No Shortage Of Labor Issues

Last month, a couple of labor-related issues touched the nerves of quite a few people. The first “issue” came to light when the United Farm Workers union filed a lawsuit against the occupational health and safety agency in California. It was alleged that the agency didn’t do enough to prevent the heat-related deaths of farmworkers. The lawsuit indicates that heat-related illnesses have killed 11 farmworkers in the state since heat safety regulations were
enacted in 2005.

Following on the heels of the United Farm Workers lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division fined nine farms and 17 farm
labor contractors in Bladen and Craven counties, NC, for violating federal labor laws.

Not Cut And Dried

On the surface, it looks like the industry is at fault in these examples, but is that the end of the story? We all know that it is paramount to protect workers while they are in the field, but sometimes, however, there is more to the story.

American Vegetable Grower included articles about these labor issues on our parent website, GrowingProduce.com. They are obviously hot topics among our audience members as they garnered many responses, and a few were somewhat heated.  Read the stories and.

In the case involving OHSA and the Farm Workers Union, many in our audience are clearly not in favor of the union. In fact, one respondent says
that suing an agency for inadequate oversight is not looking after a union member’s interest.

Another respondent asked: “What has the union done to protect the safety of its membership when it comes to working in heat?” That’s a very good question, indeed.

The recent clamp down in North Carolina also brought out feedback from our audience: “These kind of bad labor practices give all farmers a bad name,” said one respondent. “Farm labor practices are already seen as shady and abusive. If agriculture is to be taken seriously in this country, farmers have to play by the rules and stop whining. If you don’t like the rules, there are legal means by which to affect change.”

Speaking of playing by the rules, let’s take a look at what was being proposed in New York just a couple of months ago. The Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act would have provided farmworkers with overtime pay — among other things. It may have sounded good on paper, but for the vegetable industry in the state, it was anything but.

Last month, the bill stalled in the New York state Senate. Let’s just hope it stays there because some in the state said passing the legislation would be devastating to agriculture.

Understand The Industry

What our legislators have to understand is that agriculture cannot be compared to a factory or office job. Growers don’t plan their schedules around a 40-hour work week. As many will attest to, numerous variables can be dumped in a grower’s lap, such as weather, pests, and malfunctioning equipment, that may impact the timing of planting or harvesting.

In order for growers to do their jobs — which is to feed us — the rest of the country needs to be aware of the fact that ag typically doesn’t operate in the same way as other industries, and that needs to be communicated and understood.