April 1999, Volume 5, Number 2
Rural America
California: Citrus Freeze Effects
The December 20-28, 1998 freeze caused an estimated $700 million in damage
to California crops, primarily navel oranges in the San Joaquin
Rural Housing
The year 1999 may be a watershed for rural and farm worker housing. In
Washington state, a compromise that lets short-season farm workers live in
Midwest: Hispanic Immigrants
The INS is using Operation Vanguard to eliminate illegal workers from the
meatpacking industry by subpoenaing and comparing I-9 information with
Farm Workers
Florida: Mechanization
For many years, economists thought that higher farm wages, effectuated by
farm worker unions, the availability of nonfarm jobs or reduced
UFW: 1999 Campaign
The UFW is poised to renew its effort to organize strawberry workers.
Growers increased acreage planted to 24,600 in 1999. Strawberries
North Carolina: FLOC, Legal Services
The Toledo-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee in March 1999
began a boycott of North Carolina's Mount Olive Pickle Co., with rallies
Oregon, Idaho
Farm worker advocates in Oregon demonstrated in March 1999
in favor of an increase in the state's Housing Trust Fund from $15.5 million to
$160
Farm Labor Data, 402S
USDA's NASS conducts a quarterly survey of persons employed on
US farms during the week that includes the twelfth of the month. The quarterly
Farm
MSFW Programs: $850 Million in FY00
The President's FY00 budget includes a proposed seven percent increase in
funding for the major MSFW assistance programs, bringing their funding
California: Enforcement
As a result of the December 1990 freeze and slow relief
efforts that left many farm workers in dire straits, ex-Governor Pete Wilson
ordered state
ALRB/NLRB
In mid-January 1999, Governor Gray Davis appointed three
aides to be members of the ALRB for one day, and thus block the ALRB from
launching an
Immigration
INS: Raids, Do Not Hire
Fewer Workplace Raids. The INS announced in March 1999 that it was
adopting a new interior enforcement strategy, de-emphasizing workplace
Mexico Wants Guest Workers
After a March meeting between the US and Mexican labor secretaries, former
Mexican Labor Secretary Jose Antonio Gonzalez said that Mexico would ask
H-2A in California
In September 1998 and again in December 1998, the
US Department of Labor certified the need for nonimmigrant foreign workers to
harvest crops in
Reorganizing Labor Certification
Employers requesting permission to employ temporary unskilled foreigners or
to sponsor permanent immigrants must receive certification from the
Other
How We Eat II
About 2.5 million individuals do farm work for wages sometime during a
typical year, so that farm workers represent less than two percent of
Commodity Updates
California's 1998 wine grape crush totaled 3.2 million tons, down 19 percent
from the 1997; the leading grapes crushed were Thompson seedless,
Australia: Migrant
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock announced in March that Australia would
not make it easier for nonimmigrant tourists to obtain temporary work
UK Migrants
The UK admits up to 10,000 students from Central and Eastern Europe each
summer to fill temporary jobs, often in agriculture. Some do not return,
EU-US Banana War
The US and the European Union skirted on the edge of a trade war in March
1999 because of bananas. The EU has a quota system that favors banana
Brazil: Slavery
The Employment Ministry has set up an armed team to rescue enslaved men,
women and children who are attracted to farm worker jobs in the poor
Migrants and Pork
The $28 billion US pork processing industry is in transition, moving from
the beef model of independent farmers, feedlot operators, and processors
Resources
Conference Announcement
The 1999 Changing Face conference will be held on the September 2-4, 1999,
with an all-day field trip to the Yuba City area on September 3. The