Sen. Bernie Sanders: 'The Harvest of Shame'

[babylonsister]

THIS is horrifying.


'The Harvest of Shame'

Posted April 15, 2008 | 11:01 AM (EST)


Last January, I visited Immokalee, Florida, to get a first-hand view of what was going on in the farm fields of Florida. On one of the days when I was there, a federal grand jury handed up an indictment alleging that workers were held in conditions that amounted to slavery. On Tuesday, a Senate panel convened a hearing into what long ago was called the "harvest of shame."

Let me very briefly tell you what I observed and what I learned from talking with a number of workers who pick tomatoes. At 5:30 am I was in a parking lot in central Immokalee and saw hundreds of workers mulling around for buses to take them to tomato fields. While most of the workers were selected to board buses and go to work, not all were. Those who were not picked earned no income at all during that day. Also, if it rains, as it did when I was there, workers are sent away from the fields and do not earn income for those hours.

In talking with workers who go out into the fields I learned that they make approximately 45 cents for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick. This wage has not increased since 1998; and in fact, farm worker wages have dropped 65 percent in the last 30 years, after adjusting for inflation. I also learned that while it is possible under optimum conditions to make as much as $10-$12 an hour, the average hourly wage is far lower than that. In fact, most workers in the tomato fields earn about $250 a week in income. Why are wages so low?

I also learned that there is no overtime when workers work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week. There are no benefits. Health care is a serious problem especially for people who do hard, physical work as they do in the tomato fields, yet employers offer no health insurance. The housing that I saw was deplorable and extremely expensive. It was not uncommon for eight or 10 workers to be paying $500 a month to live in a trailer which, in the city where I was mayor, would never have passed a safety inspection.

"Is it really going to take an act of Congress to get Florida's tomato pickers a raise?" an editorial in the St. Petersburg Times asked. "The men and women who work the fields in Immokalee earn 45 cents on average for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes harvested. It is a meager wage that has not been raised in more than 20 years. Yet when a couple of fast food giants generously agreed to pay workers an added penny per pound, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange sabotaged the deal and has refused to negotiate even after congressional leaders offered to be intermediaries."

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/the-harvest-of-shame_b_96759.html

[KSinTX]

1. It's a very real need coming at a very bad time

With food prices around the world skyrocketing 120-percent and more and that impact potentially posing a threat to US food prices, any change that increases costs is really going to be tough to get started. I'm not saying it shouldn't be addressed, just that it might be a long, uphill climb in this economic environment. Sanders said in his blog "I hope Senate hearings will begin to shine a spotlight on the harvest of shame." Is he hoping to have these or are they already on the agenda?

[babylonsister]

2. Per the article...

"On Tuesday, a Senate panel convened a hearing into what long ago was called the "harvest of shame.""

Isn't this sad? To read that this is happening in our country is beyond pathetic!

And welcome to DU! :hi:

[KSinTX]

3. Thanks! This is such a great environment

People are actually civil here (well, in the main, anyway). I can live with a few cranky folks for the benefit of actually being able to hear people talk and debate and even have fun above the din. Anyway, thanks for pointing that out. Reading faster than my brain can process! Well, then, that's not really reading then, is it? :banghead:

[babylonsister]

4. Battle flares over Fla. tomato pickers' wages, living conditions

Battle flares over Fla. tomato pickers' wages, living conditions
By Lesley Clark | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008


WASHINGTON — Delivering a victory to farmworker groups that complain of paltry wages on Florida farms, senators said Tuesday they'll ask federal investigators to determine whether migrant farm workers are being paid as much as the tomato industry claims.

The call to have the Government Accountability Office investigate came as Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, pledged to back efforts to boost pay and improve working conditions for thousands of migrant workers picking tomatoes throughout Florida.

"This is the beginning, this is not the end,'' said Sanders, who toured the Florida farming community of Imokalee in January and said he found the living conditions "deplorable.'' He said the committee was likely to push for greater protection of farmworkers, including changes to federal trafficking statutes.

Sanders also questioned the tomato industry's contention that tomato pickers make an average of $12.50 per hour. Most farms guarantee workers at least a minimum wage of $6.79, but pay them based on the number of buckets picked. For every 32-pound bucket, the worker gets a token typically worth 45 to 50 cents.

"We have broken ground on this issue,'' Sanders said. "We are going to stay on this issue.''

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/33832.html