Governor should keep pledge to farm workers

News-Journal editorial (Dec. 30, 2000)

Gov. Jeb Bush is turning his back to a group of people he once gave hope -- Florida's desperate farm workers.

Several months ago, Bush rebuffed farmworker association's requests to meet and work on plans to improve the working and living conditions of the state's thousands of migrant workers.

"It is not an appropriate role for a governor to inject his or herself into labor negotiations between the workers and owners of private businesses," Bush said in a letter to farmworker representatives.

That statement -- combined with the fact that he wouldn't even meet with the workers in person -- signify a tremendous change in public posture for Bush.

During his campaign for governor in 1998, he promised to address migrant workers' concerns. He apparently thought the governor's role was appropriate enough to appoint a negotiator who helped halt worker strife in Immokalee last year.

Frustrated farm workers, many of whom were born abroad and speak little English, now have planned a march on Tallahassee Jan. 13-14 that will end at the governor's mansion.

The words of a local farmworker organizer, Roberto Vasquez, reflect the tension: "We will be participating in the march for farmworker justice."

It won't be the first time farm workers have taken to the streets in Tallahassee. As recently as October, a small group of workers, including some from Volusia Country, traveled to the capital to protest their pay and working conditions.

But the January event could be the most dramatic. The march will cover 25 miles and is planned to include a large number of farm workers and their leaders from throughout the state.

Farm workers have a laundry list of legitimate concerns, starting with the pittance they receive for their hard work. A tomato picker in Southwest Florida might earn only $9,000 a year, while a fern worker in Volusia County takes in about $12,000 a year.

Their limited income and benefits often keep them from getting proper medical care or adequate housing -- costs that ultimately are borne by taxpayers through government-subsidized programs and services.

Bush says he's done a lot to help farm workers, including bringing millions of federal dollars to Florida for farmworker relief.

The governor doesn't seem to understand -- or want to acknowledge -- that real help for farm workers means more than handing out money. It means working on policies and laws that will guarantee safer working conditions, better housing opportunities and higher minimum wages.

Bush has been active -- although controversial -- on education reform, affirmative action, manatee protection and tax cuts, as well as other issues.

He should put just as much energy into the plight of farm workers and live up to his campaign promises.