Press Room

U.S. President-Elect, Joe Biden Nominates Tom Vilsack for Secretary of the Department of Agriculture

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Farmworker Justice supports the President-elect’s nomination of former governor of Iowa, Tom Vilsack for the next Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack is the former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture who served under President Obama’s administration.

Farmworker Justice worked with Tom Vilsack during his time in the previous administration. He was the first Secretary of Agriculture to welcome farmworkers into the building to hear their concerns, a significant departure from the past and from the current administration in which the USDA views agricultural employers, but not farmworkers, as key constituents.

Former Secretary Vilsack named a plaza at the USDA headquarters after César Chávez, labor activist and leader of the United Farm Workers union. At the event, he described how being raised in an orphanage helped him recognize the “dignity of those who for far too long were orphaned in this country because they worked the land, picked our food, processed our food and packaged our food, sacrificing under extraordinary conditions.”

In 2016, in comments regarding a project to improve housing for farmworkers Vilsack praised farmworkers, many of whom are immigrants, saying,“America’s farmers, ranchers and the businesses supporting our rural communities depend on these hardworking individuals to ensure we remain a productive, food-secure nation.”

Farmworker Justice looks forward to working with Vilsack again to help farmworkers improve their living and working conditions, access to safe, healthy food and infrastructure in rural communities. “There is still much progress needed for farmworkers and their communities even before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately harmed these essential workers,” said Farmworker Justice President, Bruce Goldstein.

Farmworker Justice continues to actively follow President-elect Biden’s cabinet nomination process. Farmworker Justice Supports the U.S. President-Elect’s Nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas as Department of Homeland Security Secretary. We’ve expressed our views on President-elect Biden’s Nomination of California Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, as Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services.

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Farmworker Justice is a national advocacy organization for farmworkers. FJ founded in 1981 is based in Washington, D.C. and collaborates with organizations throughout the country to empower farmworkers to improve their wages, working conditions, occupational safety, health immigration status and access to justice.

For more information visit the Farmworker Justice website at www.farmworkerjustice.org and follow on Twitter at @FarmwrkrJustice.

Media Contact:

BA Snyder
Veritas Group for Farmworker Justice
512.630.6337
BA@TheVeritasWay.com

Farmworkers Must Be Prioritized for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

(Washington, D.C.) – Federal, state and local governments and health care providers should place farmworker families among the highest priority for access to COVID-19 vaccines and make strenuous efforts to overcome barriers to access faced by farmworkers and their families.

Farmworkers have been designated essential workers and are expected to continue to work to ensure our nation’s food security and protect our economy. Farmworker communities are at the front lines of the pandemic, risking their health to ensure stability in the U.S. food supply chain. As low-income, rural, majority Latino communities, they are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, an estimated 269,000 agricultural workers have contracted COVID. A recent study in the major agricultural production area of Monterey County, California found a 13% positivity rate among participating workers.

Due to their working and living conditions, farmworkers are at substantially high risk of COVID exposure. In the fields, orchards, dairy farms, and produce packing houses, farmworkers must often work close to each other with limited access to protective equipment or sanitation supplies. Many farmworkers share transportation to and from the fields and, due to their low wages, often live in crowded, shared housing. Limited access to health care, inability to quarantine, and the lack of paid sick leave availability means that workers are more likely to work when COVID-19 positive. Unfortunately, many employers have failed to provide adequate workplace protections. Workers are also at higher risk for COVID-19 complications due to poor health outcomes, including diabetes and heart disease, among other chronic conditions.

For these reasons, it is imperative that farmworkers and their families are designated as high priority for vaccine distribution, immediately after health care workers and first responders. Vaccination strategies should be developed with farmworker communities, engaging farmworker organizations, community members, researchers, and agricultural employers to ensure widespread access and adoption. A comprehensive strategy must address the unique needs of farmworker communities and include outreach and education that is linguistically accessible and respectful of cultural values.

Priority vaccine access is one crucial element to ensure farmworkers are able to stay healthy and continue their essential work. Other crucial elements include access to testing and treatment. Most importantly, due to their high risk of exposure at work, employers must implement workplace protections to limit COVID-19 transmission. Federal and state governments should mandate workplace protections and benefits to prevent COVID-19 and assist workers affected by the pandemic.

We rely on farmworkers for our food supply. We must prioritize their health and well-being as we aim to end the COVID-19 pandemic.

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For more information visit the Farmworker Justice website at www.farmworkerjustice.org and follow on Twitter at @FarmwrkrJustice.

Media Contact:

BA Snyder
Veritas Group for Farmworker Justice
512.630.6337
BA@TheVeritasWay.com

U.S. President-Elect, Joe Biden Nominates California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services

(Washington, D.C.) – President-elect Joe Biden announced California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services. If confirmed, Becerra will be the first Latino to hold this office. Becerra’s mother was born in Mexico and his father, born in California, was raised in Mexico. His father early in his career “picked crops in the fields of California” to provide for his family. Farmworker Justice collaborated with Becerra when he was a member of Congress from Los Angeles and has appreciated his recent litigation against Trump Administration policies on health, immigration and other issues affecting farmworkers.

Farmworker Justice supports the nomination of Xavier Becerra as Secretary of Health and Human Services, who could make considerable strides in helping farmworkers improve their health and access to health care. Farmworker families need and deserve more equitable and extensive access to health information and health care. We are hopeful that the Biden-Harris Administration and the DHHS under Xavier Becerra will address these critically important needs.

HHS administers the system of migrant health centers that serve farmworkers around the country but has had difficulty reaching many farmworkers who need services. These community health centers provide primary care but generally do not offer the services of specialists. The Department plays a major role in the delivery of health services, including telehealth and applying other technological innovations. HHS funds research on health and occupational safety but much more needs to be done to learn about the challenges faced by farmworkers and their family members.

Major decisions will be made regarding the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, which are needed by farmworkers who are designated as essential workers during the pandemic and face special risks due to their occupation, rural location, low wages, lack of health insurance, lack of paid leave, language barriers and immigration status.

Farmworker Justice is very hopeful that through the nomination of Xavier Becerra, if confirmed, and other appointments to positions in federal positions regarding health and safety the Biden/Harris Administration will help farmworkers and their children improve their health and access to health care. “There is much in Becerra’s family and professional background to provide farmworker families with hope for great progress on health,” said Farmworker Justice President Bruce Goldstein.

Farmworker Justice Supports the U.S. President-Elect’s Nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas as Department of Homeland Security Secretary

November 23, 2020 — Farmworker Justice strongly supports the President-elect’s nomination of the former director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, to serve as the next Secretary of Homeland Security. Mayorkas brings a personal understanding of the immigrant experience. If confirmed, the former deputy secretary would be the first Latino and first immigrant to head DHS.

Throughout his career and as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program pioneer in 2012, his credibility and expertise are essential amid a pandemic that disproportionately impacts immigrant and marginalized communities. The stability and exceptional vision demonstrated by Mayorkas in any of his posts when applied as DHS Secretary could affect policy change to substantially support farmworkers’ well-being and the nation’s food supply.

Farmworker Justice has witnessed the current administration strive to undermine DACA, irrational wage regulations on the poorest of workers, and interfere with even slight progress gained —— all issues gravely impacting farmworker communities across the United States. Farmworker Justice encourages the U.S. Senate to see a smooth confirmation for the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to serve as the next Secretary of Homeland Security.

As COVID-19 Cases Soar, Trump Administration Rejects Requests for Safety Protections for Farmworkers under H-2A Agricultural Guestworker Program

More than three months after receiving a request to protect domestic and foreign farmworkers under the H-2A agricultural guestworker program from COVID-19, the Department of Labor (DOL) finally responded and refused to issue any of the requested job safety requirements. Yet the DOL recently announced that in August it will finalize its pending proposal for major H-2A program changes, which include slashing wage rates, weakening U.S. workers’ job preference and reducing housing and other labor protections.

“The Trump Administration made it easier for agricultural employers to recruit and employ temporary foreign workers during the pandemic, despite restricting other immigration processes, but refuses to require H-2A employers to protect farmworkers from COVID-19. Farmworkers, especially foreign guestworkers, are at great risk due to crowded transportation vehicles, housing and workplaces, as well as their low wages, lack of health insurance, geographic isolation and language barriers. Despite numerous outbreaks of COVID-19 on farms, including some that use the H-2A program, the Trump Administration callously refuses to meet its obligation to ensure the safety and health of farmworkers under the program,” said Bruce Goldstein, President of Farmworker Justice, a national advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

“The Department of Labor’s refusal to require COVID-19 precautions under the H-2A agricultural guestworkers not only endangers the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of farmworkers and family members, but also endangers our nation’s food supply,” added Goldstein.

On March 25, 2020, 37 organizations had sent a letter, coordinated by Farmworker Justice, to Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia, Secretary of Homeland Security Chad F. Wolf and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The letter identified the very serious risks of harm to the health and economic security of U.S. farmworkers and temporary foreign workers at employers that utilize the H-2A program. The DOL has primary responsibility for administering the program and enforcing its labor protections; the other agencies are primarily responsible for issuing H-2A visas to workers selected by the employers.

The 9-page letter of March 25 identified many risks to farmworkers from COVID-19. It requested a series of requirements — many of them based on CDC recommendations on social distancing and sanitation — regarding housing, transportation, workplace safety, safety information, testing, health care access, paid sick leave, and international labor recruitment.

Farmworker Justice finally received a response to the coalition letter last week from the DOL but has yet to receive any response from the other agencies. The DOL’s letter discusses the various agencies’ roles, the methods it has used to ease employers’ access to guestworkers during the pandemic, and the non-mandatory “guidance” that has been issued on safety and health. It does not grant any of the requests made by the coalition and says that the DOL lacks authority to grant some of those requests.

The H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker program allows agricultural employers to apply for permission to recruit, hire and employ foreign citizens on temporary work visas under certain conditions. It has expanded rapidly in recent years; in FY 2019, the DOL approved 257,000 H-2A positions.

State	Number H-2A workers approved 2019	Number of COVID-19 Cases	Number of Cases in Last 7 Days
FL	33,598	266,119	69,043
GA	29,480	116,926	21,421
WA	26,226	40,656	4,758
CA	23,321	320,804	60,649
NC	21,605	85,701	12,718
LA	10,816	78,122	12,896
MI	9,096	69,338	2,835
KY	8,315	19,389	3,013
NY (non-NYC)	8,104	182,655	2,493
SC	6,082	56,648	11,801

Sources: CDC (as of 7/14/2020) and Dept. of Labor Employment & Training Administration

Recognizing that foreign citizens from poor countries may accept jobs under wages and conditions that are unacceptable to U.S.-based workers, the law prohibits the DOL from approving an employer’s request for H-2A labor certification unless the employer recruits and hires qualified U.S. farmworkers and offers and provides wages and working conditions that will not “adversely affect” U.S. farmworkers.

Even if foreign guestworkers from poor nations, out of desperation, may be willing to accept jobs without adequate protections against COVID-19, the DOL by law should be requiring protections against COVID-19 for U.S. and foreign workers.

The DOL late in 2019 proposed a series of major changes to the H-2A program regulations, with the opportunity for public comment, which will likely be finalized in August. Many of those changes would reduce workers’ wages, U.S. workers’ job preference, housing safety and other labor protections for U.S. and foreign workers.

Goldstein said, “The Trump Administration should be prioritizing the health and safety of the nation’s farmworkers who are essential to our food security instead of spending time on reducing protections for farmworkers’ wages and working conditions.”

Read the coalition letter of March 25 and the DOL response postmarked July 6.

www.farmworkerjustice.org

Statement of Farmworker Justice On the Murder of George Floyd and the Demand for Racial Justice

Farmworker Justice condemns the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis and expresses its condolences to Mr. Floyd’s family. The Farmworker Justice Board and staff stand in solidarity with the Black community in its demands for justice in this case and for eradication of the systemic racism that infects law enforcement and many other institutions in this nation…

The killing of George Floyd would not have occurred if he had been white. Prejudice against Black communities and other communities of color continues to be widespread. Racism continues to subject Black Americans and others to indignities, economic disadvantages, health disparities, physical harm and death.

We at Farmworker Justice wholeheartedly support the international peaceful protests that demand justice in the case of George Floyd and an end to racism in all its forms and in all the institutions it taints. Through such organizing comes social change.

As an organization that serves farmworkers, Farmworker Justice is mindful of the history of the racist exploitation of Black Americans that has not ended. Enslaved African Americans labored on our farms for almost 250 years. After the Civil War African Americans in agriculture suffered state-supported physical violence and exploitative economic structures like sharecropping. Federal labor-protective laws enacted in the 1930s — including the minimum wage and the right to unionize – excluded farmworkers to appease southern farmers whose employees were predominantly Black. In recent years, thousands of Black farmers have been denied government assistance given to White farmers. Today the federal government designates farmworkers, most of whom are people of color, as “essential workers” and yet major federal labor laws still discriminate against them.

The longstanding institutional racism that led to George Floyd’s murder must be eradicated. Farmworker Justice will continue to seek justice and the end of racism. It proudly supports the Black community in its demands for justice.

Farmworker Justice is a national advocacy organization for farmworkers, www.farmworkerjustice.org.

Congress Should Tap CCC Funds To Protect Farmworkers

To protect farmworkers from the risks posed by COVID-19 and support food supply chains, Congress should tap funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation to ensure farmworkers are protected.

“Thanks to the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, the Heroes Act would provide farmworkers with critical protections, including mandatory worker safety standards, premium pay, paid sick leave, paid family leave and child care assistance,” said Bruce Goldstein, president of Farmworker Justice. “Farmworkers are essential workers who are taking enormous personal risks to feed us, and we must ensure they are protected. As Congress considers whether to increase CCC funding to address the COVID-19 pandemic, legislators must make farmworkers a priority.”

“We applaud Rep. Panetta and other legislators for making farmworkers a priority,” said EWG President Ken Cook. “If Congress increases CCC funding, legislators must ensure that funds flow to states and organizations that protect and support farmworkers from COVID-19. Although the CCC is not the only source of funds Congress should tap, Congress created the CCC during the Great Depression to ensure our families have a stable food supply. If farmworkers are not protected, basic staples could become scarce, and food prices could soar.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the essential role of farmworkers in our nation’s agricultural and food systems and the hazards they confront every day for our food security. As Congress provides the CCC with funding to support agriculture, the funding should prioritize prevention, testing and premium pay for farmworkers and their family members, and reduce their fear of what will happen if they become ill,” Goldstein said.

A link to the letter from Rep. Panetta and 72 other House members can be found here: https://panetta.house.gov/sites/panetta.house.gov/files/documents/2020.May_.22_CongressmanPanetta_Letter_Farmworkers.pdf

Farmworker Justice Statement on USDA-FDA MOU to Keep Farms & Packing Houses Running Despite Worker Illness from the Pandemic

The USDA and the FDA announced on Tuesday an agreement between the agencies to collaborate to keep farms and food processing companies running during the pandemic. The MOU anticipates the potential for disruptions in the harvests of fruits and vegetables and the processing and packing of foods due to worker illnesses.

“One must read the MOU apart from the press statement accompanying it to fully appreciate the cold-blooded approach the Administration is taking to addressing possible disruption of the food supply due the potential for widespread illness and death of farmworkers and others in the food supply chain,” said Bruce Goldstein, President of Farmworker Justice, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

The agreement admits that outbreaks of COVID-19 among workers at food procesing facilities “or among harvesting crews” could lead to reduction in food production capacity. No empathy can be read or implied in the MOU.

“Nothing in the MOU indicates any willingness to seek to protect the food system by preventing outbreaks of COVID-19 among farmworkers and other food workers.”

It goes on to say that actions by state and local governments could lead to “the closure of food resource facilities or to commodities not being harvested.”

Goldstein added, “The Administration is claiming the right to prohibit states and local governments from requiring workplace safety precautions that might reduce the food supply while saving the lives of people needed in the food system. No empathy is evidenced for the people who work on farms and in packing houses.”

Lip service is given to “guidance” issued by federal OSHA. But there is no occupational safety standard to prevent illness and deaths from COVID-19. This MOU makes clear that the Administration has no intention of issuing one, even if it takes the drastic step of ordering farms, ranches and processing facilities to continue operation.

It’s unclear what the Administration intends to do if it’s failure to require protections for workers leads to widespread illness among workers on farms and in processing facilities. Would they continue to work while being sick? Would they be replaced? If so, by whom? And would the replacement workers have any protections?

Goldstein said, “The Administration has made clear that it is unwilling to protect farmworkers and other agricultural workers who it may force to work during the pandemic. Congress must act to stop the Administration from causing needless painful suffering and deaths among farmworkers and other food workers of this country.”

He concluded, “Farmworkers are ‘essential workers’ but they should not be forced to be sacrificial lambs.”

Farmworker Justice, founded in 1981, is a national advocacy organization for farmworkers, empowering them to improve wages, working conditions, occupational safety, immigration policy and access to justice.

New Farmworker Justice Report Quantifies Wage Loss to Tens of Thousands of Farmworkers in Proposal in Congress and the Administration

Friday, 08 May 2020

For Immediate Release

May 8, 2020 Bruce Goldstein

Washington , D.C. bgoldstein@farmworkerjustice.org

New Farmworker Justice Report Quantifies Wage Loss to

Tens of Thousands of Farmworkers in Proposal in Congress and the Administration

Farmworker Justice, the Washington, D.C.-based national advocacy organization for farmworkers – the people who labor in the nation’s farms and ranches – and their family members, has issued a new report regarding proposals to lower farmworkers’ wages. Congress and the Administration Must Not Cut Farmworkers’ Wages in the H-2A Guestworker Program.

There is a proposal in a bill in the House of Representatives to lower wage rates for tens of thousands of farmworkers and that proposal is also under consideration by the Trump Administration in a long-planned change to regulations.

The proposed wage cut would occur under the H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker program. In fiscal year 2019, the Department of Labor approved 257,000 H-2A jobs, a number that has been increasing in recent years.

Employers obtaining approval to hire agricultural guestworkers on H-2A visas must offer certain minimum wages to both the foreign citizens and the U.S.-based farmworkers who apply for and obtain jobs at these employers. The current formula for the main wage rate is a survey of the labor market. Rather than use a measure of the prevailing wages to prevent depression in farmworkers’ wages, the proposal would allow the hiring of guestworkers and US workers at an arbitrarily lower wage rate.

The result would be massive wage cuts. For example, in Florida the 2020 wage would be $3.15 per hour lower than it is now. If the proposal had been in force in 2019, the report – using U.S. Department of Labor Data – finds that the wage cut would have been $2.78 per hour and farmworkers at Florida H-2A employers on average would have been paid $101 less per week.

“Massive wage cuts for essential workers cultivating and harvesting our fruits and vegetables would be unconscionable,” said Bruce Goldstein, President of Farmworker Justice, a co-author of the report. “The H-2A agricultural guestworker program has modest protections against depressing the wage rates of U.S. farmworkers and against the exploitation of foreign citizens employed as agricultural guestworkers. This report quantifies the tremendous economic harm that a proposed wage cut inflict on farmworkers, who already are among the lowest-paid workers in the nation.”

Farmworker Justice is a national advocacy, litigation and education organization based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to empower farmworkers to improve their wages and working conditions, immigration status, occupational safety, health and access to the justice system. Throughout its 39-year history it has engaged in substantial policy analysis, advocacy, litigation and support to farmworker organizations regarding immigration policy and guestworker programs. Information about the H-2A program is available on its website resource center at https://www.farmworkerjustice.org/resources/h-2a Information about recent legislative proposals in Congress on farmworker immigration and the h-2A program is available at https://www.farmworkerjustice.org/resources/116th-congress-2019-2020

Bruce Goldstein, its president, is a labor and civil rights attorney who has worked on farmworker issues for 32 years. Bruce Goldstein bgoldstein@farmworkerjustice.org

Farmworker Justice Press Statement for EWG Press Call on Rep. Khanna and Sen. Warren’s Essential Workers Bill of Rights

Good afternoon. My name is Alexis Guild. I am the Director of Health Policy and Programs at Farmworker Justice. Farmworker Justice is a national farmworker advocacy organization based in Washington, DC. We appreciate the opportunity to be here today to discuss the need for protections for workers on farms and ranches during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Farmworkers have been designated essential workers who are expected to work. They are at the front lines of the pandemic, risking their own health to ensure a stable supply of fruits, vegetables, milk and other products. We are concerned about the health and safety of farmworkers. Farmworkers are getting sick from COVID-19 and the worst may be yet to come. We are hearing from workers that many employers are not following CDC recommendations. Farmworkers’ working and living conditions often place them in danger of exposure to COVID-19. They tend to lack adequate access to handwashing stations in the fields, are not necessarily provided personal protective equipment such as masks, and often live in crowded and substandard housing. Few receive health insurance from their employers and their low wages mean that many do not have regular access to health care. The majority of farmworkers are undocumented immigrants and they are especially vulnerable to exploitation and are ineligible for public programs and benefits such as Medicaid and SNAP. The refusal of federal OSHA to issue an Emergency Occupational Safety Standard denies many farmworkers protections for themselves and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Farmworker Justice is working with advocates and partners across the country to raise the concerns of farmworkers, help farmworkers protect themselves and their family members, and advocate for protections at the federal and state level. We commend Congressman Khanna and Senator Warren for their Essential Workers Bill of Rights, which recognizes the important contributions of farmworkers and others and provides solutions to ensure workers are protected and treated with dignity. We strongly believe that the Bill of Rights, which includes health and safety protections, meaningful compensation in the form of hazard pay and the guarantee of a livable wage, universal access to paid sick and family leave, and access to health care regardless of insurance or immigration status, are crucial for farmworkers, their families, and rural communities.

Farmworkers should be able to work without fear about what will happen if they become ill. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the essential role of farmworkers in our nation’s economy and the hazards they confront everyday for our food security. Congress should pass legislation that includes the policies in the Essential Workers Bill of Rights. Thank you.