Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good Agricultural Workers?

by Amanda Kloer

Published September 30, 2009 @ 02:00PM PT

In the U.S., we protect people in a lot of occupations from employers' abuse: teachers, administrative assistants, autoworkers, plumbers, etc. We have laws that guarantee basic rights and fair wages, and we have unions that help ensure those laws are followed. But for some reason, agricultural workers are left out of most of these protections. So why do we let bad things happen to good agricultural workers?

Trafficking and exploitation are rampant in the agriculture industry in the U.S., in part because of the lack of legal protections. Carolina Fojo, a fellow for the Bon Apetite Management company has her own take on this question, but I've come up with a few theories as well.

1. People don't care about immigrants. I know it's blunt, but good old fashion racism and xenophobia are huge reasons we don't have better protections for agricultural workers. The Center for Immigration studies found that 50 - 54% of agricultural workers in the U.S. are immigrants. Perhaps we don't protect agricultural workers against slavery because we dismiss them as immigrants not deserving of U.S. protection.

2. It's hard. Unlike factories which stay in one place, some agricultural operations move around -- from field to field or orchard to orchard. Others take place only at certain times of the year. Workers also migrate -- the same men picking strawberries in California in June may be picking apples in Oregon in October. Because agriculture can be more transitory and temporary in nature, enforcing worker protections requires a different approach than other more stationary industries. And thinking outside the box is hard, especially for the government.

3. It's expensive. A lot of agricultural workers handle dangerous things, like chemical pesticides, sharp knives, and complicated equipment. Proper protection for workers would involve paying for health care both for immediate workplace injuries and long-term medical conditions related to the job, like carpal-tunnel syndrome and chemical-caused cancer. All that medical care really adds up, and it's cheaper just to let workers go without it.

4. We're afraid of them. We're afraid of agricultural workers for the same reason slave-owners were afraid of their slaves in the 19th century: what happens if they turn on us and demand justice? If we give legal protections to agricultural workers, they could start forming unions. And once they do that, they could strike to get better wages and working conditions. And then what would we eat? But if we deny them legal protections, they have to keep working for pennies-to-nothing, and we can keep eating our cheap food.

Perhaps you can accuse me of being cynical and cite some better, more legally sound reasons that we don't extend a lot of legal protections to agricultural workers in this country. Perhaps there are other justifications, but the reasons above sure come into play. The truth is that bad things are happening to good agricultural workers every day in the U.S. -- bad things like slavery, exploitation, rape, and debilitating sickness. So why are we really letting these things happen?

Photo credit: noborder network