'The Harvest of Shame'
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."
The editorial goes on to say that: "The truth is that Florida's migrant farm laborers are among the worst paid workers in the state. They haven't had a piece rate increase in a generation, and the Growers Exchange wants to keep it that way. Even when someone else is willing to foot the bill."
Thankfully, due to the dedication and hard work of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the conditions that exist in the Florida tomato fields has begun to come to light. As a direct result of the coalition's efforts, two large fast food companies -- McDonald's and Yum! Brands, whose subsidiaries include Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Long John Silvers and A&W -- have agreed to supplement the pay of these workers at a rate of an additional penny per pound for the tomatoes they buy. McDonald's and Yum! are to be commended for their commitment to help alleviate the despicable situation in the Florida tomato fields. Sadly, some other fast food companies, like Burger King, are resisting making a similar move which for a minimal cost would almost double the income of the Florida tomato workers.
In addition, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange has threatened fines of up to $100,000 to any grower that cooperates in implementing the penny per pound agreements, something that I simply cannot comprehend. I have met with Reggie Brown with the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange personally about this subject, and I am pleased that he could join us today to explain this situation in greater detail.
Unfortunately, this is not a new problem. In 1960, Edward R. Murrow described the horrendous situation facing farm laborers in his famous TV documentary as a "Harvest of Shame." Tragically, almost 50 years later, not much has changed. Farm laborers, mostly migrant workers, continue to be ruthlessly exploited with low pay and poor working conditions.
In an era of globalization, the American people are becoming more and more concerned not only about the quality of goods they consume, but about the conditions facing those who produce those goods. In my view, the American consumer does not want the tomatoes they eat to be picked by workers who are grossly mistreated, underpaid, and in some case even kept in chains. This must not happen in the United States of America in 2008.
What is going on in Immokalee and other regions of Florida is deplorable and at its core repugnant to the values that our country is built upon. I hope Senate hearings will begin to shine a spotlight on the harvest of shame that is going on to this day in the tomato fields in Florida and will lay the groundwork for the legislative changes that will be needed if the large buyers of tomatoes in the fast food and supermarket industry and the large growers continue to resist the reforms that are desperately needed.
The time is now that large corporations like Burger King and recalcitrant growers that continue to profit from the slavery and near-slavery like conditions in the tomato fields of Florida begin to pay a price in the marketplace, in the court of public opinion, and, if necessary, in the United States Congress. I truly believe that, once they learn the truth, "American consumers will not patronize companies that continue to profit from the current situation.
In the United States of America, millions of workers are being forced into a race to the bottom. As poverty increases and the middle class shrinks, they are seeing their standard of living decline. They are working longer hours for lower wages, and are losing their health insurance, pensions and other benefits. What we have in the tomato fields of Florida are workers who are living on the lowest rung of the ladder in that race to the bottom. We must address their plight not only from a moral perspective, but with the understanding that if we look the other way, and accept the terrible exploitation they are suffering, every American worker is in danger as that race to the bottom accelerates.
Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, is a member of the U.S. Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee which held a hearing on this issue on Tuesday, April 15. To read more about the Immokalee farm workers, click here.
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How about deporting the foreign workers, stop developing a 3rd world underclass in the US, and hire US workers do the farming just like our ancestors did?
I think it is ironic that Bernie Sanders lambasts the conditions of foreign workers getting a substandard wage, but obviously sees nothing wrong with exploiting foreigners in the first place.
I have a friend who lived in Ocala FL who did day work for manufacturers. She worked 8 hours and made exactly enough to pay for a cheapo sleazy motel that she stayed in, if she was lucky enough to be picked to work that day. The day labor places (there were several in this smallish town) were crowded with many many people hoping for the same. What an abusive system. America the great? Don't make me laugh.
"The day labor places (there were several in this smallish town) were crowded with many many people hoping for the same."
So if more people want to do that job, why pay is unfair?
Migrant worker income-
$250/wk. or $6.25/hr.
Henry Paulson-Hedge Fund Mgr. 2007 income
$71,153,846/wk. or $1,778,846/hr.
These are based on 40 hour work weeks (and certainly the benevolent Florida Tomato Growers Exchange would never overwork or exploit their workers.)
Hmmm... Something seems not quite right but... oh,well gotta go. Where in the World is that little Matt Lauer today?
Well, my career path is certainly clear now.
Migrant worker production - collecting tomatos
Henry Paulson - milliions and millions made for his clients...
Are you the "bitter" guy who is not registered to vote in the Clinton ad?
"Florida is a crappy state". Ever since the 2000 election, it's been trying to become the sister state of Alabama and Mississippi, the main differences being the miles of coastline and therefore, the number of resort hotels.
There was a time when Florida could have been proud of not being a typical Deep South state. Not
anymore. The recent and current administrations of Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist have helped to accelerate the downward trend. Governor Crist proudly signed into law the change in the Presidential
primary date, confirming the wishes of his Republican-majority legislature. Even more recently, the
governor signed a new law allowing employees to carry guns in their vehicles to their workplace parking lot. The employers have no say in the issue.
To reiterate, "Florida is a crappy state". I know: I've lived here since 1972 and have seen the trend.
Cheers to you, Bernie Saunders! It's no accident that Vermonters have chosen you as their Senator.
Here's a vote-getter for Senator Sanders: I'm sure that he would be joined by all of his millionaire tax and lobby-fed gang in the Senate if he were to propose a compassionate minimum wage of $1,000 per hour. That way there would soon be no more poor people! Of course, humanitarian love should find reason to do so, as the imposition of a regulated economy (a.k.a. Socialism) must ignore the complaints of those capitalists who take money from the poor by not paying them "enough". Sorry to say, that some see our compassionate snake-oil Senators as giving nothing but an endless amount of hot-air, war and debt. Seems nothing more than a national protection racket -- you know, pay your protection money (taxes) or be beat up (go to jail).
Ah, a final point regarding "Economic Stimulus" -- why send out a miserable $1,200 to a married couple? Why not $1,200,000? Now that would be a stimulus! Oh, alright, you compassionate folk, go ahead and pop in another million for the farm workers (legal or not). Why even Senator Saunders could insert a small card in the envelopes containing the check that would read: "This Donation has been sent along to you as a generous gift from the ever-compassionate Senator Saunders -- remember him when it comes time to vote!"
I hear alot of the "bitterness" that Barack Obama spoke of in replies like this. I'm not attempting to insult or to psychoanalyze those who are so angry about efforts to improve the lot of the poorest
among us. If you are suffering yourself, it is hard not to feel that " no one is doing anything for ME,
why should I feel sorry for those OTHERS?"
I think that we ought to re-consider Senator Obama's remarks. What about asking ourselves why we are so angry about so much, and yet about so little?
Could it be that we feel that we're being shafted by the system and that it is quicker and easier to cry foul about illegal immigrants than to do something constructive? They are just doing jobs that we wouldn't do-- for compensation that we couldn't live on. It's scapegoating and it's wrong. We need to attack the real source of our anger: the middle-cla
Sen. Sanders, you didn't mention whether or not the workers going into the field were illegal immigrants or not, but I suspect that one reason that the growers are able to get away with the kind of employment practices you've described is that a good many are illegal immigrants. For workers from Mexico the wages you've described are a big attraction because of the economic conditions of Mexico. Which brings up the question as to why ICE hasn't conducted any raids on these growers as they have started to do with the meat processors. The growers' associations must've contributed more heavily to the RNC than did the meat processors. At any rate, as long the growers have slaves as a labor force they will treat them as slaves. I applaud your efforts to raise the pay rate and improve the working conditions of the farm workers, but don't we also have to shine that bright light of public scrutiny on who the labor force is?
Thank you for bringing this issue to this site. I don't think I have read anything about the Immokalee workers here, I may be mistaken about this but that is besides the point. The plight of these workers and workers at the lower end of our economy get hardly a mention even in these progressive blogs. If it were not for John Edwards during the earlier months of this campaign season we would not even have heard anything about the poor and labor. Now that he is not in the race we hardly hear about it at all. We do hear about how we need to protect our economy yet in most cases it is about protecting Wall Street from its' own greedy incompetence. Thank you for at least bringing this issue to light and I hope that it raises some awareness and hope for all workers.
I echo the comments of many of the previous posters. We need, a thousand more Government officials like Bernie Sanders.
Senator Bernie Sanders, please continue to share your vision of a more Democratic
I remember an investigative documentary done back in, perhaps, the 70's on PBS about this same thing. Work camp slavery in Florida. They showed fields surrounded by men with shotguns and dogs. They documented the importation of illegal Mexican nationals by the boatloads at night, who were then put on busses and taken to guarded and enclosed camps with a "Company Store" set up that makes Appalachia look like Disney World. They were forced to work long hours, for low pay, and allowed to spend it only in the company owned market. If they tried to escape they were caught, or killed. It was a terrible, terrible expose on the power of Corporate Farming in America.
Sounds like not much has changed.
I remember that show, though I think it was on 60 Minutes! The armed guards wouldn't even let the police in, as i recall, and the workers were kept in debt, just like those mining towns you mentioned. And this is America?
Thank you Senator Sanders. Whenever I see you on C-Span or anywhere else I always listen to what you have to say. What a rarity you are. I'm glad you're there. You're one of the few who knows what's really going on in this country.
Senator Sanders represents the epitome of elected officials. If all our Senators and Representatives were as thoughtful and caring as he is, this country would truly be a worker's paradise.
The American public is so incredibly ignorant of the way our capitalist system is designed to exploit us.
Bernie, thank you for continuing to remind us.
"McDonald's and Yum! are to be commended.
.
We need more Senators like Senator Sanders.
.
" 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. "
1) So it is possible to earn more than twice the minimum wage? Whats wrong with that?
2) Is it possible that the reason people accept such conditions is because they are not quilified to do anything else?
I am willing to pay my gardener $20/hour, nanny $500/week + room and board. I have at least 10 friends who are looking to hire various position at similar compensation levels. Yet neither I nor they can find anyone who is quilified at that price... That tells me that the reason people are working on tomato fields for $250/week is their unability to perform other job.
You certainly have a great deal to be proud of.
A tomato picker contributes to the health and well being of society. You and your friends also contribute something to society-death, hunger, poverty, and a country that is headed down the drain.
If you believe that everyone gets what they deserve in the end, an appropriate fate is waiting for you.
Has anyone seen Jacob Marley lately.
Good luck, lowlife.
You know nothing about me yet you dare to assume that I contribute "death, hunger, poverty, and a country that is headed down the drain. "
Unlike most of the liberals I started from 0 in this country. You throw word "hunger" around, but have you ever went hungry becasue you did not have enought money? I did for 2 years... So get off your high hourse...
You are pro-war, pro-torture, pro-pollution, and in favor if draconinan drug laws, Neo. Why does it not suprise me that you would be pro-slavery as well. That's awesome that you have a $200 a week gardener. That leaves you more money to put in the collection basket on Sunday. God Bless You, you are an inspiration to us all
ProudNeoCon;
I guess you think that the slaves weren't qualified either and so slavery was okay. Enjoy your dinner. Not only are the workers exploited by agribusiness but the food is pretty lousy too. Maybe you could get your gardener to start a little vegetable garden. One that is tucked out of sight. It would actually save you money but insure you have safe vegetables on the table.
Since when people making twice the minimum salary are slaves?
BTW I do grow my own vegetables
An extreme unregulated capitalistic system in ANY COUNTRY, including the USA is a DISGRACE.
Keep up the good fight Senator Sanders.
Amen.
I think every American citizen should be treated fairly and with respect. The market will take care of itself. As long as desperate people fight for the chance to be abused, they will be abused. Eliminate the supply of such labor and see conditions improve.
If no one showed up to pick produce, they would have to pay them more. What's wrong with that theory?
You're ignoring the existence of a large pool of extremely desperate people. Check out Ricardo's "iron law of wages."
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