Updated state regulations aim to provide more protections for migrant farm workers

The state Department of Workforce Development, which administers the state’s Migrant and Seasonal Farm Worker program, says it’s the first significant update to migrant labor rules since 2007. 

By Joe Schulz | Wisconsin Public Radio Migrant farm workers in Wisconsin will have additional heat, health and safety protections this year under revised administrative rules that took effect earlier this month. The state Department of Workforce Development, which administers the state’s Migrant and Seasonal Farm Worker program, says it’s the first significant update to migrant labor rules…

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Bicycles for Migrant Farm Workers

Bicycles for Migrant Farm Workers

Bikes for Migrant Farm Workers (Photo credit: Marissa Tiel) —ooo— The gentleman whose photograph sits at the top of this post is Steve Nicklen. Steven is married to my niece Susanne Lebrun and they have two married children: Jacob (Jocelyn Evans), an engineer, and Jessica (Dustin Smart), an artist and a photographer. They live in British Columbia‘s Fraser Valley (Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows,…

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"California will begin paying for free legal help with immigration for undocumented farmworkers who are involved in state investigations of wage theft or other labor violations, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced this week.

The $4.5 million pilot program will provide qualifying farmworkers with referrals for legal help with their immigration status. 

Roughly half of California’s farmworker population is believed to be undocumented. Fear of deportation and difficulties finding jobs can discourage workers from filing labor complaints or serving as witnesses in cases alleging unsafe work temperatures, wage theft, or employer retaliation for unionizing, officials said...

Respecting immigrant rights

Farmworkers in labor investigations who qualify for the new state program will receive a direct referral to legal services organizations that already offer immigration services, such as the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County or the United Farm Workers Foundation, which spoke in support of the program. 

The free legal services workers could receive include case review, legal advice and representation by an attorney, according to Newsom’s office...

Deferred deportation

State officials said the pilot program aligns with a new Biden administration policy that makes it easier for undocumented workers who are victims of labor rights violations to request deferred action from deportation. Because the federal Department of Homeland Security can’t respond to all immigration violations, it exercises “prosecutorial discretion” to decide who to try to deport.

State officials said they won’t ask for workers’ immigration status, but noncitizens granted this deferred action may be eligible for work authorization.

This year, California labor department officials began supporting undocumented workers’ requests for prosecutorial discretion or deferred action from federal immigration officials, including when employers threaten workers with immigration enforcement to prevent workers from cooperating with state investigators. 

“The Department of Industrial Relations’ Labor Commissioner’s Office … was the first state agency to request deferred action from DHS for employees in an active investigation, and that request was successful,” Hickey said. “This is an important process for undocumented workers to be aware of.”"

-via CalMatters, July 21, 2023

Jamaican migrant farm workers in Niagara Region wrote an open letter to Jamaica's Ministry of Labour requesting more support in the face of what they call "systematic slavery," days before a migrant worker died in Norfolk County.

Garvin Yapp, 57, of St. James, Jamaica, was killed on Sunday in an accident with a tobacco harvester at Berlo's Best Farm in Norfolk County, two hours southwest of Toronto.

[...]

Two other Jamaican workers and a Mexican worker have died this week as well, according to Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC).

'Feels like we are in prison'

"As it currently stands, the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) is systematic slavery," the workers wrote in their open letter.

[...]

Workers wrote they were scared of sharing their grievances with Samuda directly for fear of being kicked out of the SAWP. They also said that workers from Mexico and the Philippines share the same grievances.

Workers described housing conditions as so poor that rats eat their food. They live in crowded rooms with zero privacy with cameras, and lack dryers to dry their clothes after it rains, they wrote.

"It feels like we are in prison," the letter reads.

On working conditions, workers wrote they're "treated like mules" and punished for not being quick enough. They said they're exposed to dangerous pesticides without adequate protection, and their bosses are verbally abusive.

"They physically intimidate us, destroy our personal property, and threaten to send us home," the letter reads.

"This is very much the reality of the migrant farm worker program in this country," MWAC's executive director Syed Hussan said. "Working in farms in Canada is a human rights disaster."

Last year, during the hottest summer on record, Angel and hundreds of other workers on Dearnsdale fruit farm in Staffordshire were told to pick and sort about 100-150kg of strawberries every day inside polytunnels designed to trap heat. It was so hot that at least one worker fainted, she said. The strawberries they picked ended up on the shelves of some of the UK’s largest supermarkets, including Tesco, Co-op and Lidl.

An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and VICE World News has uncovered widespread mistreatment of migrants working at more than 20 UK farms, nurseries and packhouses in 2022. Workers reported a litany of problems, from not going to the toilet for fear of not hitting targets, to being made to work in gale-force winds. Some said they would be shouted at or punished for having their mobile in their pocket or talking to work colleagues while on the field. Others said they were threatened by recruiters with being deported or blacklisted.

Many were left in debt and destitution, and some left the UK being owed money by their employers. One worker even had to pull out his own tooth because he could not find appropriate medical care. Our findings expose a poorly enforced government visa scheme that is flagrantly breached by farms and recruiters, and which leaves people vulnerable to exploitation.

At Dearnsdale, those who made mistakes or failed to hit targets were routinely sanctioned. The most common punishment was to have their shift cut short – every day several workers would be sent back to their caravans after only a few hours’ work. That meant that on a day when a worker was hoping to earn money for eight hours of work, they would be paid for only three. The practice is common on farms using the visa scheme.

For workers like Angel, who took on debt to pay for visas and flights to come to the UK, having their earnings cut was devastating. Even after picking fruit and vegetables for five months, she still has not been able to pay off her £1,250 loan.

[...]

Human rights experts and lawyers say that the design of the UK seasonal worker visa puts workers at an increased risk of exploitation. Because these visas tie migrants to their sponsor, a recruiter, workers are then unable to seek work with anyone else, even if they have problems with their employer or their recruiter stops offering them work.

Workers are not only dependent on their recruiter and the farm employing them for work, but also for their housing, transportation and even information about their employment rights. Workers who are this dependent on their employer can find it harder to leave exploitative situations.

amazing that florida has become a fascist petri dish in the span of a couple months and we’re just kind of pretending we don’t see it

one of the absolute most annoying lies about immigrants that conservatives tell is that we do not pay taxes most immigrants whether here documented or not pay taxes 1) because in order to become a US citizen you must show proof that you have done your taxes in the last couple years and out of fear of ever being denied immigrants will religiously make sure their taxes are in order 2) the government itself provides ways for “undocumented” immigrants to pay their taxes anyone can apply for an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) through the IRS which is basically a faux social security number to file your taxes without ever being able to get a tax return (all ITINs start with a 9 so you can distinguish them) now the government can get their share of taxes from immigrants without having to give benefits! Getting money under the table and continuing to prevent them from a path to citizenship

I really do hate the idea that somehow if you don't have a job you're a burden to and "useless" to society because most people don't have jobs that contribute anything meaningful to society. Sure maybe that jobless person is "useless" to society but I work in a retail shop lmao. How the fuck is that a contribution to society in any meaningful way? Like is working an HR job really the backbone that keeps society together? I once read a story where bankers went on strike for six months to "show us" how useful they were. No one even noticed so I guess they aren't the backbone of society either, and considering approximately zero farmers, grocery store workers, textile workers, or really any job that actually contributes stuff don't have wages that reflect that I'll assume your "usefulness" to society isn't what you're paid by anyway.

2 15 23 for ask tingy

2- thoughts on veganism

I don't think the moral position that it's wrong to eat animal products holds water considering the exploitative nature of all industrial food production and my experience with most vegans has been that they will moral posture over you for eating honey while gleefully eating a dole banana. I think eating less meat, even cutting it out entirely, is a good idea for your health and the environment but cutting out all animal products on principal is ridiculous and the only reason people give for why they would do it is a moral one that I find super insulting to the millions and millions of exploited people working in agriculture.

15- rank the methods of death: freezing, burning, drowning

Freezing easily first, cuz it's just like an uncomfortable sleep. Drowning second cuz I like the wet slop of the sea. I don't wanna be burned :(

23- do you wear jewelry?

I collect and wear huge weird earrings, it's kinda my "thing" that j do. I also have two piercings on my left helix and one on my nostril. Sometimes I wear chokers.

In 1968, fighting for the rights of farmworkers, Cesar Chavez organized a five-year “grape boycott,” working to ensure better pay and working conditions. His work helped to change the lives of millions of farmworkers.

Migrant Farm Worker With His Wife And Ten Children, 1936

This bill also benefits migrant workers who are marginalized under our current system. It’s a great one to support!