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LETTERS, Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Farm work and protections
The New York Farm Bureau presents us with a false dilemma: Either "import workers, or you're going to import food" ["Survey says labor loss worrying LI farmers," News, Oct. 7]. This artificial ultimatum rests on a dubious premise: Since conditions of work on farms are so inevitably terrible that United States workers won't take these jobs, the argument goes, the only solution to agricultural labor shortages is to ramp up guest worker programs.
How deceitful for the New York Farm Bureau to depict terms of agricultural employment as inevitable, when it has fought tooth-and-nail to deny agricultural employees rights and protections that would improve their conditions.
Legislation exists that would extend to farm workers the same basic rights and protections that other workers have come to expect: overtime, a weekly day of rest, and collective bargaining protections, and more. Absent these guarantees, local workers with other options may continue to opt out of agricultural work. However, rather than support these measures, which would attract more applicants, the farm bureau instead calls for the expansion of a workforce composed of temporary workers whose severely restricted economic and political status leaves them vulnerable and compliant.
When the farm bureau complains of an agricultural labor shortage, let's not forget that it has fought sensible options that would benefit farmers, workers, and all New Yorkers.
Jordan Wells, Poughkeepsie
Editor's note: The writer is a coordinator with Rural and Migrant Ministry, Inc., a multifaith organization serving rural and migrant people in New York.
Last Updated: 10/14/2008
© Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State
