Tougher in the fields

Palm Beach Post Editorial
Wednesday, May 5, 2004

This year, the Legislature approved some of the first reform measures for migrant farmworkers

in recent memory. But tougher rules will mean little without tougher enforcement.

The long history of ignoring abuses in Florida's fields, however, has changed in the past year.

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation has carried on an aggressive campaign

of unannounced inspections at dozens of citrus groves and produce farms. In a recent sweep

against labor contractors in Lake Worth, the DBPR joined city police and U.S. Border Patrol agents

to make three arrests and issue 25 citations. The violations included failing to register as a contractor,

driving without adequate insurance and failure to carry workers compensation coverage. Officers

cited drivers for safety violations such as cracked tires and seats that weren't secured to floors.

The DBPR also issued an emergency labor license suspension to a contractor working for Circle H Citrus

in Fort Pierce after a speeding violation in a van overloaded with workers three weeks ago. On April 1,

another Circle H contractor's van carrying 19 Mexican migrant workers overturned on Interstate 95 and

killed nine. The driver of that van, Salvador Leon, 34, had a valid contractor's license but a suspended

driver license. His vehicle was loaded beyond its 15-passenger capacity, a chronic violation among

contractors. DBPR officials have the right agenda: to send a message that the state is committed to

farmworkers' safety and will act against those who compromise it.

Last week, legislators passed a bill that would revise regulations on how growers and contractors deal

with the more than 300,000 migrants who work in Florida at least part of the year. Though this year's

reforms are modest -- they toughen licensing rules, increase fines for violators from $1,000 to $2,500,

require notification of pesticide use and end inequities in workers compensation death benefits -- the

changes can improve conditions for farmworkers and even save their lives, if state and federal agencies

continue to cooperate and aggressively enforce the law.

The DBPR sweeps are the first signals that Florida might be ready to confront the shabby treatment of those

who get food to the table.