Granting ‘freedom from fear [for] the hardest working, lowest-paid tax-paying workers in America’
United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez made the following statement at today¹s Washington, D.C. announcement of a bipartisan agreement on legislation allowing undocumented farm workers to earn legal status by continuing to work in agriculture and making changes in the H-2A guest worker program:
First, let me salute Senator Kennedy and Representative Berman for years of commitment to farm workers, and thank all the lawmakers joining in this historic effort.
The rich bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables on America’s dinner tables comes from the sweat and sacrifice of immigrant farm workers who are largely undocumented.
They accept risks no other American workers endure—paying huge fees to cross the border each year. Hundreds die annually along the way.
They take the hardest, most difficult jobs other American workers won’t take—toiling every day in the hot sun and bitter cold for minimum wage.
They pay taxes but enjoy few, if any, benefits while performing some of the most important labor in our nation: feeding America and much of the world.
They do what no one else will do. Yet they and their families have so few of the opportunities the American dream holds out for those who work hard for a living. They constantly live in the shadows of fear, making them easy victims of abuse and poverty.
That is why three years ago the United Farm Workers began long and difficult negotiations with the agricultural industry.
This agreement fundamentally changes the dynamic of farm labor in America. It grants freedom from fear to hundreds of thousands of the hardest working, lowest-paid tax-paying workers in America.
It allows undocumented farm workers to earn legal status by continuing to work in agriculture. Like other immigrants before them, this agreement frees immigrant farm workers so they can finally join American society instead of being hidden from it.
Today we issue an appeal to undocumented farm workers across America: We will work very hard to enact this bipartisan reform. Meanwhile, begin to document your employment. Start saving your wage receipts. And contact the UFW at our offices in California, Arizona, Texas, Florida and Washington state, or at our headquarters—all on the directory you have in our handout.
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