Farm Workers Losing Ground, Report Says

Farm workers have seen their wages and working conditions deteriorate in recent years while their employers have prospered, according to a federal commission.

The Commission on Agricultural Workers’ preliminary report, obtained by the Associated Press, found that an overabundance of cheap labor continues to be the problem, despite a 1986 law that was meant to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and punish employers who knowingly hire them.

Rep. Edward R. Roybal (D-Los Angeles) said the findings suggest that congressional action may be needed to upgrade “these abysmal living and working conditions.”

“If the country wants to increase its exports of farm products, particularly labor-intensive crops like fruits and vegetables, it should not do so on the backs of farm laborers,” said Roybal, who has been examining the problem as chairman of the House Select Committee on Aging.

The commission offered no specifics on the declining wages and working conditions. But recent studies by the Agriculture Department and the congressional General Accounting Office emphasize the hardships of workers harvesting fruits and vegetables.

The GAO said exposure to pesticides threatens the health of many farm workers, while many work in fields without drinking water, washing facilities or toilets. Some families are homeless; others live in substandard housing.

USDA figures show that when adjusted for inflation, hired field workers’ wages dropped 5% during the 1980s, although actual wages rose from $3.83 an hour in July, 1980, to $5.26 in July, 1991.

“The effects of this for these workers is . . . a decrease in real wages while working conditions have declined overall,” the report says. “At the same time, there has been a continuing and significant expansion of labor-intensive fruit, vegetable and horticultural products, which has been facilitated, in part, by this surplus of labor.”

“The agriculture industry is addicted to this cheap labor,” said Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors stricter immigration measures. “This report suggests that the industry has expanded on the backs of a larger pool of illegal workers.”

Agribusiness interests challenged the findings.

“These are very serious charges and we think totally baseless,” said Libby Whitley, assistant director of national affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Commission officials said the panel is far from completing its research.