July 1997, Volume 3, Number 3

Welfare Reform and Rural America
Some of the highest rates of welfare dependency are in the agricultural counties of California, where there are also farmers who complain of labor

Rural Housing Isssues
It has often been difficult to find adequate and affordable housing for workers who move into rural areas. In agriculture, where the demand for

Rural America Grapples with Diversity
Around the US, there are special reports on the changing composition of rural populations. Unlike urban areas, in many cases a single employer or

UFW: Strawberry Campaign
On June 16, 1997, Monsanto Corp sold Gargiulo Inc., the nation's largest grower-cooler-shipper of strawberries that hires harvesters directly, to

FLOC Goes to North Carolina
On May 28, 1997, Baldemar Velazquez, head of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO, announced that FLOC would try to organize the several

Farm Labor Contractors
In South Carolina, farm labor contractor Miguel Angel Flores, a Mexican national based in North Florida, and two of his crew leaders, pleaded

H-2A Workers Increase in 1996
The number of temporary foreign workers admitted to the US under the H-2A program, Section 101(a)(15)(H) (ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality

Labor Law Enforcement: DOL and Courts
DOL announced in April that it would clarify its enforcement procedures under farm labor laws, including the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural

ALRB/NLRB Decisions
The UFW launched a letter-writing campaign that urged the California Senate not to confirm Trice Harvey, the fourth member of the ALRB, who can

Assistance Programs
The federal government spends over $600 million annually to assist migrant and seasonal farm workers and their children. Most of this federal MSFW

PBS Airs Chavez Documentary
On April 16, 1997, PBS aired a two-hour documentary "The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers' Struggle," made by Ray Telles and

INS Enforcement
The INS seems to have stepped up employer sanctions enforcement in the midwest, northwest and southeastern states, and the results of most INS work

FVH Trade
Beginning in November 1997, Mexican avocados will be allowed to be sold in 19 northeastern states for four months--November through February.

Marketing Orders
The US Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote on June 25, 1997, decided that farmers could be compelled to contribute to marketing orders that support generic

The Changing Face of Delmarva
The fourth Changing Face of Rural America conference will be held September 11-13, 1997 at the University of Delaware campus in Newark, Delaware.

Books and Reports
Mines, Richard, Susan Gabbard, and Anne Steirman. March, 1997. A Profile of US Farmworkers. Washington: US Department of Labor Stull,