NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

August 15, 2006

Hurricanes, Politics Blowing Florida's Laborers Away?

John Roach for National Geographic News

Florida farmers are concerned that millions of pounds of fruit and vegetables may go unpicked next harvest season because U.S. immigration politics are keeping laborers from their fields.

And if hurricanes wallop the Sunshine State like they did the past two years, the problem could become even worse.
Last year's active hurricane season disrupted agricultural production, sending seasonal farm laborers north in search of work, explains Terence McElroy, a spokesperson with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in Tallahassee.

So when the crop was finally ready, fewer laborers were around to pick it.
The citrus harvest normally begins in October and ends by May, but it has dragged through at least June this year.

"That probably was a result of the tight labor we had all year long in the state of Florida," said Mike Sparks, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Mutual, a Lakeland-based industry trade group.

Hurricanes, better-paying opportunities in the construction industry (including the rebuilding of homes and businesses toppled by storms), and the immigration debate all contributed to the shortage, he says.

Immigration Debate
Many of these seasonal workers are undocumented citizens from Latin America. The U.S. Congress is currently debating-with little progress-how to address the issue of illegal immigration.

"With the immigration debate going nowhere, there are farmworkers who don't want to stay put too long in any one place," McElroy said.

Meanwhile, border security has tightened in recent years.
Sparks says that the ongoing immigration debate still has the citrus industry concerned about a continuing labor shortage, even though the 2006 hurricane season has so far left Florida unscathed.

"The early indications suggest we might be in a very vulnerable position for next year," he said.

August is the off-season for Florida farm laborers, but harvest contracts between citrus growers and buyers are usually negotiated this time of year. Most remain unsettled.

"One of the grave concerns for the contracts not being let is the concern over labor," Sparks said.

Same Old Story?
Lucas Benitez, co-founder and co-director the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a workers' rights organization in Florida, says there is no labor shortage.

"Every year, we hear the same song and dance from the agricultural industry," he said through a translator.

Even when unemployment was at record highs, the agricultural industry claimed a worker shortage, he adds.

Benitez says the harvest season this year ended without a shortage of workers in Immokalee. Many of Florida's seasonal workers are now in North Carolina, and workers' groups there report no shortage, he adds.

"If there is really a worker shortage problem," Benitez said, "then the agricultural industry needs to deal with it ... by offering workers better pay and benefits."

But according to the Redlands Christian Migrant Association, which provides early education to the children of seasonal workers, signs of a labor shortage are evident.

For example, enrollment in the 2005-06 school year was down by about 200 students, says Matt Bokor, a spokesperson for the Immokalee-based association.

"The factors seem to be weather related and immigration related," he said.
"Hurricane Wilma hit last October, and that's a critical time for the tomato harvest in southwest Florida," he continued.

"And what happened was the hurricane ripped to shreds hundreds and hundreds of acres of baby tomato plants, which meant the harvest wasn't going to start on time, [and] the fields had to be replanted."

Bokor says word traveled quickly among seasonal workers, who traveled north in search of secure employment. When the crop was ready to pick, fewer workers were available.

Real or not, rumors of immigration raids are also spreading, which keeps many in the workforce on the move, he adds.

"It's been a hotbed of rumors, fear, and uncertainty in recent months in Florida over the immigration issue," he said.

Farm Labor Economics
Across the country, the seasonal worker-dependent fruit industries of the Pacific Northwest also note a labor shortage.

Dan Fazio, director of employer services for the Washington Farm Bureau in Olympia, says $10 million (U.S.) worth of fruit was left on the ground last year.

Immigration politics, crop failures, and the weather all play a role in the labor shortage, he says. But the biggest factor is the work itself.

"Nobody wants to be a seasonal worker anymore," he said. "White, black, brown, yellow-who wants to travel around the country and pick fruit? No one in America wants to do that."

Farm labor is backbreaking work, he says. The best workers only make about $10 (U.S.) an hour, often having to work for multiple farms to string together full-time pay.

Better paying and more secure work is available in the hospitality and construction industries, Fazio says.

"It's not rocket science," he said of the workers' declining numbers.