IDAHO PRESS-TRIBUNE

August 31, 2009

Economy affects farmworkers

By Jon Meyer

CALDWELL — Southwest Idaho's farmworkers have not been immune to the down national economy that has forced many families to struggle to make ends meet.

Organizers and visitors to Caldwell's Farmworker Appreciation Day said Sunday that field workers face many of the same problems as those in other industries. Fewer jobs are available, hours can be cut and higher expenses mean wages don't go as far.

Event Chair Estella Zamora said that while high unemployment has pushed more people back into the fields from other industries, a lot of the work can be done by machine these days.

"It does affect them and their families when those jobs aren't there," Zamora, of the Canyon Area Human Rights Task Force, said. "There's not as many jobs in the farmworker community as there used to be."

Hamburgers and hot dogs were on the menu, and live music and performances by Hispanic dancers took to the stage. Kids enjoyed bounce houses then cooled off on water slides or in the shade, had their faces painted and participated in arts and crafts.

Families received donations of school supplies and toothbrushes, and the Idaho Reading Foundation was on site to give away books. Informational booths from a range of organizations also covered a range of topics, including Canyon County Republicans and Democrats, the 2010 Census, the Idaho Department of Labor, and the Idaho Partnership for Hispanic Health.

"Farmworkers and the appreciation today is very important to recognize the sacrifices people have made in this valley," parole officer Raul Morin said. "A big percentage of our income in the valley is derived from farm work and farmworkers."

Morin came to the area in the late 1950s and spent about 20 years working on farms before he became a parole officer for the state. He said the down economy takes its toll on agricultural workers.

"It affects a lot of the farmworkers because of the cost to get to the valley to do farm work," he said. "There's less work. It means more sacrifices."

Mary Suarez worked on farms from the time she was about 12 until she got a job with the Marsing School District and then Micron. Now she's retired from farm work and her husband, Paco, who's worked for a local fruit ranch for 20 years, has had his hours cut.

"It's so hard. There's a lot of people working out there who depend on it," she said. "My husband was working 14- to 16-hour shifts and we were using that just to get by. Now he works a seven-and-a-half hour shift because he doesn't want to take a full-hour lunch.

"We still have a high school child and we have our grandchildren and it's hard to get by."