Green Bay Co. The history of other industries, like manufacturing, shows us that if we do not organize in the South, companies will shift production to take advantage of lower standards of pay and working conditions. Our experience has shown us that the only sure way to improve the pay, living, and working conditions of farmworkers is for them to have a workable mechanism to enforce the law at their immediate disposal. That mechanism is the union contract and specifically, the grievance procedure. Relying on the regulatory scheme to protect farmworkers is a failed strategy and cannot be relied upon. The political power wielded by corporations will insure that regulatory agencies are more bark than bite.
None are bilingual.
At this rate, however, it will take about 43 years for state inspectors to visit all NC growers certified as pesticide users. Inspecting just the registered housing falls to the department's Agricultural Safety and Health Office that has four full-time and four temporary inspectors hired each growing season. At last count, only one of the eight spoke Spanish. Labor camps are isolated and very few have telephones. But even if migrant workers can find a telephone they will seldom find a person on the other end of the line that can speak Spanish, let alone one of the Indian dialects spoken by more and more workers coming from Mexico and Central America.