July 1998, Volume 4, Number 3

Rural America

California: Central Valley
On May 27-28, 1998, about 250 people attended a "new thinking for a big valley" conference in Sacramento. There was agreement on

Northeast: Poultry, Eggs
Georgetown, Delaware was profiled in the Philadelphia Inquirer on May 29, 1998. Founded in 1792, Georgetown had 4,300 residents in the 1990 Census

Southeast: Latinos, Enforcement
Many southeastern newspapers are publishing articles on the changing face of their state's population. The Atlanta Journal on April 19, 1998 ran

MidwestL Meatpacking
ConAgra Inc. agreed in April 1998 to pay $223,000 in fines and other costs for knowingly hiring illegal aliens in Glasgow, Kentucky in 1994.

Farm Workers

UFW: Strawberries
Most observers think that the UFW in 1998 must request and win an election among strawberry workers to sustain its organizing campaign. However,

California: Housing
A May 31, 1998 profile of housing in the Watsonville and Salinas areas reported that strawberry workers earning $200 a week often shared housing to

Northwest
The UFW filed its second suit against an apple grower in March 1998, alleging that Auvil Fruit Co. Inc. retaliated against 28 farm workers who

Florida: Smugglings, Workers
On April 24, the US attorney in Miami indicted 16 unauthorized aliens on charges of smuggling young women from Veracruz, Mexico to the US and

North Carolina: Pickles
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, estimates that there are 5,000 seasonal workers who pick cucumbers for growers who

ALRB: No Changes, Case
The ALRB in 1997 began a comprehensive review of its regulations and invited interested parties to testify in hearings held throughout the

Enforcement: Children, FLCs, MSPA
In the first of 50 planned sweeps in 1998 as part of "Operation Salad Bowl," the US Labor Department fined six growers in the Rio Grande Valley a

Services: USDA, 402s
At the recommendation of its Civil Rights Action Team, USDA is requesting $5.5 million for Cooperative State Research, Extension and Education

Farm Employment and Wages
There were 1,005,000 hired workers on the nation's farms and ranches the week of April 12-18, 1998, including 800,000 hired directly by farm

Social Security, Pilots
All employers who file 250 or more W-2s in a tax year are required to provide to the Social Security Administration earnings and tax information on

Mechanization: Raisings, Olives
Lee Simpson, a raisin grower near Fresno, is believed to have a vineyard of the future. Vines are planted five feet apart and with eight feet

Immigration

Southeast: Vidalia Onions
The INS operation "Southern Denial" in mid-May 1998 apprehended 21 workers in Glennville in southeastern Georgia, home of the $90 million a year

Congress: Guest Workers
On June 24, 1998, the Senate Immigration subcommittee held a hearing on agricultural guest workers that focused on how the current H-2A program

Other

Strawberries
Strawberries are an unusual crop. Production usually occurs on a small scale, and is very labor intensive, so that ex-farm workers with access to

Southeast Asia: Structural Demand?
As southeast Asian nations such as Thailand, Korea and Malaysia continue to expel migrant workers, their employers are requesting new migrants to

US Farms and Farm Land
The number of US farms fell from 6,454,000 in 1920 to 1,925,300 in 1992, a decline of 70 percent. The number of farms operated by non-whites fell

US and California FVH Production
Fresh fruit consumption fell three pounds a person in 1995 to 98 pounds, including a drop of one pound of apples to 19 pounds a person.

Chiquita, Dole
On May 3, 1998, the Cincinnati Enquirer ran a series of stories on Chiquita Brands International, the banana grower and marketer headquartered

UK, France
Media reports and raids are finding that many seasonal workers in the UK are on the welfare or unemployment insurance rolls, or are

Shrimp Farming
In the mid-1990s, the one million tons of shrimp grown on farms accounted for 25 percent of the $6 billion (farm or fisher) value of shrimp. The

Suro, Roberto. Strangers Among Us: How Latino Immigration is transforming America
Suro's four-part, 18-chapter book explores the origins, status and trajectory of the fastest growing race/ethnic group in the US--the 30

Resources

Peter Duignan and Lewis Gann. The debate in the United States over Immigration
This three-part ten-chapter book includes the papers presented at a Hoover Institution conference in October 1996. The contributors include

Ugalde, Antonio and Gilberto Cardenas. Health and Social Services among International Labor Migrants
This 11-chapter book includes selected papers presented at a conference in May 1995. There are four papers that deal with immigrant health issues