goldstein, President of Farmworker Justice. “Farmworkers in his district contribute to our country and communities through their hard work cultivating and harvesting our fruits and vegetables and must be given the opportunity to earn a path to citizenship. Growers in his district depend on these aspiring Citizens.”

Immigration reform must include the agricultural stakeholder compromise, a tough-but-fair agreement that was designed to address the needs of both grower and farmworker interests. The compromise is included in the bipartisan Senate bill, S. 744 that passed almost one year ago, and is in the bipartisan House bill, HR 15. It provides a roadmap toward legal residency and citizenship for farmworkers and their families and creates a new agricultural guestworker system which includes both difficult concessions and important new protections. This legislation would help stabilize the agricultural industry in McCarthy’s district.

“As majority leader, Rep. McCarthy now has the power with Speaker John Boehner to bring immigration reform to the floor of the House. Over the past year, McCarthy has said that he is committed to resolving our immigration crisis. He must seize this opportunity to address our country’s demand for immigration reform,” said Goldstein.

Victory for Washington State Berry Pickers as Sakuma Brothers Farms Withdraws its Application for H-2A Guestworkers

Washington State berry grower Sakuma Brothers Farms has withdrawn its application asking the federal government to allow it to employ as many as 438 foreign H-2A “guest workers” to harvest its berries this season.

Sakuma had made the application after the company’s domestic workers formed an organization last year, “Familias Unidas Por la Justicia” (Families United for Justice), in order to bargain collectively for better wages and working conditions. Farmworker Justice opposed the application, on behalf of the Familias Unidas workers, in administrative proceedings before the U.S. Department of Labor, which is responsible for administering and enforcing compliance with H-2A program requirements.

“It is clear that Sakuma withdrew its application for H-2A workers realizing that it cannot qualify, given its refusal to hire workers already in the country who are readily available and willing to work,” said Bruce Goldstein, President of Farmworker Justice.

“The withdrawal and conciliatory language from the Sakuma family points to an obvious final resolution: bring back the experienced Familias Unidas workers who said they are ready to work for Sakuma, and enter into a formal contractual agreement over wages and working conditions that will ensure a stable and ready work force for the company going forward,” said Goldstein.

Groups Challenge EPA Failure to Protect Children from Pesticides

Environmental, health, and farmworker advocacy groups filed an Administrative Objection and a court appeal this week, challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) refusal to quickly correct errors in pesticide registrations and its refusal to immediately implement protective measures to safeguard children from exposure to dangerous pesticides that drift from fields during and after application.

Earthjustice and Farmworker Justice are representing Pesticide Action Network North America, United Farm Workers of America, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos Del Noroeste, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sea Mar Community Health Center, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation.

It took EPA more than four years and a court action to provide a response to a request to comply with existing law that requires the agency to protect kids from being exposed to pesticides that drift from fields and orchards. When they did finally respond, they refused the request to take immediate action to protect kids, instead leaving in place decisions and policies they admit are deficient.

“When EPA finally responded, they said that they would comply with the law in their own good time, which means potentially another eight years before mistakes are corrected and protections in place,” said Earthjustice attorney Janette Brimmer. “EPA refused to require even the most minimal buffers around kids’ homes, schools or daycares — and failed to include the margin of safety in its risk calculations that is required by law.”

The agency has long acknowledged that children experience higher levels of pesticide exposure relative to their size than do adults. Officials acknowledged in April that EPA had failed to consider drift in setting pesticide limits, contrary to legal requirements under the Food Quality Protection Act. EPA’s original deadline to complete this work under the Act was 2006. Despite admitting their mistake, EPA declined to implement immediate protections or alter their current plans and plodding timelines, which extend to 2022. Agency officials insist that the current approach to addressing and regulating pesticide drift is good enough. Farmworker and environmental advocacy groups that filed the original petition firmly disagree.

“EPA's refusal to implement minimal interim protection measures is unconscionable and unsupported,” said Kristin Schafer, Program & Policy Director for Pesticide Action Network, one of the plaintiffs in the suit and objections. "We could not stand by and leave EPA's tepid response unchallenged.”

The Petitioners have filed an administrative objection with EPA urging the agency to revise its response to impose additional tenfold safety factors on various pesticide registrations while it completes revised risk assessment for children’s potential exposures to pesticide drift. The simultaneous court action on behalf of a subset of the groups seeks an order compelling EPA to immediately implement spray buffers to protect children’s homes, schools, daycares and play areas while EPA is completing the revised risk assessment.

The insecticide chlorpyrifos clearly illustrates the problem with EPA's assertion that current rules are adequately protective. Recent science has shown that even low levels of exposure to the chemical can harm children's developing brains and nervous systems—and drift of the pesticide into homes and schools in rural areas is well-documented. Under EPA's current regulations, this new science will be considered in the chemical review to be completed in several more years.

"We know kids are particularly vulnerable to pesticides in the first seven years of life," said Erik Nicholson, National Vice-President of the United Farm Workers, another plaintiff. "EPA's refusal to act means another entire generation of children will be exposed to harmful pesticides—this is both unnecessary and unacceptable. And farmworker children currently bear and will bear the heaviest burden."

Studies show that farmworker children are not only exposed to pesticides that drift in the air and contaminate the water in rural areas, they also face exposure from residues of the chemicals brought into the home on their parents work clothes and skin.

“The science is clear that children are more susceptible to pesticides,” said Barbara Gottlieb, Director of Environment and Health at Physicians for Social Responsibility. “EPA is aware of that elevated risk and yet—for years—has delayed taking necessary steps to protect children from pesticide drift.”

Farmworker and public health advocates filed a lawsuit in July of 2013, seeking an answer to a petition that the advocates filed with the agency in 2009, urging EPA to set safety standards protecting children who grow up near farms from the harmful effects of pesticide drift. The original petition urged EPA to evaluate the impacts of pesticides on children and adopt interim prohibitions near places where children congregate. In their long-delayed, formal response to plaintiffs, officials refused to take any additional steps to establish protections.

“Five years later and EPA is no closer to protecting children from hazardous pesticide drift,” said Virginia Ruiz, an attorney with Farmworker Justice, also representing plaintiffs in the lawsuit. “It’s time for the Agency to take a stand for children’s health.”

Pesticide Action Network North America, United Farm Workers of America, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos Del Noroeste, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sea Mar Community Health Center, Farm Labor Organizaing Committee, and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation are participating in the objections to EPA. Pesticide Action Network North America, United Farm Workers of America, and Pineros y Campesinos Unidos Del Noroeste are parties to the court action.

“Rural workers and their families deserve better,” said Della Barnett, Project Director at California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, a party to the objection to EPA. “We urge EPA to stand with sound science and working families to protect children from a known avenue to dangerous exposure to pesticides.”

Consumers File Lawsuit against Darigold, Inc. for Misleading Marketing Claims

Citing deceptive business practices, consumers filed a federal class action lawsuit against Darigold, an agricultural marketing cooperative that is one of the largest dairy producers in the country with more than 500 participating farms and total annual sales of almost $2 billion dollars.

In the filing, the plaintiffs claim Darigold misrepresents the way its member suppliers treat both animals and workers, in marketing materials and the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Report.

Farmworker Justice and the Law Offices of Marcos Camacho will serve as co-counsel for the consumers.

Although Darigold publicly claims that their participating farms ensure care for animal health, promote food safety and provide labor protections, workers have regularly reported labor and animal rights violations and poor working conditions on suppliers’ farms. The filing states that milk is produced from injured and sick cows, and that workers do not have access to drinkable water, sanitary lunch rooms or rest breaks. Workers also claim on-going wage theft and workplace discrimination.

“At the root of any company’s Corporate Social Responsibility efforts must be fair and just treatment of their workers,” said Bruce Goldstein, President of Farmworker Justice. “Darigold is clearly not committed to these goals based on the abuses documented by workers on their suppliers’ farms. Consumers deserve to know the truth behind how Darigold’s suppliers treat their employees and how their products are being made.”

Workers and consumers will hold press conferences in Portland and Seattle on May 8th.