LCLAA & APRI SHED LIGHT ON INHUMANE CONDITIONS ENDURED BY WORKERS WHO HARVEST AMERICA’S CROPS

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

(Labor Council for Latin American Advancement)

FLOC- TOBACCO
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DUDLEY, NORTH CAROLINA - A delegation of over 25 people gathered at the offices of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) in Dudley, NC with a purpose in mind: to learn about the challenges facing the country's most vulnerable workers, raise awareness about their circumstances and take action to achieve justice and dignity for the people who harvest our nation's crops.

In support of FLOC's Justice for Farmworkers Campaign, an ongoing effort that the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) has been actively supporting through actions across the U.S., LCLAA organized a delegation of student, Latino, civil rights and labor activists to FLOC's 'Camp Solidarity.' Through labor camp visits and dialogue with workers and organizers, participants are exposed to the labor and housing conditions faced by farmworkers in North Carolina and encourages them to help provide these workers with a voice by sharing their stories with a public so detached from the reality of those who help put food on our tables.

When we arrived we received a warm welcome by Baldemar Velasquez, founder and President of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and member of LCLAA's National Executive Board. As we gathered for a briefing about FLOC's Justice for Farmworkers Campaign, Baldemar explained FLOC's decades-long efforts to organize farmworkers and hold industry leaders accountable for the living and working conditions of the workers in their supply-chain.

How can migrant farmworkers, many of them undocumented people who remain at the margin of U.S. society stand up to the world's wealthiest corporations and demand that they improve their labor and living conditions? To Baldemar, it is quite simple. Reflecting on words by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Baldemar pointed out a statement which has inspired FLOC's struggle with agricultural corporations:

"When you impede the rich man's ability to make money, anything is possible!"

The challenges faced by the country's most vulnerable workers cannot be adequately depicted with statistics. After a 6-hour long drive from Washington, DC to Dudley, North Carolina, the LCLAA delegation was divided into three groups. We were fortunate to be accompanied by Catianne Tijerina, a renowned photojournalist who helped us document our experience at FLOC's 'Camp Solidarity'. Below are the photographs and reflections of the delegation.

VISIT TO LABOR CAMPS IN DUDLEY, NC

A LCLAA delegation visited labor camps owned by Carson Barnes, one of the largest sweet potato growers in the U.S. Workers are housed in what used to be chicken coops.

Several farmworkers crowd in small rooms, barely separated by sheets they hang up to get a sense of privacy. Many of them are men who are either single or work to provide for the wives and children they have left behind in Mexico or Central America.

"We live in the most powerful nation in the world yet in our visit to FLOC's Camp Solidarity I witnessed levels of oppression and poverty that I've only seen in my work in developing nations. For farmworkers, poverty and isolation is accompanied by a constant state of fear as they face labor abuses, growing anti-immigrant sentiment and attacks. LCLAA is committed to work with FLOC to change this." Hector E. Sanchez, Executive Director, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA).

FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez introduced the delegation to a group of women at the labor camp who were preparing dinner for their families.

"As a San Franciscan who worked to support the farmworkers' campaigns to improve their living & working conditions in the sixties and seventies, it was shocking to see farmworker families in North Carolina living under similar, degrading conditions as those that existed over 40 years ago. The LCLAA trip was a reminder of why we do the work we do and of the challenge to do even more!," Helen Gonzales, Assistant Director AFL-CIO Civil, Human and Women's Rights Department.

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Farmworker families shared their stories with LCLAA staff. Andrea Delgado, LCLAA's Senior Policy Analyst and Communications Manager interviewed workers, learning about their migration patterns within the U.S. which follow the harvest months from state to state. Migrating to Virginia to pick tomatoes, moving to North Carolina for the tobacco and sweet potato harvest in the summer months, and traveling down to Florida in the Fall to pick tomatoes and back to Virginia to continue the cycle.

"As an international photographer who travels at length to document humanitarian causes such as eradicating extreme poverty, the destitution inflicted on the tobacco farm laborers in North Carolina is a crude reminder to Third World countries," Catianne Tijerina.

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I've been covering immigration issues for a number of years, and I think being able to see the impact of current policies on the ground, and to talk to farm workers directly, is a great way to improve media coverage. Seeing pictures or reading reports about field labor conditions just doesn't have the same effect," Maria Peña, journalist (EFE News Agency).

Read Maria's coverage of the delegation:

ENGLISH: "U.S. Congress has unpaid debt to migrant farmworkers."

SPANISH: "Congreso tiene deuda pendiente con trabajadores del campo en Estados Unidos"

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"As a supporter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, I believe the struggle for immigration reform and human rights must continue! Americans, content in their daily lives, must open their eyes and recognize that freedom, justice, and equality are not common to immigrants that contribute somuch to our nation's economy and culture. Once you begin sharing in their joys and hopes and supporting them in their sorrows and trials, it's only then that you can ensure justice," Joshua Jones, A. Philip Randolph Institute.

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"Visiting farmworker labor camps with FLOC and LCLAA in North Carolina was a truly moving experience. Born and raised in California, by parents who come from farmworker families, I came to understand the living and working conditions that my father and grandfathers endured. After visiting the barracks and talking with farmworkers in North Carolina, it was an eye-opening experience to see similar abuses in today's labor force as described by my grandfathers' experiences in the Bracero program in the 1940s. I appreciate that FLOC is working tirelessly to address and correct these abuses by organizing and pursuing a multi-party solution through their Justice for Tobacco Farmworkers Campaign." Renato Rocha, Farmworker Justice Fellow

"HNBA Congratulates LCLAA on its important work in shedding light on the plight of farmworkers in this country. The visit allowed us to, for the first time, see in flesh in blood the people and conditions that our organizations so often discuss in Washington, D.C. These workers do not take, but give to our society, and in return it is imperative that our government at the very least acknowledge their presence and grant those without documentation legal status immediately. We walked away with the names and faces of those who put food on our tables, and ask nothing in return. These people are the forgotten, but an indispensable force that feeds our country. If we truly are patriotic, we can no longer allow these third world conditions to exist in what we call the greatest nation on earth. As an organization that looks to ensure access to justice and knowledge of, and participation in the law, this is a population that has been shut out of the most basic rights and access to justice," Zuraya Tapia Hadley, Executive Director of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA).

"I was presented with the crude reality and conditions that farmers in the United States live in. I extend an invitation for everyone to look at the lives of this marginalized and often ignored group of people. This way, everyone will start to appreciate the big contributions of migrant labor. Personally, I have now become a testimony and voice for them. Hence, I condemn these labor camps that enslave undocumented farmers. We have to stop this form of human trafficking!," Juan Sebastian Velasquez, Georgetown University Student.

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"My visit to the farm worker labor camps in North Carolina was an eye-opening, humbling experience. Hearing their stories of migration, family separation and economic hardship was a striking reminder of how imperative the labor movement is to uplifting the stories of workers and building power for all working men and women - immigrant and native-born alike. Despite the crippling conditions of poverty, the spirit and continued resilience of the farm workers and FLOC organizers was a powerful testament to the solidarity and strength that unite working people," Jennifer Angarita, Immigration Training Coordinator, AFL-CIO.

"Whenever immigrant labor is exploited it hurts all immigrants and immigration policy. The Hispanic Institute believes that America needs immigrant labor but all labor must be treated with dignity, compassion and decency," XiNomara Velazquez YeHuda, Chief of Staff (The Hispanic Institute).

"Being a part of LCLAA's delegation allowed me the opportunity to witness firsthand the back breaking work that subsidizes our economy and our comfort. It is now clearer than ever that the "Asks" here are not ridiculous ones to consider-"a hard day's pay for a hard day's work" and basic rights that respect human dignity and practice at least basic decency," Diana Villa, Community Liason & Research Advocate (LCLAA).

"The experience is unbelievable! You feel powerless as you witness the pain and struggle of the farmworkers. We need to think of these people every day and fight for them because no one else will," Carla Delgado, Program Assistant (LCLAA).

"I was grateful for the opportunity to visit and interact with the farm workers along with FLOC personnel. It is certainly an eye-opening experience to see the conditions farm workers live in and learn from the hardships they face. Certainly a lesson to educate us and move us to action to do what we can to improve the lives and conditions of the people that harvest the food we eat." Bethzaida Fernandez, lecturer (Duke University).

A MESSAGE FROM FLOC:

"We are so grateful to all who made the trip to Dudley and have committed to continuing to support NC tobacco farmworkers in this struggle. Widespread public support and solidarity from other organizations will push this campaign forward and let big tobacco know that the injustices in the fields will not go unnoticed, and that we will not stop this campaign until they come to the table and talk with the workers that make their company rich. Hasta la Victoria!," FLOC

PROMOTE WORKERS' RIGHTS & JUSTICE FOR FARMWORKERS

FLOC recently brought Rina Lazo and Arturo Garcia Bustos, two world famous artists from Mexico City (colleagues of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo). Bustos has created a special edition, signed and numbered print called "Tierra en Manos Campesinas, (Earth in Farm Worker's Hands)" which he has donated to support FLOC's Campaign for Migrant Worker Justice. You still have a chance to participate through the purchase of a rare print.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO SUPPORT FLOC'S JUSTICE FOR FARMWORKERS CAMPAIGN CONTACT:

Briana Connors * 763-229-5970 * bconnors@floc.com