Information about Migrant Farm Workers

• New York State ranks tenth in the nation in terms of Migratory Agricultural Workers. 
• Migrant, seasonal, dairy and packing shed workers total approximately 100,000 in number. 
• The overwhelming majority, 90% are monolingual speaking Hispanics.  There are also Haitian, African-American, Jamaican, Puerto Rican workers, and workers from Central America, as well as workers migrating from the South and Southwestern areas of the United States. 
• In recent years the age of the farm worker population has become younger with many of the workers being under 20 years of age. 
• A recent trend, still rather small, is for young female workers to arrive in New York without a partner or any family members.

Farm workers are one of the most exploited groups in our society.  They live in isolation, are not assimilated into the communities they live in or near and are targeted by the local and state police, as well as, the border patrol.  When they exercise their legal options they are often fired from their employment, evicted from their housing and threatened with deportation.  They are literally trapped because of their isolation, lack of English, lack of immigration status and limited access to the outside world.  Unfortunately, due to the numerous barriers that remain for farm workers, as well as the exclusions that exist for farm workers under the existing labor laws, farm workers are not empowered to speak out about their rights.  Under the existing labor laws some of the rights that farm workers are excluded from are overtime pay, mandatory day of rest, the employer does not have to provide a toilet or drinking water for the workers unless there are more than 10 workers in the field, and there is little or none enforcement of health and safety laws at the worksite, or the monitoring of worker’s exposure to pesticides.     

In a recent court case involving a recruiter of migrant farm laborers, who also served as a supervisor and manager for several area agricultural employers, the recruiter pleaded guilty to forced labor under violations of the 2000 Trafficking and Smuggling Act.  The workers had been promised jobs working in agriculture for a good wage, but once in New York they were told they had to pay off $2,500 in transportation debt and payments for food, shelter, and transportation.  The workers were forced to work 50-70 hours per week without pay.  They were not allowed to leave the labor camp and each night there were armed guards patrolling the housing site.  This is the environment in which many farm workers are forced to live.  To support themselves and their families at home, and while doing a job that few are willing to do, many of them attempt to survive this violent environment.

The challenge that remains is how to provide services to a population that is constantly changing with new workers arriving yearly.  Farm workers move 2-3 times a season within the upstate region.  Migrant labor camps are located through out the region and are located hundreds of miles from legal and supportive services and/or metropolitan areas.  Farm workers do not normally have access to transportation or to a telephone.  The crew leaders and employers control telephone access and transportation services.  A crew leader is the person who has a contract with the agricultural employer to bring workers to New York State.  Often times the crew leader is given the power to control housing, transportation, hours and wages of the workers.  It is not uncommon for the crew leaders to use threats and violence to control their work force

Farm workers traditionally do not actively seek outside help or services.  In order to utilize and expand services to migrant and seasonal farm workers a network must be developed of migrant service providers, including health and educational programs, local community organizations, social service agencies, as well as local law enforcement agencies and the courts.  There must be protocols put in place to insure that cooperation exist between the different service providers to insure a community response in advocating for the welfare and safety of farm workers.