Save Our State

Save Our State (http://www.saveourstate.info/index.php)
-   Immigration (http://www.saveourstate.info/forumdisplay.php?f=5)
-   -   Washington state: Illegal farmworkers striking against legal guest workers (http://www.saveourstate.info/showthread.php?t=8262)

Northstar 08-10-2013 03:36 PM

Washington state: Illegal farmworkers striking against legal guest workers
 
Snippet:

"Early morning talks over wages between the 270 workers and Sakuma Bros. Farms apparently broke down after the two sides could not come to an agreement over what they should be paid per pound for the blueberries they pick.

The striking farm workers, mostly indigenous Mixteco and Trique Mexicans who migrate each year from California, had made repeated demands over wages, working conditions and other issues.

But at the core of their angst is the pending arrival early next month of some 160 guest workers from Mexico to prop up the farm’s existing workforce.

“There’ve been rumblings ... (over guest workers) in the past, but I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” said Alberto Isiordia, state monitor advocate for the state Department of Employment Security.

While growers in Eastern Washington have used the federal government’s H-2A program over the last five years to legally bring guest workers into the country, this is the first year Sakuma or any Western Washington fruit grower will use it.

Many of the Sakuma farmworkers — who don’t speak English or Spanish — say they are in the country unlawfully.

On Tuesday, they met to establish an organization called Families United for Justice to advocate their concerns. "

http://seattletimes.com/html/localne...orkersxml.html

Ayatollahgondola 08-10-2013 03:52 PM

Chutzpah. It should be amazing, but it's become routine for illegals to grouse about their lot openly like this.

I visited some blueberry farms up there a few years ago while on a break. Lots of latino workers not speaking english.

Oh; and welcome to SOS Northstar :)

ilbegone 08-11-2013 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ayatollahgondola (Post 23684)
Chutzpah. It should be amazing, but it's become routine for illegals to grouse about their lot openly like this.

I visited some blueberry farms up there a few years ago while on a break. Lots of latino workers not speaking english.

Oh; and welcome to SOS Northstar :)

Some years ago I did some workin the Coachella Valley. My coworkers were predominantly illegal, and I overheard them talking about how I (I can't really speak the language but often I can understand everything going on around me depending on accents and mode of speech), in my own country, was there to take one of "their" jobs and how they were going to run me off. It lasted only until they realized that if I weren't there they wouldn't have a job.

They do the same with people of Mexican ancestry who are multi generational citizens, one of the fissures in that erroneously presumed "Latino" monolith.




This is as it should be:

Quote:

Hiring undocumented farmworkers, Sakuma said, presents a liability for the farm.

“If we put them on our rolls and they’re not (legal) the government doesn’t take responsibility for that, we do,” he said.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:09 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright SaveOurState ©2009 - 2016 All Rights Reserved