Another important benefit of the literacy classes, Ana added, is the opportunity to better communicate with her supervisors. In North Florida's farming communities, Latino people often work for supervisors who aren't fluent in Spanish. Therefore, if workers don't speak English well, they can misinterpret even simple directions. The situation is dangerous for everyone involved. It could lead to inefficiency, accidents or contribute to infringements on worker's human rights.
Supervisors can easily take advantage of the situation.
According to a 1992 study by the Farmworker Justice Fund, farmworkers are exempt from most workplace safety laws, although agriculture ranks as one of the top three most dangerous occupations in the U.S., along with construction and mining. Katie Dufford, who holds an MA from Florida State in Multicultural and Multilingual Education, has been working with the Gadsden County immigrant and local population for four years. She emphasized that, for many of the members of the migrant community, learning English becomes equivalent to survival. For example, FSU students have taught their pupils how to give directions so, if they need to call 911, they can tell emergency personnel how to reach them. It takes so much effort to coordinate people with the available resources.