Author does research as Yuma field worker

BY DARIN FENGER, SUN STAFF WRITER

Lettuce picker Gabriel Thompson's co-workers were always initially suspicious of this white guy who insisted he wanted to be out there breaking his back in the fields of Yuma day after day.

But then Thompson worked just as hard as them. His body became owned by pain like them. He even socialized with the guys during rare bits of spare time.

So despite the few theories that ever came up to explain why Thompson was working side by side with migrant farm workers, no one ever guessed that he was actually a writer from New York, out there literally doing field work for a book.

"They were all just so startled to have a white guy out there in the fields. I heard all the time 'Most people in the U.S. aren't used to doing hard work like this, which is true," Thompson said in a phone interview with The Sun. "The other workers would tell me, 'You ought to tell your friends how hard field workers in Yuma work, so when they eat lettuce they know it doesn't just show up there.'"

Well, Thompson, a successful freelance writer for national magazines and author of a book on a similar theme, is doing more than just telling a few friends. He is writing a book based partly on his eight weeks toiling in the soil of Yuma County last winter.

Thompson hasn't come up with a main title for the book yet but says the subtitle will be: "An Undercover Adventure in the Immigrant Work Force." The book is expected out next fall.

In addition to tales from here, Thompson's book will include his experience working in Alabama at a poultry processing plant, another hot spot for immigrant workers. A third section of the book will tell about experiences that are yet to come. Thompson plans to take some kind of "inner-city" job in New York City that will provide yet another look at immigrant labor.

Thompson, 31, told The Sun that too many books have been written about immigrant and migrant workers that only speak in terms of politics and statistics. The author stressed that he wanted to tell real people's stories, to describe their struggles, tell their dreams and give readers a behind-the-scenes view of a way of life most Yumans only catch glimpses of from the highway.

"In general I learned this is probably some of the hardest work anyone can do in the United States," Thompson said. "Even without abuses, without getting poisoned by pesticides, the sheer nature of the work is exhausting. It leaves you without the energy needed to raise a family or go to the movies. Everyone just gets drained."

But Thompson is also quick to point out the many good aspects of his experience, including praise for his employer in Yuma:- Dole Fresh Fruits and Vegetables.

"Yuma's Dole seems to run a very conscientious program from my own experience," the author said. "Safety was stressed a lot and people were paid for the hours they worked. Those two factors right there ... are things you won't find in a lot of places with labor contractors, which can be very abusive."

He added his feeling that Yuma likely differs from towns where abuse of field workers is more common. He pointed to Yuma's smaller size and its long tradition of migrant work and strong local agricultural community.

A high-ranking official with Dole said he wasn't surprised that Thompson found the company to be an ethical employer.

"We are very committed to our workers, no matter if they are in a field in Yuma, Arizona, or a cannery in Thailand," Marty Ordman, vice president of marketing and communications for Dole, told The Sun in a phone interview. "I'm glad that he saw as an individual person that we respect our employees and treat them fairly and try to be a leader in doing things for the community and helping people."

Ordman declined to outright endorse or condemn Thompson's secretive approach to getting information from the fields.

"Look, he applied for a job and we hired him," the Dole official said. "It goes back to our being absolutely transparent in our policies and how we treat people and we're very proud of that."

Before starting this book project, Thompson wrote and published a book called "There's No Jose Here: Following the Hidden Rise of Mexican Immigrants." That book was published in early 2007.

Brooklyn-based Thompson has also written freelance articles for The New York Times and big-name magazines like The Nation and New York Magazine.

Thompson came to Yuma after working for two months at a chicken plant in Alabama. He chose Yuma for the site of his next adventure after seeing this area on the news so much. He also heard about Yuma while living in Tucson, where he relocated temporarily while writing about an Arizona tribe.

"I had the idea that with stepped-up immigration enforcement there would be a labor shortage. I hoped that would allow me to just show up and get a job really quickly, which is what happened."

But Thompson reports that personnel with Dole initially tried to sway him toward less-intense work, such as driving a forklift. He says he feels that since he is white, people automatically thought he would prefer a better job than picking lettuce.

"People were curious. I was honest up to the point of coming out and saying that I was a writer. I just said that I liked try new things, that I like challenges."

And, yes, he was the only white person working in the fields.

"I was kind of an oddity. People thought I was with immigration. Some people thought I was an undercover supervisor checking on the quality of work. But I really enjoyed my co-workers. They were all great people."

All the workers on his 31-person crew were Hispanic, most of them having work visas and living in nearby San Luis Rio Colorado, Son. The drive combined with a long wait to cross the border forced many workers wake up at 3 a.m., get to the fields by 7 a.m. and arrive back at home around 9 p.m.

"They had the unique benefit of living in a place with a lower cost of living," Thompson said, stressing that most people were grateful for the work. "People told me they made more money in the fields here than a professor could earn in Mexico."

Workers were paid $8.37 an hour at that time.

But even as prepared as Thompson was with research, nothing could have prepared him for the physical onslaught felt when he turned his body into an agricultural tool.

"I've worked a bunch of random jobs. I've done construction, worked at Kmart, delivered pizza. Nothing is near the same level of pain you experience as when you start harvesting lettuce. Your back. Your feet. Normally it's nice to enjoy a little sun, but having the sun on your face from 7:30 a.m. until 6 at night, it just drains you."

It took Thompson six weeks before he could work as quickly as everyone else.

"The first couple of days weren't so bad, then on the fourth day I woke up and felt like someone had been beating me with a baseball bat. The other workers told me that the first week is the hardest, but I don't think that's true. I think you just forget what it's like not to be sore."

Each person in his crew could handle up to 3,000 heads of lettuce per day.

"As soon as the machine starts, you are putting lettuce on and you have to keep up. It only stops during your break. Otherwise you are constantly working."

Even after returning to New York City, his pains from Yuma wouldn't let him forget the physical abuse to his body.

"Three weeks after, I still wouldn't let my girlfriend touch my hand. I would flinch. I couldn't even open a jar of pasta sauce. You just lose the strength in your hands."