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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] California is facing a farm worker shortage
  • Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:22:14 -0600


anything else to drive produce prices up?

Central American Leaders Support Worker Program
Posted: June 7, 2008 11:37 PM
http://www.kmph.com/Global/story.asp?S=8447594

California is facing a farm worker shortage and officials, like U.S. Senator
Dianne Feinstein, have said if something isn't done about it soon the state
could lose billions. The looming problem brought several Central American
dignitaries to Easton on Saturday afternoon.

"We need to have labor, we need to have skilled labor, we need to have legal
labor," said Manuel Cunha, of the Nisei Farmers League.

Representatives from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala told a crowd of
about fifty people that workers from their countries could help with that
problem; all they need is a foreign worker program in the United States.

"This initiative that we have been discussing...is the most positive step
taken in years to regulate the work force into and out of this country," said
Jose Manuel Zelaya, the President of Honduras.

Saturday's Western Agriculture North and Central American Labor Summit took
place at Washington Union High School in Easton.

Representatives from the three Central American countries talked with local
officials about the need to regulate the farm worker industry in the United
States.

"We have to take care of our farms and to do that we're going to have to work
with our neighboring countries," said Cunha.

The foreign dignitaries said growers need a program that would allow the
estimated 1.5 million undocumented workers already here, and those just
coming from their countries, to legally work in the U.S. Agriculture industry
for a set number of months.

"If you just make all the illegal workers disappear, the San Joaquin valley
closes down," said Adolfo Facusse of Honduras' National Association of
Industry.

This is a grim prediction local farm manager Jim Curtis agrees with.

"There's no other industry that's as critical as agriculture," said Curtis.

He also said if something isn't done about the worker problem soon, it could
have huge ramifications for the entire country.

"We're going to be held hostage by other countries for food like we are now
for petroleum products," said Curtis.

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee did approve emergency legislation to
relieve Labor Shortage in Agriculture last month, a bill co-sponsored by Sen.
Dianne Feinstein.





  • [Livingontheland] California is facing a farm worker shortage, Tradingpost, 06/08/2008

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