THE migrant farm workers who harvest tomatoes in South Florida have one of the nation's most backbreaking jobs. For 10 to 12 hours a day, they pick tomatoes by hand, earning a piece-rate of about 45 cents for every 32-pound bucket. During a typical day each migrant picks, carries and unloads two tons of tomatoes. For their efforts, this holiday season many of them are about to get a 40 percent pay cut. Full Story »
Posted by Kaizar Campwala
A solid and well-researched opinion piece. One additional piece of context that would have been useful is recent NLRB decisions and the influence they have had on the relationship between growers and farmworkers, even where the decisions don't directly impact agricultural employment.
Once more, Eric Schlosser gets to the heart (well, the gut) of things. I've been following this story through various worker-friendly sites and blogs, and he's summed it all up very well. A couple Christmases ago, some of us were complaining about the federal Scrooge who was taking away Tiny Tim's crutches (previously provided by Medicaid, but no more). This year it's Burger King. At least Taco Bell (Pepsico) and McDonald's were trying to do the right thing. Maybe we'd better go there this year, and with our money, hand over a letter to the CEO telling him why we're not at BK and asking that the Imokalee workers get their penny back!
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