UFW Challenges US Citizens to Apply for AG Jobs : Eastern Group Pub...

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UFW Challenges US Citizens to Apply for AG Jobs

Take Our Jobs campaign challenges U.S. citizens and legal residents to apply for agricultural work. By Marvelia Alpizar, EGP Staff Reporter Responding to the mantra that undocumented workers are taking jobs away from US citizens, the United Farm Workers (UFW) announced last week that it has launched a campaign to get US citizens and legal residents to apply for farm worker jobs. While the Take Our Jobs campaign may at first glance appear to be little more than a joke or publicity stunt, the campaign, complete with a job application website, has a very serious objective: to give legally authorized US workers a chance to do the jobs that anti-immigrant politicians and activists claim have been stolen by undocumented workers, and immigrant rights activists say American wont do. The organizers of the campaign late last week during a national telephone press conference, challenged citizens and legal residents who want a job in agriculture to apply for a job through their Web site www.takeourjobs.org. There, applicants can provide their data and receive information warning them about the harsh conditions under which the work is often performed, including soaring temperatures that at times exceed 90 degrees and the tools used to perform the arduous task of harvesting Americas food. Many Americans believe that undocumented persons are taking over jobs that belong to citizens and legal residents, said UFW President Arturo Rodriguez. But what is not emphasized in the immigration debate is an honest recognition that the food we eat at home, in restaurants, comes from the work of undocumented farm workers. The campaign also seeks to raise awareness of farm workers working conditions and the difficulties they face such as death, injury and heat exhaustion from continuous exposure to extreme temperatures. It also highlights the long hours of work, up to 12 hours or more a day, and the low compensation they receive compared to the general labor market. Rodriguez said that even though workers often work more than 8 hours per day, many do not received overtime pay. He said in some part of the US, farmers dont even have to pay workers the minimum wage required by law. In fifteen states, employers are not required to have workers compensation for farm workers; giving workers little recourse in the event of an injury while on the job. Rob Williams, director of the Justice for Migrant Farm Workers, said that agricultural work in the United States is concentrated in certain areas, with 40 percent of those employees working in the West Central Valley of California. Other key states include Florida, Texas, Washington, Oregon and North Carolina. Fifty percent of US agricultural workers are estimated to be undocumented. Williams says undocumented farm workers earn slightly more than 50 percent of what legally authorized agricultural workers in the United States earn. Californias Kern County is the second largest agricultural region in the nation. Supervisor Michael Rubio issued a challenge to the nations leaders to visit his county. I would encourage all our national leaders to come visit Kern County and to spend one day, or even half a day, in the shoes of these farm workers, he said, explaining how difficult the work they do is and the problem growers have finding enough workers. Organizers of Take Our Jobs acknowledge that the campaign is also part of a larger strategy to legalize the status of the thousands of undocumented agricultural workers in the country.

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UFW Challenges US Citizens to Apply for AG Jobs : Eastern Group Pub...

http://egpnews.com/2010/07/ufw-challenges-us-citizens-to-apply-for-ag-...

status of the thousands of undocumented agricultural workers in the country. On May 14, 2009, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, put forward the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2009 (AgJobs 2009), which seeks to improve agricultural job opportunities, immigrant benefits, and immigration security for aliens in the United States. The project was referred to the Judiciary Committee where it has languished ever since. The aim of the bill is to provide legal status to experienced farm workers so they can continue to work in agriculture, thus giving growers a dependable supply of qualified workers, and workers the security to demand labor laws be enforced. The campaign will take its message to Comedy Centrals popular show the Colbert Report on July 8. They hope using comedy to tell their story will help Americans understand their very serious message: undocumented workers are not taking jobs from US citizens the jobs are out there, but people are not interested in taking them.

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06/26/2012 1:32 PM