Dear Ms. Ryder,

 

This is Maria Martinez from the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty (NMCLP).  Thank you for returning my call earlier today.  I’m sorry I wasn’t here to speak with you. 

 

The NMCLP is a non-profit law firm based in Albuquerque, New Mexico that works on policy issues that affect people living in poverty.  One of the efforts we are currently working on is to get farm and ranch workers covered by Workmen’s Compensation.  As the law currently stands in New Mexico, farm and ranch laborers and “domestic workers” are the only employees that are exempt from the law.  All other industries are required to cover their workers under the Workmen’s Compensation Act in New Mexico.  Ironically, as you know, farming and ranching are considered two of the most dangerous jobs and it simply does not make sense to exclude them from the law’s protections.  However, the farming and ranching industries are extremely powerful in New Mexico, and thus, have consistently been successful in making sure their workers are exempt from coverage every time the Workmen’s Compensation Act has come under review.  In New Mexico, only 1% of our farm and ranch workers have private health insurance.  As you also likely know, 33 other states do cover their farm and ranch workers (to varying degrees) under their state’s respective Workmen’s Compensation laws.  For these reasons we will be introducing legislation in the upcoming legislative session to amend the law to remove the farm/ranch worker exemption. 

 

We are currently in the process of garnering support for the legislation.  I was hoping to talk to you about the possibility of the National Center for Farmworker Health endorsing our legislation.  All this would mean would be that we would add your name to a list of organizations that support the proposed legislation.  Of course, we would greatly appreciate any other assistance you may be able to give us.  Specifically, I am wondering if you have ever worked on similar efforts in other states and, if so, if you have any suggestions.  We know getting this legislation passed will definitely be an uphill battle, especially in the tough economic times that our country is facing.  However, we plan to argue that if the average American is hurting right now, it is hard to imagine how the average farm or ranch worker is faring.   

 

Please let me know if an endorsement would be possible and if there is any other type of assistance you could supply us with.  Also, do you know of any other national organizations that we should be getting in touch with for their support? 

 

I am attaching the draft of the legislation that we plan to introduce as well as a one-page speaking points document about the issue.  Additionally, we have put together a small documentary about this particular issue that can be seen at: http://www.nmpovertylaw.org/Farmworkers%27%20Compensation.html

 

Thank you in advance for any assistance you may be able to give us. 

 

Sincerely,   

 

María Teresa Martínez

Staff Attorney

New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty

720 Vassar Drive NE

Albuquerque, NM 87106

(505) 255-2840 (phone) 

(505) 255-2778 (fax)

maria@...