Oxfam & FLOC Release New Report

“A company’s responsibility to respect [human rights] applies across its business activities and through its relationship with third parties connected with those activities—such as business partners, entities in its value chain, and other non-state actors and state agents.” – James Ruggie, UN special representative On September 18, 2011, Oxfam America and the Farm Labor Organizing [...]

NFWM Remembers Richard Chavez, legendary farm worker organizer

The National Farm Worker Ministry joins the United Farm Workers, the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and the Cesar Chavez Foundation in remembering Richard Chavez and mourning his passing. Richard Chavez, Cesar’s younger brother, helped build the farm worker movement. He was a leader whose accomplishments were matched only by his kindheartedness. Richard shared his time and [...]

NFWM Intern Video Interview on Child Farmworkers

NFWM Student Action with Farmworkers intern Octavio Garcia-Ruiz on having grown up as a child farm worker. To see videos of other Student Action with Farmworkers interns discussing their experiences as child farm workers, click the links below: Leticia interview Victor interview

Groundbreaking Report on U.S. Farm Labor Released

Bon Appetit Management Company Foundation and United Farm Workers Release Groundbreaking Report on U.S. Farm Labor

PALO ALTO, Calif., March 31, 2011 /PRNewswire

More and more Americans are asking questions about where their food comes from, but few are going so far as to think about who picked it. Farmworkers remain in the shadows. A groundbreaking new report released today, Cesar Chavez Day, in honor of the labor leader who fought tirelessly for farmworker rights, shines a light into these dark corners of our nation’s food system.

The Inventory of Farmworker Issues and Protections in the United States is the product of a unique for-profit/NGO joint venture of the Bon Appetit Management Company Foundation and United Farm Workers (UFW), with support from Oxfam America. By compiling and analyzing data from multiple federal, state, and private sources, it renders the most comprehensive picture yet of the reality faced by America’s least-valued yet critically important workforce.

Key issues faced by the nation’s 1.4 million crop farmworkers:
• Farmworkers are exempt from most federal wage and hour standards, and even existing regulations are rarely enforced, leading to rampant wage theft and other abuses.
• Children as young as 12 are legally allowed to engage in farm work, although it is one of the most dangerous employment sectors.
• Widespread use of subcontractors leads to lack of transparency and difficulty enforcing existing laws.
• Health and safety standards are inadequate, and even those that exist are rarely enforced.
• Most farmworkers are ineligible for unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation insurance that is granted to employees in other sectors.
• Farmworkers are explicitly excluded from laws that protect collective bargaining and free association.

In summary, the U.S. food supply depends on the labor of a socially and economically marginalized population working in often appalling, sometimes abusive conditions.

The executive summary and full report, along with high-resolution photos of farmworkers, can be downloaded from http://bamco.com/page/114/farmworker-inventory.htm.

NFWM Heads to Washington DC!

As a huge snowstorm moved across the east coast, National Farm Worker Ministry staff and board members gathered in Washington DC. For three days at the end of January we reflected on the history of the farmworker movement and NFWM, set out a vision for the coming year, and visited the hall’s of our nation’s capital to push lawmakers on farmworker rights.

On Friday we met with a variety of leaders from both the NGO-world and the Obama Administration at the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill. After walking through the cold and snowy (but beautiful) downtown Washington DC we were excited to see the sign in front of the UMB reading “Have you eaten today? Thank a farmworker!” Later on in the day Congressional staffers mentioned to a board member that the sign received a good deal of attention.