Migratory Farm Labor - Essay Example

of the of the of the Migratory Farm Labor The economy of the US is significantly dependent on migrant labor. The following discussion establishes this contention. Migratory labor is of great significance to the economy of the United States of America. Thus, we find workers culling citrus fruits in Florida and thereafter proceeding to New England and Maine, in order to harvest vegetables like potatoes and tomatoes, and fruits like apples and oranges. These workers are usually joined in their efforts, by workers from Texas and Puerto Rico (migrant labour). Such is the diversity of the migratory workforce. One of the mainstays of the US economy is its immigrants. Despite the misgivings of certain sections of the populace, immigrants do not pose a threat to the livelihood of working class Americans. Furthermore, immigrants have not created a crime wave in the US, nor have they depleted the wealth of the nation (Brendel). Stated succinctly, immigrants do not constitute any significant threat to the wellbeing of American society. These individuals from the developing world have without doubt obtained opportunities and benefits that are unimaginable in their country of origin. Eminent economists of the ilk of Mill, Kant and Dewey had promoted immigration. This in conjunction with empirical data on the outcomes of immigration advocates a less restrictive approach towards immigration (Brendel). The term labor connotes the intellectual and physical skills used by individuals, during the manufacture of goods and the provision of services (Hussain 125). Economists tend to consider entrepreneurial capability as distinct from labor. As a result, the services provided by a ditch digger, retail clerk or farm hand is to be found under the same category of labor (Labor). In addition, one encounters a large number of workers from the north central mountains and the Pacific State region, who venture out in the spring, with the express intention of cultivating cotton, fruits, sugar beets and vegetables. Moreover, migrant labor provides vegetables from Southern California upto the states on the Pacific Coast (migrant labour). The average annual income of migrant workers is a mere fraction of what most US workers are paid. However, from the 1960s the lot of many migrant workers in the US has improved, due to the formation of labor organizations and unions. Furthermore, some of the states have implemented special committees to expand and effect social legislation that could prove to be beneficial to migrant workers (Bustamante and Reynolds 244 – 245). These acts clearly indicate the concern of the US towards migrant workers. It is a well – known fact that economic resources are scarce. The human, manufactured and natural resources utilized in the provision of services and the manufacture of goods constitute economic resources. Some examples of goods and services are farm and factory buildings, equipment and tools employed in agriculture and the production of goods, communication and transportation facilities, a plethora of labor varieties, and land and mineral resources. These resources admit of broad classification into first, human resources, which include labor and entrepreneurial capacity; and second, property resources comprising of capital, land and raw materials (Labor). In addition to slaves, the early colonial period in the US was witness to labor extracted from indentured servants. The latter were entitled to the same rights as the other members of the colonies, who were provided passage to these colonies, in exchange for providing labor for some specific time (Grossberg and Tomlins 228). This period was in general of the order of 5 to 7 years (Whitman 902 – 903). Such labor was chiefly utilized in the agriculture sector, and after the culmination of their period of indenture, these workers were assisted by their employers to venture forth on their own. This arrangement proved to be of immense benefit to the poorer members of the labor community, who had been forced to seek new pastures due to the industrial revolution in the UK. Finally, the American Revolution put paid to the system of indentured servitude (Whitman 902 – 903). There was marked decrease in the number of immigrants from Latin America, during the era of the Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 to 1941. During those troubled times, several of the non – US citizens had been forcibly evicted from the country (Stacey 104 – 106). Subsequently, during World War II, immigration from these countries was actively encouraged by the US government. This was to assuage domestic growers, who were vociferous in their demand for manpower. In this context, the US government promoted the bracero program. The latter was seized with recruiting agricultural workers of Mexican origin. A large number of these workers were located in the US and the government ignored their temporary guest worker status (Stacey 104 – 106). The emergence of various organizations and movements in the area of improving the lot of migrant workers depicts the progress in the development of migrant workers in the US. Prior to these beneficial developments, migrant workers were put to considerable hardship. For instance, in the year 1951, the agreement between the US and Mexico that domestic workers could not be supplanted by guest workers was accorded a formal status. It is evident that most of the farmworkers of Latin American origin are US citizens, and quite a few of these workers possess deeper US roots than what the nativist critics would like to believe (Stacey 104 – 106). This clearly contradicts popular belief about these people. Those working on farms in the US, as well as the braceros workers had to work under truly dismal conditions. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 was inapplicable to farm labor. As a consequence, farm workers had to be satisfied with whatever was provided to them as wages. The National Labor Relations Act was restricted to the members of the braceros program, who were being provided $1.40 per hour, at the time the braceros program came to an end in the year 1964 (Heyck 7 – 8). The average hourly wage of workers not in the braceros program was around $.90. Farm workers had to work in truly unsanitary environments, which were far worse that what was obtaining in the worst slums of the US. Not surprisingly, these farm workers could not hope to live beyond the age of 49 years (Heyck 7 – 8). Several organizations initiated moves to alleviate this terrible situation, and their efforts were rewarded with the formation of the United Farm Workers. Notably, Dolores Huerta sought the backing of the American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations in the year 1958, while forming the Agricultural Workers Association. Subsequently, after one year to be specific, the Agricultural Workers Association was merged with the American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations. This was as a component of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (Heyck 7 – 8). This organization was comprised in the main of Filipino and Chicano workers, with a few African American and Anglo workers. Its leadership was vested with Heurta and the Filipino Larry Itliong. In the year 1962, the National Farm Workers Association was formed by Huerta and Cesar Chavez (Heyck 7 – 8). This initiative was aimed at organizing the Chicano farm workers, in Delano, California and its surroundings. The National Farm Workers Association and the Agricultural Workers Association conducted strikes in a rose farm in California and among the grape growers of California respectively. These had failed to comply with the braceros program, and the strikes achieved some success. However, no union contract emerged from these strikes (Heyck 7 – 8). Subsequently, the United Farm Workers emerged from the strike against the grape growers of the Delano – Bakersfield region of the southern San Joaquin Valley of California. This strike had been conducted by the National Farm Workers Association and the Agricultural Workers Association. The strike was declared at the time of commencement of use of Cicano scabs by the growers (Heyck 7 – 8). It proved to be a milestone in the improvement of working conditions and welfare of migrant workers. This strike was called on 8 September 1965 and on 16 September 1965, the National Farm Workers Association joined forces with the Chavez led strike. Within weeks of this development, some 30 odd farms realized that they could not procure a workforce. Thereafter it was generally conceded that Chavez’s initiative to engender the boycott of California grapes resulted in the formation of the United Farm Workers (Heyck 7 – 8). Chavez was an enigmatic and efficient leader who adopted the non – violent strategy of Gandhi of India and Martin Luther King, Jr. of the US. He believed in mobilization from the very grassroots level, which in turn rapidly and effectively disseminated awareness regarding the grape boycott across the US. In addition, roving pickets confined a region of the order of 400 square miles (Heyck 7 – 8). Furthermore, several of the scabs were persuaded to discontinue work in the fields by the organizers of the strike. Moreover, an unprecedented amount of media focus was garnered by this strike, due in no small measure to a protest march from Delano to Sacramento in the year 1966. This historic march led by Chavez covered a remarkable 340 miles (Heyck 7 – 8). Another pioneer in this movement was the redoubtable and indefatigable Dolores Huerta, who was instrumental in securing the rights of immigrant farm workers in the US. The latter were undergoing unimaginable difficulties, and there was scarcely anyone who took notice of their deplorable plight. Huerta became an active member of the Agricultural Workers Association. This organization was fundamentally engaged with migratory farm labor. During this period she met Cesar Chavez the then director of the CSO in Arizona and California (Stacey 404 – 405). Thereafter, these luminaries came together in the year 1962 to found the National Farm Workers Association, which formally launched, in the year 1965, the grape boycott. The latter served to inform the general public of the US, about the hapless situation of the workers from Latin America. The boycott related to the East coast was organized with the assistance of Huerta (Stacey 404 – 405). This region was home to the majority of the grape growers, and in the year 1970, the grape growers entered into a contract with the National Farm Workers Association, thereby alleviating the unwelcome situation of the migrant workers. In the year 1968, Huerta was instrumental in coordinating the entry of the National Farm Workers Association into the American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations, under the title of United Farm Workers of America (Stacey 404 – 405). The advent of these organizations ensured and enshrined the rights of migrant workers in the US. From the above discussion it is evident that migrant labor has traditionally played a very important role in the economy of the US. It is a well – established fact that business will always be on the lookout for cost effective labor. Moreover, there is always a driving compulsion to reduce expenditure. A large segment of such workers are semi – literate and quite unaware of their rights, which makes it a simple matter to exploit them for pecuniary reasons, as is evident from the significantly lower wages paid to them. However, the efforts of the stalwarts of migrant labor have not been in vain, and a large section of the immigrant labor force has been assured of some basic rights and a comparatively reasonable remuneration for the work performed by them. Thus it can be surmised that the US economy is critically dependent on migrant labor. Works Cited Bustamante, Jorge A and Clark Winton Reynolds. United States – Mexico Relations: Labor Market Interdependence. Stanford University Press, 1992. Print. Grossberg, Michael and Christopher L Tomlins. The Cambridge History of Law in America: Early America (1580-1815). Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print. Heyck , Denis Lynn Daly. Barrios and Borderlands: Cultures of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. Routledge, 1994. Print. Hussain, Tahir. Engineering Economics. Laxmi Publications, Ltd, 2010. Print. "Labor." 2011. The American Economy: A Historical Encyclopedia. Web. 9 May 2012. . migrant labour. 2012. Web. 9 May 2012. . "National Labor Relations Act." An act to diminish the causes of labor disputes burdening or obstructing interstate and foreign commerce, to create a National Labor Relations Board, and for other purposes. 74th United States Congress, 5 July 1935. Stacey, Lee. Mexico And The United States. Marshall Cavendish, 2002. Print. Wentworth, Donald R, Beth Kraig and Mark C Schug. United States History: Focus on Economics. Council for Economic Educat, 1996. Print. Whitman, Alden. American reformers: an H.W. Wilson biographical dictionary. H. W. Wilson Co, 1985. Print. Read More