Farmwork Facts and Outreach in Washington State

“It’s ironic that those who till the soil, cultivate and harvest the fruits, vegetables, and other foods that fill your tables with abundance have nothing left for themselves.” Cesar Chavez

Have you eaten a fruit or vegetable grown in the United States? If so, then you have relied on farm worker labor. Most of the fruits and vegetables grown in the U.S. are hand picked by farmworkers. The agricultural industry relies on the work of more than 3 million farmworkers to support its multi-billion dollar profits. (In 2012, the U.S. net farm income was forecast at 1 $91.7 billion ). Immigrant farmworkers leave their homes, families, and countries to support 2 their families. After NAFTA was signed in 1994 immigration to the U.S. significantly increased 3 due to the disastrous impact of the agreement on Mexican farmers. The states with the highest 4 number of farmworkers include California, Washington, Oregon, Texas, Florida, and North Carolina.5

What is “Farm Work”?

Farm work, or agricultural labor, includes the harvesting, cultivating, planting, and preparing crops for storage or sale (including processing, packaging, etc). Most farm work is done by migrant farmworkers who travel from agricultural site to agricultural site and live in temporary housing. Farm work is also done by seasonal farmworkers who live in a community more permanently and work primarily in agriculture. The U.S. also has a “guestworker” program which allows farm owners to hire farmworkers from other countries who enter the U.S. on temporary work permits for agricultural jobs lasting less than 10 months. H-2A guestworkers 6 are the equivalent of modern-day slaves. They are unable to change jobs because they are brought to the U.S. by a specific employer and their visas are tied only to that employer. This 7 exposes workers to extreme exploitation and abuse.

Who Are Farmworkers?

Though statistics vary, roughly 75% of farmworkers in the U.S. were born in Mexico and nearly 80% are male. Most farmworkers have partners or are married and have children but 8 almost 60% of farmworkers do not live with their immediate family members. In 2005, 9 approximately 53% of farmworkers were undocumented. In 2011–2012, the average 10 educational attainment of farmworkers was 8th grade. 11

Some Issues Farmworkers Face

Farmworkers face myriad issues ranging from immigration status, education access, health and safety, housing, wage theft, and many more. Farmworkers are excluded from many federal protections including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which establishes a minimum wage, overtime, and various safety protections, and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which protects workers who join unions. In most states, farmworkers are also excluded from labor protection such as worker’s compensation, health insurance, sick leave, and disability insurance. Consequently, farmworkers have the lowest annual family income of any U.S. wage earners. The average income of a farmworker is $11,000 and $16,000 for a family. (In 12 Washington, the average farmworker makes less than $10,000 a year). However, despite these levels of poverty, most farmworkers are not eligible for social services like welfare, social security, or Medicaid because of their immigration status. 13

Agriculture is one of the three most dangerous occupations in the U.S. The rate of fatal 14 occupational injuries farmworkers face is almost ten times the rate of all U.S. industries. Farmworkers are exposed to many toxic chemicals which have been linked to health issues including reproductive problems, cancer, eye issues, birth defects, and diabetes. They also face 15 higher rates of heat stress, urinary tract infections, parasitic infections, and tuberculosis.16 Farmworkers face substantial obstacles to health care services. These include: cost of the care, language/communication issues, lack of transportation, and not being protected by sick leave.17

Approximately 70% of working children in the U.S. work in agriculture. Despite this 18 high number, children farmworkers are less protected by laws as compared to other industries. Federal labor laws exclude children farmworkers from labor protections that protect other child workers. This means that at the age of 12 children can legally work in agriculture (as long as it 19 is not during school hours), or 16 years old if the job is particularly dangerous.20

Farmworkers frequently live in substandard housing in unsanitary and unsafe conditions, often in isolated areas where they lack important services and have to pay a significant portion of their income towards rent. Many farmworkers live in labor camps where property owners have a monopoly on housing allowing them to charge high rent. This is particularly true in rural areas where there are no other housing options. Other farmworkers live in crowded apartments or live in their cars. Poor living conditions also lead to other health effects including respiratory illness, lead poisoning, and ear infections. Lack of hygiene facilities (bathrooms, laundry, etc.) is extremely concerning because it exposes farmworkers to pesticides and diseases.

Farmworker Outreach in Washington

Because farmworkers often live in isolated areas on the farm owner’s property it is important to understand the rights of to have access to agricultural labor camps. It was not until 1973 that the Supreme Court of Washington decided that agricultural camp residents have a right to decide who could come into their homes and the rights of legal aid attorneys to enter the camps in order to provide legal information to farmworkers.21 The case arose from trespass charges against an attorney with Seattle-King County Legal Aid Bureau, Michael Fox, and an organizer for United Farm Workers, Guadalupe Gamboa. The two men visited the labor camp, a part of a farm on private land, near Walla Walla after workers contacted Gamboa telling him they wanted information about their rights regarding their contract along with other matters. The camp housed about 220 migrant workers who worked in the 22 asparagus fields and paid $2.75 per day to live in the camp. Upon their arrival at the camp, Fox and Gamboa were informed they did not have permission to be there and were asked to leave.23 The men replied that they did not need the company’s permission to be on the property and did not leave until they were arrested.24

The lower court convicted the men of trespass because they did not leave the property at the farming company’s request. The Washington Supreme Court noted that the workers were 25 also tenants who paid to live in the camp and this had the right to invite people onto the premises. The court found that Fox had a right to remain on the property to consult with 26 potential clients under the constitutional right to counsel. It also found that Gamboa had a right 27 to meets with farmworkers under state statutes and precedent.28

The modern farmworker rights movement began in 1965 in California after Mexican American workers joined with Filipino workers to strike Delano, California grape growers. This group would become the United Farm Workers (UFW) led by Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chaves, and Philip Vera Cruz. The UFW came to Washington state about two years later and quickly 29 became a movement beyond a labor union. It touched on not just labor struggles, but immigrant rights, and Chicano pride.

Farmworkers are some of the the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of our society. Activism by farmworkers and legal aid workers have been powerful tools to fight for farmworker basic human rights and improved working and living conditions. This struggle continues today but legal aid attorneys, armed with the Fox decision, have been able to access agricultural camps to provide farmworkers and their families with legal information and know-your-rights materials.

1. Schnepf, Randy, “U.S. Farm Income,” Congressional Research Service, 2012

2. Id.

3. Larson, Alice, and Plascencia, Luis. Migrant Enumeration Study. Washington, D.C.: Office of Minority Health, 1993

4. See more at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (https://www.iatp.org/)

5. Larson, Alice. Farmworker Enumeration Study, 2000. (http://www.ohdc.org/uploads/1/1/2/4/1124 3168/2013_update_to_msfw_enumeration_studies_report.pdf).

6. See more at Farmworker Justice “H-2A Guestworker Program: https://www.farmworkerjustice.org/content/h-2a-guestworker-program

7. Id.

8. Larson, A. Farmworker Enumeration Study, 2000

9. Id.

10. Id.

11. The National Agricultural Workers Survey, US Dept. of Labor, 2011–2012, https://www .doleta.gov/agworker/naws.cfm; https://www.doleta.gov/agworker/pdf/NAWS_Research_Report_11_NOT_508-Compliant_1.12.2017.pdf

12. Id.

13. The National Agricultural Workers Survey, US Dept. of Labor, 2005

14. National Center for Farmworker Health. (http://www.ncfh.org/)

15. Id.

16 Id.

17. Id.

18. “Children in the Fields,” Youth & Young Adult Network of the National Farm Worker Ministry (http://nfwm-yaya.org/resources/farm-worker-issues/children-in-the-fields/)

19. U.S DOL, Agricultural Employment (https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/youthlabor/agriculturalemployment)

20 Id.

21. See State v. Fox, 82 Wn.2d 289 (1973)

22. Id. at 291

23. Id. at 292.

24. Id.

25. Id.

26. Id.

27. Id. at 293

28. Id.

29. See more at United Farm Workers: http://ufw.org/