Push for farmworker rights

Packer Managing Editor Fred Wilkinson here.

A New York Times editorial calls for expanding ag labor rights in New York state and goes on to make the case that the time is right for expanding them at the federal level:

"In New York, advocates are pressing for passage of the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, which would give these workers the rights that others have long taken for granted, as well as seek badly needed improvements in safety and sanitary conditions in the fields. Domestic workers, meanwhile, are seeking a “Bill of Rights” in Albany covering things like overtime pay, cost-of-living raises and health benefits. A separate effort begun last week seeks to end these stubbornly lingering injustices for workers in all states by fixing federal law. It was announced on Cesar Chavez’s birthday by old lions of his movement, including Jerry Cohen, who as general counsel of the United Farm Workers helped win passage of a landmark 1975 California law that secured unprecedented rights for the state’s farm workers. The campaign has been joined by a growing number of labor groups and immigrant advocates, like Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, which represents migrant workers in the Midwest and North Carolina."

Although such calls for expanded rights will get more attention than they would have under some previous administrations, it's likely they will take a backseat to larger financial market concerns for the time being at least.

Still, produce companies and their representative organizations need to keep their eyes on this labor agenda and be ready to give input and, when and if appropriate, their opposition.

Farm labor - Nov. 21

From today's USDA farm labor report:



There were 1,117,000 hired workers on the Nation's farms and ranches during the week of October 12-18, 2008, down 3 percent from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 801,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 316,000 workers.

Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $10.70 per hour during the October 2008 reference week, up 32 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $10.05 per hour, up 43 cents from last October, while livestock workers earned $10.19 per hour compared with $10.02 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $10.08 per hour, was up 35 cents from last year. The number of hours worked averaged 41.3 hours for hired workers during the survey week, down 2 percent from a year ago.

The largest decreases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in California, the Corn Belt I (Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), Southern Plains (Oklahoma and Texas), Appalachian II (Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia), and Appalachian I (North Carolina and Virginia) regions. In California, lack of available irrigation water caused much acreage to be left allow. Planted acreage of cotton, dry beans, and sugar beets declined sharply from 2007. Therefore, the demand for field workers was considerably lower. Wet conditions in the Corn Belt I, Southern Plains, and the Appalachian I and II regions, compared with the previous year's drier reference week, decreased the need for field workers. Lower cattle inventories in the Appalachian regions led to fewer livestock workers being needed.

The largest increases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in the Pacific (Oregon and Washington), Corn Belt II (Iowa and Missouri),Northeast I (New England and New York), Delta (Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi), and Mountain II (Colorado, Nevada, and Utah) regions. In the Pacific region, increased acreage of cherries, berries, and grapes heightened the demand for hired workers. Despite wetter conditions in the Corn Belt IIregion, compared with the previous year's reference week, increased acreage of major field crops kept the demand for hired workers above last year. In the Northeast I region, drier conditions compared with the previous year's reference week led to a stronger demand for hired workers. In the Delta region, larger cattle and hog inventories increased the demand for livestock workers. Movement of cattle from summer pastures in the Mountain II region
was increasing. Therefore, more livestock workers were necessary.

The 2008 U.S. all hired worker annual average wage rate was $10.59 per hour, up 4 percent from the 2007 annual average wage rate of $10.23 per hour. The U.S. field worker annual average wage rate was $9.78 per hour, up 38 cents from last year's annual average. The field and livestock worker combined annual average wage rate at the U.S. level was $9.89 per hour, up 4 percent from last year's annual average wage rate of $9.49 per hour.

Farm labor report

Find the Aug. 15 report by USDA about farm labor here. Here is a quick summary:

There were 1,173,000 hired workers on the Nation's farms and ranches during the week of July 6-12, 2008, down 3 percent from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 828,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 345,000 workers. Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $10.34 per hour during the July 2008 reference week, up 35 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $9.66 per hour, up 42 cents from last July, while livestock workers earned $9.98 per hour compared with $9.73 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $9.74 per hour, was up 37 cents from last year.The number of hours worked averaged 40.5 hours for hired workers during the survey week,The largest decreases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in California and in the Lake (Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin), Corn Belt I (Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), Appalachian II (Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia), and Appalachian I (North Carolina and Virginia) regions. In California, lack of available irrigation water caused much acreage to be left fallow. Planted acreage of cotton, dry beans, and sugar beets declined sharply from 2007. Therefore, the demand for field workers was considerably lower. Rain and wet conditions in the Lake and Corn Belt I regions severely hampered most field activities and lessened the need for field workers. In the Appalachian I and II regions, wet conditions compared with the previous year's drier reference week reduced the demand for field workers. Lower cattle inventories in both regions led to fewer livestock workers being needed.