RIVERSIDE (California) PRESS-ENTERPRISE March 6, 2007
Survey details lives of Coachella Valley farmworkers
The majority of farmworkers harvesting Coachella Valley fields earn less than $15,000 annually, according to a survey released Monday by Riverside County. Half of them aren't paid for overtime after eight hours of work; they often can't get a ride to work and they cash their checks at markets. The 2006 Coachella Valley Farm Worker Survey received answers from 525 farmworkers who live and work in the Coachella Valley year-round or seasonally during the harvest. Officials estimate that tens of thousands of workers help harvest desert crops. The survey will be used to obtain government grants to improve housing, transportation and health care, said Elizabeth Romero, board assistant to county Supervisor Roy Wilson. Researchers who conducted the survey said the results could prompt the community to address inadequate housing, a lack of transportation and a lack of understanding about health care. Those who answered questions did so on the condition that their identities and responses remain anonymous and confidential. Emilio Ramirez, deputy director for the county's Economic Development Agency's housing authority, showed about 80 people gathered for the Coachella Chamber of Commerce-sponsored luncheon a photograph of men sleeping on blankets outside cars. A county program launched in 2001 has improved mobile home parks and built 300 new homes at a cost of millions of dollars. "But we have a long way to go," Ramirez said. A majority of farmworkers still aren't aware government-funded housing is available to them, the survey said. "(Growers) need to be responsible and accountable to the people who are making them that money," Ramirez said. No one representing growers presented information at the luncheon and the California Farm Bureau could not be reached before publication. Dolores Huerta, the longtime farmworker activist once affiliated with the United Farm Workers, lauded the report from Ramirez about new housing projects from the county and nonprofit groups as a "ray of hope," but she encouraged the county agency to focus on building family-oriented housing rather than "glorified labor camps" that house primarily single men in cramped quarters. More has to be done to get workers off blankets outdoors to sleeping under roofs, she said. The practice of paying labor contractors to recruit and organize workers should also end and the money recouped could go toward higher wages or health benefits, she said. "You don't have to recruit workers. They're there. They want jobs," she said.
Coachella Valley FarmWorkers 72 percent of the 525 workers polled for Riverside County's 2006 Coachella Valley Farm Worker Survey live here all year: Who are they? 41% are legal permanent residents 37% are undocumented 13% had a work permit 9% are U.S. citizens Where do they live? 41% live in Mecca 20% live in Thermal 16% live in Coachella 15% live in Indio What do they call home? 40% live in a mobile home 24% live in a house 16% live in an apartment 5% live in a car 3% live outdoors How often do they work? 79% work eight hours a day 21% work between 10 and 12 hours a day 53% work five days a week 42% work six days a week How much do they make? 78% earn less than $15,000 annually 11% earn between $15,000 and $20,000 9 % earn more than $20,000 Source: The County of Riverside 2006 Coachella Valley Farm Worker Survey
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