{"id":122431,"date":"2020-05-14T01:13:29","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T08:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=122431"},"modified":"2020-05-14T01:13:29","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T08:13:29","slug":"farm-workers-essential-but-living-in-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/farm-workers-essential-but-living-in-fear\/","title":{"rendered":"Farm Workers \u2013 \u201cEssential\u201d but Living in Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Above):<\/strong> Seasonal farm workers pick and package strawberries in Salinas, Calif.<\/em><\/p>\n

By Pilar Marrero\/Ethnic Media Services<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They have very low wages, few benefits, no health care coverage, and no sick days. About half are undocumented. Yet they are deemed \u201cessential\u201d workers who harvest and package vegetables and fruits, work in meat packing plants, pick up and transport the product.<\/p>\n

They are farmworkers \u2013 so important to keeping the country fed and moving that they are exempt from \u201dstay at home\u201d orders and even from the Trump administration\u2019s recent two month ban on new immigrants. The rules for seasonal farmworkers have been relaxed and, if a recent proposal floated by the administration goes through, farmers may be allowed to \u201clower the wages\u201d for them.<\/p>\n

Now these workers work in fear of dying of Covid-19. So far very little has been done to stabilize their status, ensure they are protected and compensate them if they end of getting sick.<\/p>\n

There is a growing push by legislators, trade unionists and advocacy groups \u201cto protect farmworkers and the food supply chain,\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Following reports in mid-April that 41 agricultural workers were diagnosed with Covid-19 in Monterey County, one of California\u2019s key agricultural areas, California assemblymembers Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) and \u00a0\u00a0Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) introduced the first Covid-19 relief package in the nation focused on farmworkers.\u00a0 The proposed legislation includes expanded paid sick leave, supplemental hazard pay to cover increased health and childcare costs, and other measures.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus wrote a letter to the leaders of both houses of Congress, urging financial assistance, support for child\u00a0 care needs and additional funding for community health centers and direct financial assistance for farm workers, reminding them that \u201cour nation\u2019s food security depends on the ability of farmworkers to continue to work safely to produce our \u00a0food.\u201d<\/p>\n

Relief couldn\u2019t come soon enough for the men and women in California\u2019s fields.<\/p>\n

Honduran Jose Ramos works at a vegetable packing house in \u00a0Santa Maria near Santa Barbara. Ramos, a 41-year-old father of four, goes to work nervously because his company, he says, didn\u2019t say anything about COVID-19 until a few days ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil recently they didn\u2019t give us any guidance but many of us took our own measures, such as buying gel to bring in and making our own masks because the bosses didn\u2019t give them to us,\u201d Ramos explained.\u00a0 He noted that in his packing house social distancing was nearly impossible. \u201cin the area where I work there are four packers, two cashiers and 8 to 10 cutters in a small space, forget about six feet.\u00a0 There are three feet at most between one person and the next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Armando Elenes, secretary-treasurer of the United Farm Workers, said 77 percent of workers in a recent survey reported that employers had not changed work practices or offered information on the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow many are being told to go to work with a mask on, it\u2019s like telling someone who has to dig holes in the ground to come with their own shovel.\u00a0 If you demand equipment to work, you must provide it,\u201d said Elenes, who noted that there are individual farms that are improving their practices.<\/p>\n

Cal OSHA regulations detail a prevention and safety program that all employers in the agricultural industry are required to implement, including worker training and information about what COVID-19 is and how it is spread, how to prevent it and what the symptoms are. Employers are required to implement on-farm safety measures and provide cleaners and disinfectants and hand washing units as well as measures to increase physical distance.<\/p>\n

However, farm workers, trade unionists and health activists point out this has not been consistently enforced.<\/p>\n

\u201c The California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) farmworker program receives numerous calls from workers,\u201d says Estella M. Cisneros, regional director of the program.\u00a0 \u201cThey report that many companies have not taken any action.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re in a difficult situation,\u201d Cisneros added.\u00a0 \u201cIf they work they can expose themselves and if they don\u2019t work they have no income or help of any kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some farm workers also report that foremen or crew leaders spread misinformation and say the virus is not real.\u00a0 Most worried are those who work in meat or vegetable packing plants, since they work indoors and in air-conditioned environments, considered much more dangerous than working in the sun and outdoors, Cisneros added.<\/p>\n

A new report by the Civic Capacity Research Initiative (CCRI) at University of California in Merced, estimates that\u00a0\u00a0 42% of the 250,000 farm workers in the San Joaquin Valley are undocumented.\u00a0 At least 112,000 won\u2019t receive the federal stimulus payment.<\/p>\n

The report highlights other vulnerabilities exacerbated by the pandemic, including food and housing insecurity, lack of health benefits, lack of sick days, poor access to safety equipment. CCRI recommends that cities and counties in the Valley undertake policies to protect these workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cFarm workers work under enormously unequal conditions,\u201d said Genoveva Islas, director of Cultura Tu Salud, a public health advocacy organization in Fresno.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am proud that this community of farmworkers is recognized as essential workers, but that is why they also need essential protections. For too long they have not been paid a fair wage, have no retirement, and have no access to health insurance.<\/p>\n

Now COVID-19 has magnified the inequalities that already existed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the San Joaquin Valley we have one percent of the nation\u2019s agricultural land and produce 25% of America\u2019s table food,\u201d Islas says. \u201cAnything that impairs our ability to do so would be catastrophic for California and potentially for our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Above): Seasonal farm workers pick and package strawberries in Salinas, Calif. By Pilar Marrero\/Ethnic Media Services They have very low wages, few benefits, no health care coverage, and no sick days. About half are undocumented. Yet they are deemed \u201cessential\u201d workers who harvest and package vegetables and fruits, work in meat packing plants, pick up…<\/p>\n

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