FAIRNESS
FOR FARMWORKERS
A Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Initiative
Migrant and seasonal farmworkers are among the lowest income groups in the United States. An estimated 2.5 million people struggle each year to earn enough to support their families in one of the most difficult and physically strenuous occupations. Approximately 4.5 million people including family members rely on farm work for their income. The latest National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor based on data from 2001-2002, shows that the situation of farm workers continues to be very difficult due to low wages, chronic underemployment and an absence of fringe benefits.
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On average, farmworkers were employed in agriculture for only 34 weeks, or 2/3 of the year. Some found several weeks of work outside agriculture. They averaged 8 weeks without work in the U.S. per year.
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Only 8% of farmworkers reported that their employers provided them with health insurance.
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Seventy-nine percent of farmworkers are paid by the hour. Their average hourly wage rate is $6.84 per hour. They average 43 hours of work per week when employed. Piece-rate workers earn more per hour but work fewer hours.
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The average farmworker family includes two parents and two children. Among such families, 39% live below the poverty guidelines, and most of the rest live just barely above it.
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Farmworkers on average earned between $10,000 and $12,499 per year. Farmworker families earned an average of $15,000 to $17,499 per years.
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77% of farmworkers are foreign-born, almost all from Mexico. 53% of farmworkers lack authorized immigration status; they are undocumented workers.
Recognizing that the condition of these workers has changed little since the days of Edward R. Murrow’s seminal 1960 documentary “Harvest of Shame,” it is time to organize a comprehensive effort to improve the conditions of these workers.
First, there must be an effort to legalize the large number of undocumented workers, who because of their legal status, are unable to avail themselves of existing legal protections regarding wages, health and safety, and collective bargaining.
Second, farmworkers are unable to earn a living wage to support themselves and their families. The various government programs developed over the years to provide partial assistance to these families workers are crucial and must be supported and indeed, expanded. Without maintaining and expanding these programs, these workers and their families will be deprived of even the minimal benefits provided by this desperately needed social safety net. It has also become clear that all of the elements of this safety net must be maintained, whether those programs service children (Migrant Head Start, Migrant Education), workers (Farmworker Job Training) or families (Migrant Health, Migrant Housing). It is unconscionable to force farmworkers and their advocates to pick among desperately needed assistance and to fight for the leavings on the federal budget table. Below is a description of these programs, all of which should be maintained and expanded.
Immigration Policy: Earned Legalization and H-2A Program Reform
The Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act of 2005 (“AgJOBS”), S. 359, H.R. 884, represents a major, bipartisan compromise on farmworker immigration and labor policy supported by farmworker advocates and agricultural employers. On April 19, 2005, a majority of Senators voted in favor AgJOBS but it did not pass due to procedural rules that required sixty votes to pass. The lead sponsors, Sen. Larry Craig (R.-Idaho) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D.-Mass.) plan to bring it up again this year and then move it to the House of Representatives. If enacted, AgJOBS would
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create an “earned adjustment” program enabling some undocumented farmworkers to obtain temporary immigration status by proving their work experience in the U.S., and then earn permanent resident status by continuing to work in U.S. agriculture for three to six years
- revise the existing agricultural guestworker program, the H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker program.
National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP)
The NFJP helps farmworkers find jobs both within and outside agriculture and upgrades their skills to improve productivity in agriculture and to enable them to move on to higher paying positions. Funded through section 167 of the Workforce Investment Act, about 25,000 farmworkers are served each year (only 2 % of the eligible population) at a cost of about $77 million (2005 Budget). In January 1999, the federal Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker and Employment and Training Advisory Committee recommended to the Secretary of Labor that this program should be funded at $210 million. In FY 03, FY 04, and FY 05, the Bush Administration proposed ZERO funding for this vital program. Not only should this program be funded, it should be expanded to $102.7 million to serve 50,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
Migrant and Seasonal Head Start
The Migrant and Seasonal Head Start program provides migrant children and their families with much needed programs and services. The long-term benefits of having poor and low-income children participate in Head Start programs are now well documented. Given the insecurity and stress that children of farmworker families face, the Head Start program is very important for these children. Yet according to a 2001 report conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Migrant and Seasonal Head Start serves only 19% of the eligible population. While overall Head Start funding grew from $3.9 billion in 1997 to $6.2 billion in 2001, the proportion directed to migrant and seasonal farmworker children has not been increased at the same rate. There should be more equitable funding to Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs to ensure the health, safety, education and well being of thousands of young children.
Migrant Education Programs
There are several programs directed to increasing educational achievement of migrant children: the Title I Migrant Education Program, the High School Equivalency Program (HEP) and the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP).
Only 40 % of migrant parents have completed eighth grade and an estimated 50 % of migrant students are behind grade level. Migrant students continue to have dropout rates of between 50 % and 60 %. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that more than 800,000 students need the specialized services of the Title I migrant education program to stay in school and to meet challenging content and performance standards. And, according to the Department, the number of children eligible for the program is growing. This program was funded at $395.4 million in 2003 and $393.6 million in 2004. Funding decreased once again in 2005, to $390.4 million. The Bush Administration has proposed that no increase be provided the program for 2006. The Hispanic Education Coalition advocates that this program should be funded at $500 million to meet the needs of this expanding and needy population.
The HEP program assists migrant youth who have dropped out of school to obtain their GED. The CAMP program is a campus-based effort to assist migrant college students to stay in school and graduate from college. Both programs have been successful in helping migrant students become productive members of society. According to the United States Department of Education, in 2003-2004, approximately 7,000 students were served by the HEP grantees and approximately 2,400 students were served by CAMP grantees. During this same period, 63 percent of the HEP participants received a GED, and 84 percent of CAMP students completed their first year of college in good standing. The President’s FY 2006 proposed budget freezes funding for the HEP and CAMP programs at FY 2005 levels of $18.7 million for HEP and $15.5 for CAMP. The proposed funding level for the HEP program carries forward a cut of $4.4 million in FY 2004 which represented a 19 percent cut and resulted in elimination of five HEP programs. If the President’s FY 2006 budget is accepted, many fewer students will be served by the HEP and CAMP programs.
Migrant Health
Farmworkers and their family members face many access barriers to health care and the vast majority of them are either ineligible or cannot afford health insurance, even if they could access health care. As part of the Community Health Center program of the Department of Health and Human Services, about 8.9% of the program funds are directed to migrant health programs. In 2004 the migrant health program serving 694,000 farmworkers received approximately $149.3 million. The National Association of Community Health Centers, Inc is seeking an increase of $26.1 million above 2005, which would mean an increase for the migrant health program to $175.4 million.
Migrant and Rural Housing
Few farmworkers receive public or subsidized housing. Every year the media provides pictures of the dilapidated housing that serves as home for many farmworkers. Four programs have been targeted to meet this critical need: the USDA Rural Housing Service Farm Labor Housing Program (Sections 514/516), the USDA Rural Housing Service Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance Program (Section 523), the Department of Labor (DOL) Housing Program, and the HUD Rural Housing and Economic Development (RHED) Program.
The Farm Labor Housing Program provides financing to develop housing for farmworkers. It received about $58 million in 2005. The waiting list of applications for Section 514/516 funds is two to three times the appropriated level, and would probably be higher if not for the fact that USDA limits applications as there is little prospect of funding all the demand. This program should be expanded for FY 2006 to a total of $150 million ($100 million in Section 514 loans and $50 million in Section 516 grants).
The Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance Program provides administrative support to local sponsors of self-help housing operations, through which workers and their families provide sweat equity to help build their own homes. This program, funded at $34 million in 2005, supports the production of about 1,400 units per year. It should continue to be funded in the amount of $34 million, the amount recommended in the Administration’s budget.
The DOL Housing Program provides assistance to nonprofit organizations to help farmworkers seek and secure temporary or permanent housing, and is currently funded at $4.6 million. The Administration’s budget would end the program because it would move its functions along with the Community Development Block Grant and several other programs to a new block grant program at the Department of Commerce. The program is essential in its current form, however, because it covers the administrative costs for nonprofit staff to assist farmworkers with their housing needs, a function not eligible for Section 514/516 funding. It should be expanded to $5 million.
The HUD Rural Housing and Economic Development (RHED) program funds local organizations to encourage new and innovative approaches to serve housing and economic development needs in rural areas. Activities serving farmworkers have received priority funding. This program was initially funded at $25 million, and its total funding for 2005 is $24 million. The Administration’s budget proposed to terminate RHED and shift its functions into the new Department of Commerce program. RHED, which provides unique assistance to local rural organizations, should be retained as a separate program and funded at $25 million in 2006.
Legal Services for Migrant Farmworkers
The civil legal assistance programs funded by the federal Legal Services Corporation (LSC) provide important services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers that are not provided by attorneys in the private bar. The majority of farmworkers are poor and cannot afford private lawyers. Other barriers to obtaining legal representation include limited education, limited proficiency in English, and being located in isolated rural areas. When wage disputes, accidents, housing problems, domestic violence, obstacles to educational programs, and other issues arise that require legal advice or access to the justice system, farmworkers have little recourse except through LSC-funded programs, particularly migrant legal services programs. The LSC states that its current funding is sufficient to serve only 20 percent of the critical legal needs of eligible clients, and other sources of funding, though substantial, do not come close to meeting the unmet need for civil legal assistance by poor people.
Approximately $10.4 million, or about 3% of the total Legal Services Corporation budget of $330.8 million, goes to migrant legal services. LSC’s budget was slashed in 1996. To return to the funding level of 1980, Congress would need to almost double the appropriation to $638 million. Yet, the Bush Administration proposes to decrease funding for LSC by about 5% to $318 million for fiscal year 2006. The Legal Services Corporation is requesting $ 363.8 million from Congress, a modest increase. Congress should increase the LSC budget by 50% to $496.2 million, including a proportionate increase in the migrant farmworker legal services programs.
Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers Vocational Rehabilitation
The Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers (MSFW) Vocational Rehabilitation Program, referred to as section 304 projects, works with Title I State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs to provide auxiliary services for disabled which the state VR system alone cannot provide MSFW and VR funds help farmworkers with disabilities achieve training and employment in a complementary, seamless, and supportive manner. Section 304 projects assist them with culturally relevant counseling, advocacy, outreach and intake activities to access local and state VR services, and medical and eligibility assessments. MSFW projects also support the VR process with coordination of services such as training, placement, and retention. Other activities include coordination of services for family members and stipends.
Many farmworkers lack the language skills, abilities and transferable skills to return to employment after a traumatic or disabling injury. Sadly, those with disabilities are also the least likely to be served by and to be represented within State VR program demographics. While results vary among the projects, most of them report over 90 percent goal attainment. In addition, projects provide migrating farmworkers with coordination of services across state boundaries.
The main limitation facing section 304 projects is inadequate federal funding to support a population working in an industry with the high risk of on-the-job injuries. Current funding serves fewer than 1,500 disabled farmworkers nationwide. The majority of States have no programs at all. The National Association for Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers Vocational and Rehabilitation (NAMSFVR) recommends that funding for Section 304 projects be increased to $5 million.
Wage-Hour Enforcement
The Wage and Hour Division (Wage-Hour) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) enforces two laws that are especially important to farmworkers – the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (AWPA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). AWPA is the principal federal employment law for farmworkers. It obligates growers to use only licensed farm labor contractors; keep records of employment; disclose job terms to workers at the time of recruitment; abide by the promised job terms; and comply with safety standards when transporting or housing workers. In most cases, AWPA also makes growers responsible for ensuring that their labor contractors do not mistreat workers on their farm. FLSA requires a minimum wage of at least $5.15 per hour and restricts child labor. (A special FLSA exemption deprives farmworkers of overtime compensation, and employees on small farms are not even entitled to the minimum wage.)
Enforcement of labor laws protects farmworkers from abuse by providing them with a remedy. Effective enforcement also protects employers: it insulates law-abiding employers from unfair competition from unscrupulous companies that cheat workers to lower their business costs. When enforcement declines, many employers feel that the small risk of getting caught and the limited punishment are worth violating the law. In agriculture, many farm operators now use farm labor contractors or other intermediaries to recruit, hire, transport and supervise farmworkers, and then attempt to blame the labor contractors for the violations of workers’ rights.
Wage-hour enforcement must increase. The number of cases concluded regarding agricultural workers declined by 29% in the past four years: from 2,306 cases in FY 2001, to 1,762 in 2003 and to 1,633 in FY 2004. The same four-year period witnessed a sharp decline in the amount of back wages collected in agricultural cases (down 28 percent) , and in the number of employees receiving back wages (down 58 percent).
For Wage-Hour, the President proposed to Congress an appropriation of $167.4 million for FY 2006, including 1,346 full-time-equivalent staff (FTE’s), a very modest increase of $2.9 million from this year. By comparison, in 2002, the appropriation provided for 1,500 FTE’s. We propose an increase of $15 million for FY 2006 to increase wage-hour enforcement.
DOL needs to use its resources more wisely. Wage-Hour recently has emphasized “compliance assistance” at the expense of enforcement actions that deter and remedy illegal conduct. In FY 2002, for example, Wage-Hour staff participated in 60 seminars and conference for agricultural employers, and staffed information booths as 15 agricultural exhibits. While some educational efforts can be valid, Wage-Hour must increase its enforcement against the many employers who know they should pay the minimum wage, comply with promised job benefits, and transport workers in safe vehicles, and yet refuse to do so.
