Trucking industry conference set for April

- Fall 99 "Update" Article -

New farm worker survey commissioned

Student survey teams will travel to fields, packing houses
to interview farm workers around Fresno County

Teams of survey takers are traveling to fields and packing houses around Fresno County this summer and fall to gain updated information about working and living conditions for California farm workers.

The new survey was commissioned earlier this year by the California Agricultural Technology Institute (CATI) with support from the U.S. Department of Labor and the California Department of Health and Human Services.

The effort will involve personal interviews of 300 farm workers employed in the production and processing of key California farm commodities. Employers in these commodity groups also will be interviewed. Primary survey objectives will be 1) to determine whether labor shortages exist among any of the commodity groups; 2) to learn more about the personal and demographic characteristics of the farm labor force in this region; and 3) to learn to what percentages of the farm labor force have legal or illegal resident status.

Directing the study is Professor Andrew Alvarado of the Department of Social Work Education. According to Alvarado, the issues associated with California farm labor remain a concern for the state legislature and agencies such as the California Employment Development Department.

"There is a high level of interest in the extent to which agriculture depends upon an illegal labor force, the stability of this labor force, as well as the conditions and earnings of workers who perform farm labor," Alvarado said in explaining the survey.

"Without objective and reliable information for answering these and other questions, the public and officials rely only upon information provided by either labor groups or employer spokespersons." The self-interests of most of these sources reduce their credibility to agencies and legislative bodies that make and enforce farm labor laws, he said.

More recent changes in laws affecting immigrants (The Welfare Reform and Reconciliation Act of 1996), and increased interdiction by the U.S. Border Patrol along the California-Mexico border also have sparked concerns about the status of farm workers.

Bilingual Fresno State students have been recruited and trained to conduct the surveys at the various work sites. Interviews will be conducted over 12 months. Results are expected to be released late next year. For more information, Alvarado may be contacted at (559) 278-3992.

{ page top }

{ CATI , CAB , CAB - Current Projects, CAB - "Update" Newsletter, "Update" Newsletter - 1999}