Naples Daily News, May 12 1997

Migrant workers
Exploitation still exists

It's been almost 37 years since the landmark CBS television documentary "Harvest of Shame" detailed the exploitation of many farm workers. Some Floridians must recall the TV image of Edward R. Murrow reporting from a vegetable field near Lake Okeechobee at dawn, as laborers began another day of low-paying toil.

"Harvest of Shame" was telecast nationwide in October 1960. It seems so long ago, but a couple of recent events show how hard it is to wipe out abuses.

In South Carolina, three men last week pleaded guilty to, in effect, enslaving migrant farm workers. The case was prompted by Immokalee farm workers and lawyers who heard of the abuses from workers passing through and investigated.

Court records said the three, led by a man from LaBelle, drove crews from Arizona to South Carolina, forced them to work for money insufficient to pay fees charged for food, housing and transportation, then beat or threatened laborers if they protested.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Florida Rural Legal Services earn high marks for standing up for justice.

As one Legal Services Lawyer said, "It's high time slavery ends in America."

A few days ago in Clewiston, an agricultural labor contractor was arrested and charged with kidnapping, robbery and battery. The contractor is accused of recruiting crews from homeless shelters and trasient camps to pick fruit in Florida groves, and allegedly gave them crack cocaine instead of money. The suspect "would get them so addicted to cocaine, they would have to work for him," said a Fort Pierce detective.

These instances show how vigilant authorities must be. Many farm and grove workers are poorly educated, speak little English, are unsure of their rights and are therefore ripe for exploitation.

Many growers rely on independent labor contractors (often called crew chiefs or crew bosses) to supply workers when needed for seasonal work, rather than keep large numbers of permanent employees. Some contractors treat workers fairly. Others do not.

Florida needs closer monitoring of labor contractors and vigorour prosecution of greedy and cruel crew bosses who violate laws.

The word has to go out that it is not OK - it is a crime - to abuse migrant workers.