To the editor: After reading this article, my first thought was that it boggles the mind that California’s $61-billion agricultural industry could fail on so many levels to protect the most vulnerable among its workforce, children (“California’s child farmworkers: Exhausted, underpaid and toiling in toxic fields,” Nov. 20). Then it occurred to me: Maybe that is precisely the driving force behind the industry’s wealth and profit in the first place.
The article points out the systemic failures of various oversight agencies that have allowed the industry to turn a blind eye to regulations like work permits, heat illness training, access to shade and cool water and exposure to pesticides. These violations impose dangerous conditions, not only on the adults in the field but also their children. It is heartbreaking to hear from these children who share their dreams of a better life, aspiring to have careers in medicine or the military, for example.
I wonder if a policy to hold state agencies more accountable for enforcing labor violations could have a two-fold benefit where social justice is concerned. Making a concerted effort to recoup uncollected fines would incentivize industry leaders to protect the health and welfare of their workforce while also providing resources to fund child laborers’ chances at a better future.
This could be effective for several reasons. First, it would pay for itself. Second, it would create incentive for the agricultural industry to be accountable for the health and safety of its workers. And third, it could go toward creating a grant, perhaps through the UC system, to allow child field workers a chance to reach their professional dreams.
Carolyn Franco, Saint Michaels, Md.
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To the editor: We were not surprised by the exposé about child farmworkers. My organization has been dedicated to eradicating exploitative child labor since its founding in 1899. We regularly host summer interns — former child farmworkers — who describe the excruciating heat, 10-hour days, pesticide exposure, poverty wages and lack of fresh water and toilets.
California can address this problem by raising the minimum age for farmwork from 12 to 14. Federal legislation to accomplish this — the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment — was reintroduced Nov. 20 by California Rep. Raul Ruiz.
California is not living up to its reputation for treating farmworkers fairly with proper concerns about their youth and vulnerability. It was rich to read these shocking stories juxtaposed next to a quote from the California Farm Bureau denying the obvious: the ubiquity and tragedy of children who pick our fruits and vegetables.
Sally Greenberg, Washington, D.C.
This writer is chair of the Child Labor Coalition and CEO of the National Consumers League.
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To the editor: Having worked as a United Farm Workers organizer in the 1960s and currently with the National Day Labor Organizing Network, I clearly see there is very little state enforcement of labor laws in California. People want cheap labor and they will always get it. But my advice is: Don’t mourn, don’t whine, organize!
Mark Day, Carlsbad
