Food security in crisis: Assessing the social challenges of women farmworkers in agricultural America

Excerpt from a policy brief for Women in International Security (WIIS)

There are several relevant legal statutes pertaining to the protection of migrant farmworkers in the US food supply system. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is administered and enforced by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), an agency within the US Department of Labor (DOL). The FLSA establishes standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor. It also provides working terms for transportation, housing and minimum safety/health conditions in the fields which are applicable for H-2A visa holders, but not for undocumented farmworkers. However, people employed in agriculture are exempt from overtime pay provisions as they do not have to be paid time and one half their regular rates of pay for excess labor. Additionally, any agriculture employer who does not utilize more than 500 “man days” of agricultural labor in any calendar quarter, is exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the FLSA. A “man day” is defined as any day during which an employee performs agricultural work for at least one hour. 

The Migrant Seasonal and Agricultural Protection Act (MSPA) safeguards migrant and seasonal agricultural workers by establishing standards for wages, housing, transportation and recordkeeping. It is intended to protect most migrant and seasonal agricultural workers from labor violations by labor contractors, employers, agricultural associations and housing providers. OSHA further requires farm labor contractors to register with the US DOL. However, labor contractors, employers and housing providers from family farms and small businesses are exempted from the MSPA. Further, the MPSA specifically exempts labor unions, thus denying farmworkers the right to bargain collectively without retaliation. 

Most farmworkers are forced to live in atrocious housing conditions. The Housing Assistance Council (2001) surveyed 4,600 farmworker households and found that 52 percent were crowded and 53 percent lacked working bathtubs/showers, a laundry machine, or both. While OSHA is responsible for regulating housing conditions for farmworkers, in practice regulations are not enforced. Culp and Umbarger (2004) describe how employers fail to provide adequate access to laundry or clean water. Inability to clean pesticide soiled clothing, or wash fruits and vegetables with clean water, exposes farmworkers to extensive risks. For instance, they are six times more likely to contract tuberculosis than other working adults.

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