Valuing farmworkers

Agriculture is one of the largest sources of income in California, having generated $37.5 billion in 2010. That wealth is based on the shoulders of a workforce that still does not receive the protections and appreciation it deserves.

Estimates show that hundreds of thousands of farmworkers, almost 450,000 in the peak times of August and September, help our state account for 17% of the national agricultural output and generate $100 billion in economic activity, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Our state produces almost half of the fruits, nuts and vegetables in the U.S.

Based on all this, you could think these farmworkers would be easy to replace because of the treatment they receive. But that is not the case. The experiment conducted by Senator Dianne Feinstein, posting job offers for farm work in state unemployment offices without any success, is well known.

We think that improving working conditions should be priority number one. There are two bills in Sacramento, one to increase protection from the heat for workers and the other to penalize those who do not provide water and shade as stipulated by law.

Just as important is a measure the Senate passed last Monday to put farmworkers on the same level as all California workers by instituting daily eight-hour shifts and 40-hour workweeks. To date, a 1941 law requiring overtime pay only when farmworkers work more than 10 hours per day or 60 hours per week is in place.

The overtime benefits bill is ready for Governor Brown’s signature, and we hope he enacts it. Opposition by the industry is understandable because they do not want to increase their expenses. But what is unacceptable is continuing to exempt that sector from laws that apply to everyone and even less claiming that these workers are being exploited for their own benefit.

It is time to respect the job farmworkers do. Just like the contributions of the agricultural industry to California’s economy, the work of farm laborers must be valued.