A local CRLA attorney has informed me that they have surfaced
commonplace shortchanging of Hispanic dairy workers' hourly wages by
dairies in the Tulare County area of the San Joaquin Valley, and are
helping these workers gain redress. The situation in New York described
below, at least on the surface, sounds quite different.

David

-----Original Message-----
From: migrant_health_research@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:migrant_health_research@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Alayne
Unterberger
Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 7:51 AM
To: migrant_health_research@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [migrant_health_research] dairy farmers in the news


thanks, Keith, for forwarding this. How interesting that those of us who

have been advocating for binational research are now joined by the
farmers themselves. It seems like this farmer could help her employees
start a HomeTown Association, which would allow for them to start to
build more of an infrastructure in their hometowns. It is a good
business model, after all.

A

keith.bletzer@... wrote:

>I found this article interesting, written in human-interest style,
>telling us
>of ways the dairy industry seeks to "bridge" the cultural and economic
divide
>between American business and workers from outside the USA. The article
covers
>what may be something larger happening in this period of homeland
security. It
>speaks of entrepreneurial action (the cross-border program) and
American "can-
>do" culture in difficult times. Does the effort bring improvement with
it?
>
>
>“U.S. Farmers Trace Mexican Workers' Lives” By Cara Anna - The
>Associated
>Press, January 16, 2006 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
>dyn/content/article/2006/01/16/AR2006011600090.html
>
>Castorland, NY (AP) -- Kerrie Baker's two Mexican employees live above
>her
>dining room. They don't speak English and she knows about 30 words of
Spanish,
>but they get by with smiles and the occasional visiting interpreter to
the
>remote, upstate New York dairy farm.
>
>So when Baker said she was leaving for Mexico last month, the men
>didn't quite
>believe her. Then she returned with photos of their mountain village,
and even
>of one man's startled mother. When the woman realized who Baker was,
she
>started crying and said, 'Take care of my baby.'
>
>Baker and other farmers aren't waiting for Congress to take up
>immigration
>reform this month - they're crossing the border to understand the issue
by
>visiting the far-flung homes of their employees.
>
>But they don't go just for charity, says Wisconsin dairy farmer John
>Rosenow.
>Instead, the trips are an investment in a new kind of worker they hope
won't
>disappear.
>
>Hispanics make up about 40 percent of all U.S. agricultural employees
>based on
>2004 census figures, the Pew Hispanic Center said.
>
>But the interest comes from the newest farmers hiring Mexicans, the
>dairy
>farmers along America's northern edge. A Cornell University survey said
72
>percent of the largest farms in New York, the third largest
dairy-producing
>state, hired their first Hispanic employee since 2000.
>
>Overwhelmingly, the farmers said their biggest problem was in
>understanding
>their new workers, with 96 percent noting the language barrier. More
than half
>also mentioned cultural concerns.
>
>A new Cornell project and a Wisconsin-based nonprofit program called
>Puentes,
>or Bridges, cater to dairy farmers, though similar cross-border
programs for
>farmers or agricultural leaders exist in Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
>
>Bruce Goldstein of the Washington-based Farmworker Justice Fund says
>the visits
>are fine but the real test is whether wages and working conditions
improve. The
>Cornell survey said the average Hispanic dairy worker gets $7.51 an
hour.
>
>Cornell took its first group of farmers across the border last month,
>bouncing
>in vans an hour past the paved road to a central Mexican village.
>
>'Down there, they're grinding out a living the way we used to farm in
>this
>country 70 or 80 years ago,' said Thomas Maloney, the Cornell extension

>associate who arranged the trip. 'Believe me, once you go and see it,
you
>understand why people travel 3,000 miles for a job.'
>
>Baker returned to her farm on just west of the Adirondacks with stories

>of
>Mexican cows producing just eight pounds of milk a day, compared to
more than
>70 pounds from her own. When she asked local students how many had
relatives in
>the U.S., more than half raised their hands.
>
>'That was the best $900 I could have spent for my dairy farm,' Baker
>said.
>Inspired, she'll start a new language course called Dairyman's Spanish
in the
>spring.
>
>Rosenow, of Waumandee, Wisconsin, said he's helped place Mexicans on
>dozens of
>farms after the first one he hired worked 54 days straight, 'with no
>complaint.'
>
>Rosenow has crossed the border three times with Puentes. He remembers
>visiting
>a former employee who had used his U.S. earnings to build a bakery. 'I
didn't
>have a clue,' Rosenow said. 'I thought he'd want to live here (in
America)
>someday.'
>
>Now Rosenow asks his workers what they need to learn. He's taught a
>business
>course and a driving class, and his farm set up a banking system where
workers'
>families in Mexico can access the money with ATM cards.
>
>'Anything I can do to make things better for my employees will make
>this
>business run better,' said Rosenow, who now works about 70 hours a week
instead
>of 90 or 95.
>
>And after explaining to workers how higher-quality milk gets a better
>price,
>his farm makes $1,200 to $2,000 more a month. The money goes for
bonuses on top
>of workers' $375 weekly salaries.
>
>At Baker's house, 22-year-old Gabriel Monfil Arcos and 27-year-old Juan

>Arcos
>Garcia prepare for the midday milking of more than 300 cows. Garcia
says he's
>surprised but happy 'la patrona' made the journey.
>
>Downstairs, the men look through Baker's photos of Mexico. After a few
>minutes,
>she says, 'Tell them I want to give them a bonus for Christmas. I've
never done
>that before. Tell them it's because they're special.'
>
>She waits for the translation and, soon enough, the smiles.
>
>
>
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