MIDDLETOWN (New York) TIMES HERALD-RECORD November 11, 2007
Migrants' needs not being met
By
New Paltz — A new study says that the migrant workers critical to Hudson Valley agriculture are mostly illegal, Latino, overworked, underpaid and vulnerable to exploitation. The study is "The Hudson Valley Farmworker Report: Understanding the Needs and Aspirations of a Voiceless Population." "The current system is subsidized by the low wages these workers get paid. Are we willing to continue paying the cost of our cheap food and sacrificing workers who already live well below the poverty line?" said Margaret Gray, an associate professor of political science at Adelphi University. She conducted the study in 2002 with the help of six students from Bard College and its Migrant Labor Project, an organization she helped to found. They interviewed 113 migrant workers from 19 farms in six counties — Dutchess, Greene, Columbia, Ulster, Putnam and Orange. The interviews took more than an hour at a time, with the subjects being asked 111 questions. The report was released three weeks ago. Among the findings in its 79 pages: 71 percent of the workers are undocumented, i.e. illegal. The average hourly wage for an undocumented worker was $6.56. The average annual income was $8,078, which includes income besides Hudson Valley farm wages. 63 percent of the workers interviewed came from Mexico. 41 percent stay in the Hudson Valley year-round. "These workers fear possible deportation and job loss. ... They live and work in a climate of fear," Gray noted in the report. State government needs to give these workers overtime pay and a guarantee of a day of rest, Gray said. According to Peter Gregg, a spokesman for the New York State Farm Bureau and the state's Apple Association, the report is wrong. "It's completely misleading," Gregg said yesterday. An experienced apple picker can make $12 to $14 an hour, he said. They get free housing, free day care and other free services during the eight to 10 weeks they are here, he said. "About $7,000 in eight weeks is pretty good pay, and they come back year after year," he said. "They would not come back if the pay was not worth it to them." A mandated day off could cripple farmers, he said. "When crops are ready to pick, they have to be picked immediately," Gregg said, "or they rot."
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