Modern Day Slavery
By: Lucille Ketterer
Tags: Seasonal Farm Worker, Labor Law, Politics, Mexico, Equality

The exploitation of migrant farm workers

Last June, a van pulled into a gravel drive along Route 56. I was in the van. Hopping out resembled hopping into another reality. Tobacco fields lined up one after the other like a country mile with workers stumbling in towards us from every direction. We brought them mass and a home-style meal. These men treasured the food from their heritage and the service they had gone so long without. But, who are these far-from-home workers? They are migrant farm workers and immigrants, both legal and illegal. During the summer months, groups of them travel up from Mexico all the way north harvesting cash crops such as tobacco. And lucky me, I had the privilege to serve them. I remember seeing their faces, beet red from the sun; their clothes, all gotten from local donation drives and parishes; and their spirit, beaten with the toil of work. Over the ensuing months, I would see them at Walmart, filling their near dilapidated van with cheap groceries. But, there is one thing I did not see: the unequal workplace in which they had been entangled. Migrant farm workers and immigrants often suffer through unfair and inhumane working conditions just to provide a meager income for their family back home. Making matters worse, employers tend to exploit these men, offering wages below the minimum, based solely on their citizenship. A worker’s rights, however, should not be contingent on their racial ties.

Before delving into why this it is unfair to base rights on race, the unfairness itself must be expanded upon. “Throughout American history, employers looking for a competitive advantage have exploited immigrants.” What began with African Americans in the slaving society has morphed into immigrant workers in a profit-driven one. In a paradoxical way, although farm workers bring in copious amounts of food to feed you and I, they do not have adequate food or money for themselves. Their position as farm workers makes up the lowest earning sector of wage and salary earners in the United States. Part of receiving such low wages results from a piece rate. How many buckets or bags they collect of said crop determines the weekly paycheck. Within this system, necessary breaks for water and shade are extinct because it would mean earning less money. Even after the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed requiring minimum wages regardless of productivity, only large, commercial farms had to comply. This means small farmers could still pay less. Adding to the money deficit, wage theft is not uncommon. Farm workers also experience inequality in the workplace from a lack of labor laws guaranteed to those in other industries. For example, farm workers yearn for the enforcement of safety and sanitation standards. Currently, pesticide poisoning constitutes a major problem. Because of pesticide drift, early re-entry into treated areas, and being present during the application of such chemicals, farm workers find themselves chronically ill. Unfortunately, they are usually “unaware of the pesticides to which they are exposed, the health effects of such exposure, or the laws meant to protect them.” They desire an appealing process, as well, for when rights like these are violated.

Already in a tight situation, migrant farm workers and immigrants, once in the US, are only taken advantage of further. Because of where these men come from, their wages, workplace treatment, and job security are compromised. Such behavior on the part of employers closely mimics a weapon of math destruction where employees are seen merely as profit-machines to be exploited. Treating people unequally goes against our country’s growing tradition of equality and inclusivity. Not only this, it goes against fundamental human rights. To promote and partake in the unfairness would be immoral, as such actions deny a man’s worth and dignity.

To prevent further slippage into workplace inequality, we as a people and as a country should take several measures. A main step involves Congress not only passing, but enforcing laws to protect immigrant workers. Some argue that laws have already been passed, but the reality remains that they are not executed. Were it otherwise, 25% of farm workers and their families would not be living below the $19,790 poverty line. The change, though, can begin with us. It starts with personally upholding standards of equality at work, without regard for racial or ethnic background. The brute of slavery, the shock of the Greensboro sit-in, and the era of Jim Crow are not behind us. They sit beside us, and yet, we do nothing.