Theres
a blissful ignorance that permeates through American culture. While
80% of the world lives on less than $10 dollars a day most of us have
no qualm dolling out the equivalent for a large value meal at our
favorite fast food chain1.
Perhaps we could chalk it up to our elevated standard of living or
the successes of free market capitalism, but something tells me the
artificiality of “Value” is propped upon the exploitation of
someone else. Much like our propensity to easily dismiss who hand
stitched our shirts, mined our precious gems and minerals, or the
true costs to our contrived petroleum prices and the subsidies and
wars which serve to only manipulate them. Now its not my intention to
oppress any reader with insurmountable guilt, it wouldn’t seem
particularly normal to question every single element you put in or on
your body, convenience isn't simply a luxury anymore, its an integral
part of American life. The status quo today demands a system that
propagates uniformity, value-centricity, and outlandishly accessible
goods and services. While most would assume that the human rights
atrocities of the world are relegated to far flung third world
nations or distant historical memories, they persist still here and
now. The plight of the migrant worker in the U.S. today will make
even the most apathetic amongst us to reevaluate the true “Value”
of the food we eat.
What
else oozes the virtues of cheap, readily available and machine-like
consistency than the fast food industry. While one could delve
through the still deplorable conditions of the factory farms and
inhumane treatment afforded to livestock, or pest and herbicides, the
relationship between agriculture and an exploited labor force is as
old as the country itself. However this scenario isn’t uniquely an
American one. The notion of an indentured agricultural labor class
has endured throughout the feudal systems of Europe and further
globalized through the imperialism of the 19th century. While
indentured servitude dominated the initial phase of the exploited
labor force here in the United States, any grade schooler will attest
to the prominence of African American slavery. The extent however may
come as some surprise, by 1860 the state of Florida’s population
was 140,424, 44% of which were enslaved2.
But the exploitative labor practices simply didn’t disappear after
the ratification of the thirteenth amendment. African Americans bore
the brunt again when convict lease programs were instituted following
the civil war. Inmates , predominantly black, would be loaned out to
local agri and mining business. Florida seems to have a long sordid
history with these types of practices, along with Alabama being the
last two to outlaw such systems by 1923. When laborers tried to
dispute labor conditions they met the expected response, threats of
or outright violence. Between the years of 1882 and 1930 black
Floridians suffered the highest per capita lynching rate in the US
with at least 266 killings, many linked to labor disputes3.
While other industrial sectors were feeling the pressure of the
unionized labor movement of the early 20th century, agricultural
workers seemed to be left by the wayside. Under New Deal legislation
specifically the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 which saw an
unprecedented expanse to labor rights, it excluded agricultural
workforces. Protections such as minimum wages and child labor
protections were not instituted until 1966, and still till this day
aren’t provided overtime wages. While its no mystery of the long
injustices afforded laborers here in the United States, agricultural
has been afforded different treatment.
Could
it be possible that the vestiges of these seemingly abandoned
practices still reside in the seedy underbelly of the American
agricultural industry today? In the case of the pickers in Florida’s
lucrative tomato business we can see complex issues of immigration,
labor rights, and food standards are mired in a murky world of
corporate interests and a lack of social consciousness. If i were to
introduce the notion of human trafficking, many might associate it
with prostitution, strippers and the sex trade, quite removed from
suburban bliss and American ideals. It would be disconcerting then to
accept that the perfectly red hued tomato adorning your hamburger may
have been harvested by the hands of trafficked humans. It’s
estimated that nearly 15,000 new human trafficking incidents occur
within the United States Each year4.
It’s subversive nature doesn't allow for precise accountability of
these human rights violations, but the simple fact remains, modern
slavery is being perpetrated throughout the agricultural fields of
modern times. It’s pertinent to note the difference between
slavery-like conditions and the actual presence of people in bondage.
There are certainly those callous and cynical enough whom don’t
empathize with migrant labor movements. Some would claim these
workers have a choice where to work and if the wages and conditions
aren’t suitable then can work somewhere else. It’s the subtle
beauty of the capitalist machine, a fierce environment of competition
between businesses dictating prices and between labor dictating
wages. While its not my place to assert what any group of people
deserve in compensation as long as those meet minimum federal
standards, it is however the explicit goal of this paper to out the
mostly unknown world of a people in bondage.
It’s
no exaggeration of the truth to claim the plight of migrant workers
in Florida’s fields have endured a system of which we thought we
shed 150 years ago. It may seem like a matter of sensationalized
rhetoric to describe what is occurring as slavery, so we should let
the statistics speak for themselves. In the past fifteen years or so
Florida law enforcement has freed over one thousand workers who were
said to be kept against their will. This was accomplished through the
successful prosecution of seven different cases by the US Department
of Justice Civil Rights Division since 1997 in the state of Florida
alone5
Immigration
has always proposed itself as somewhat of a confusing dilemma to me.
If illegals were as detrimental to our country as some may lead us to
believe then why haven’t considerably more stringent methods been
enforced to clamp down on it. But conversely if immigration reform
could be as beneficial through new increased tax revenues then why
hasn’t it seen serious developments. The migrant workers are the
unseen pariahs of society, forgotten or ignored but completely
essential to sustaining current agricultural practices. Extremely low
labor wages are the cornerstone of cheap fast food, I’m sure the
franchise restaurant workers could attest to this. Now imagine if
American citizens have an incessant struggle for improved wages and
workplace conditions with strikes and walkouts being more salient in
mass media, how exactly would an illegal migrant worker fair in the
same struggle.
Many
who cross the southern border in hopes of opportunity are assisted by
paid guides otherwise known as Coyotes. But the relationship doesn’t
necessarily end once they cross into the United States. In the case
of migrant agricultural workers, many times these Coyotes are
associated with the companies that deal with the farms. Already
burdened by exorbitant fees simply for passage into the US, it is
then divulged that they haven't paid off the entirety of the debts
owed. This system indoctrinates the newly migrated into company
towns. Much like the ones built around the turn of the century near
newly industrialized cities, these slums are owned or sub
contractually affiliated with the farms. The general stores, housing,
loan services, and nearly all types of essentials are monopolized,
forced upon the migrants and only serve to deepen the debt of which
they are bound to. Some might perceive this as ludacris and wonder
why they don’t simply move, use another store, or get another job.
Many
of these people are undocumented, have little to no education and
dont speak english, in fact its a pre requisite that many of these
Coyotes are told to seek out for employment, The migrants are simply
not aware of rights they are protected by, too scared of the
possibility of deportation, unfamiliarity with American culture, and
submitted through intimidation and outright violence. Some startling
examples of such are US V. Cuello wherein 30 tomato pickers were held
in isolated trailers in Immokalee Florida swamplands, held and
constantly watched. Or the more high profile case of US V Navarrete
wherein the Coyote indebted migrant workers, beat and chained them in
box trucks for punishment. US Attorney Doug Molloy had called the
case “slavery,plain and simple” in January of 20086.
Immokalee
Florida is a beacon for all that is wrong with the agricultural
industry and the labor conditions it employs upon its workers. A town
in the heart of the Florida tomato industry, the ramifications of
poor pay and low standard of living is evident through the community
as a whole. It’s per capita income is $9,700 a year, a quarter of
the national average. The small city of fifteen thousand has half of
it living below the federal poverty line. Two thirds of the children
there who enter kindergarten drop out before they finish high school
and they are at risk of violent crimes six times the national
average. The workers here have endured the same rate of wages for the
past 30 years, with adjustment for inflation that’s equal to a drop
by 50%.7
The
condition of the migrant worker is dire to say the very least. Lured
by promises of freedom and opportunity some have been captured and
forced to endure conditions which literally take a toll on their
lives. While there have been vast improvements over the past 20
years, with organizations such as the CIW(Coalition of Immokalee
Workers) and their high profile and successful boycott of fast food
chain Taco Bell there is still much headway to be made. The essential
conflict exists in the lack of awareness we all as Americans share.
1
Shah,
Anup. Global Issues, "Poverty Facts and Stats." Last
modified 01 07, 2013. Accessed April 26, 2013.
http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats
2
Coalition
of Immokalee Workers, "Florida Modern Day Slavery Museum."
Accessed April 26, 2013.
http://www.ciw-online.org/freedom_march/MuseumBookletWeb.pdf.
3
Ibid
5
Coalition
of Immokalee Workers, "Florida Modern Day Slavery Museum."
Accessed April 26, 2013.
http://www.ciw-online.org/freedom_march/MuseumBookletWeb.pdf.
6
Coalition
of Immokalee Workers, "Florida Modern Day Slavery Museum."
Accessed April 26, 2013.
http://www.ciw-online.org/freedom_march/MuseumBookletWeb.pdf.
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