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A
Vision for the Future
of Public Policy on
Migrant Farmworkers
America’s treatment of its migrant and seasonal farmworkers
has long been our national disgrace. John Steinbeck's
Grapes of Wrath (1939) and Edward R. Murrow's 1960
documentary, Harvest of Shame continue to have
relevance. In Fast Food Nation (2001), Eric Schlosser
discusses the 3.5 million fast food workers and goes on to
say, "The only Americans who consistently earn a lower hourly
wage are migrant farm workers."
Daniel Rothenberg’s fine
book about farmworkers, With These Hands: The Hidden World
of Migrant Farmworkers Today (1998), concludes: "The key
components of the farm labor system have been a steady
oversupply of workers and the use of a series of techniques to
consistently disempower farmworkers."
As we enter the 21st
century, how could Government empower farmworkers to improve
their wages and working and living conditions?
What could Government do
to modernize and improve agricultural labor conditions?
Specific policy suggestions are listed on the following pages.
To summarize:
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End discrimination against farmworkers in labor laws
so that farmworkers enjoy rights on the job that other
occupations enjoy,
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Enforce labor laws more effectively
and improve access to the justice system
to implement farmworkers’ rights and to protect
law-abiding employers against unfair competition by
labor-law violators,
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Promote better wages, working
conditions, health status, job safety, and housing
to attract and stabilize the agricultural labor force,
increase productivity, continue growth of exports, and
reduce poverty and its consequences.
To read specific proposals
click your mouse on any of the above three paragraphs.
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