Union fighting for job security, benefits for Jamaican farmworkers in US

For the past 32 years, Kevin Johnson* has been travelling to the United States (US) on the farmwork programme. He started out at a sugarcane farm in Florida, chopping down rows of cane and was paid up to US$25 per row. On a good day, he would chop down two rows of sugar cane.

Admitting that it was “rough”, he said the money he was earning, though modest by some standards, was a huge improvement compared to what he pocketed as a bus conductor in St Thomas, Jamaica. This made the often gruelling work feel worthwhile as he was better able to take care of his family back home.

Now 67 years old, Johnson shared with The Sunday Gleaner that he has about three more seasons left in him for the farmwork programme. He has worked on other farms over the years, spending the last 15 years as an apple picker on a New York-located farm.

He said workers are paid based on the type of apple being picked, and this can range from US$15 to US $20 per hour.

But, as he nears retirement and reflects on his years of hard work, he is facing the reality that despite his consistent years of labour on US farms, he will have no pension to rely on from it.

“We don’t have much benefit to get unless wi saved wi money,” he stated.

This realisation is especially difficult for him because of what he said was the exploitation he experienced and witnessed over the years working on the farms.

“I can remember one time I was on the farm working and I get injured. A tractor lick mi and a apple tree, and mi foot get damaged. Went to a hospital and I get like 17 staples to my foot. That season I work like one week and two or three days for the whole season. I could not work again,” he recalled.

Although his medical bill was paid for by the employer, it took complaining to his employer for him to receive almost two weeks’ worth of compensation.

Jamaicans have been travelling legally to the US to work on agricultural farms since 1943, during World War II, on H-2A visas.

The number of Jamaican farmworkers in the US has averaged about 4,500 each year for the past 10 to 15 years, but this number can fluctuate due to weather and other factors.

Last year, 4,700 workers participated in the programme, with Jamaica primarily sending workers to New York, Washington, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, where they can work for up to eight months.

Johnson explained that, when he initially went to the apple farm, things were very well organised as the employer would ensure workers have proper gear, wages were paid on time, and would provide services such as transportation to take them into town when needed.

“Nuhbody business wid yuh anymore”

“But, when they realised that the liaison officer was not doing nothing, then everybody change, nuhbody business wid yuh anymore. For almost everything you are just on your own,” he said.

Liaison officers are employed by the Jamaican Government and are responsible for ensuring the welfare of workers, guiding them on programme-related issues, and ensuring compliance with policies and procedures.

Clive Wright* has been working on an apple tree nursery farm in the US for almost 10 years. However, the 43-year-old recently learned that seniority does not guarantee any job security.

A few years ago, Wright had captured a video of his employer berating the farmworkers who had queried pay discrepancies. The video subsequently went viral on social media and Wright, who would usually be called up for the programme in April, was pushed down to August.

Lamenting his loss of earnings as a result, he is convinced he is being penalised for exposing the disrespect that workers on the New York farm often endure.

“For you to get a call back, you have to see certain things and shut yuh mouth. So, even if you see injustice, mek sure yuh shut yuh mouth,” he said.

“He (employer) said that he liked the H-2A programme because if he don’t like this guy, he just don’t call him back next year. In my nine years being there, he will just don’t call them back for any reason at all. You could go this year, you don’t know if you coming back until you get the call, even if you work good,” he said.

Experiences like these are shared by many immigrant farmworkers who, for years, received no benefits or worker rights while working on US farms, Teresa Romero, president of the US-based United Farm Workers (UFW) labour union, told The Sunday Gleaner.

She argued that the lack of farm labourer laws in the majority of states that employ immigrant farmworkers leave them vulnerable to exploitation, unfair treatment, and substandard working conditions.

“Jamaican workers who go there with an H-2A visa, they are threatened constantly, saying that if they ask questions, if they say that something is not fair, that they are gonna be sent back, or that they are not gonna return next year, and that is something that we hear from the Jamaican workers in New York very often,” she said.

In July 2019, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Farm Workers Bill, which established the Farm Labourers Fair Labour Practices Act to protect farm worker rights and ensure equitable housing and working conditions.

The bill, which took effect on January 1, 2020, grants farmworkers overtime pay, a day of rest each week, disability and paid family leave coverage, unemployment benefits and other labour protections.

Romero pointed out that this law, which also grants farm workers the right to unionise, has been met with legal attempts by farm operators to overturn it.

Nevertheless, she stated that the UFW, founded in 1962 to protect farmworkers, has been tirelessly working to secure contracts for them, ensuring they receive benefits and to guarantee their worker rights.

In January, workers at Cahoon Farms, an apple producer in upstate New York, signed their first-ever union contract with the UFW.

The UFW was first certified as the collective bargaining representative of the agricultural workers at Cahoon Farms in December 2022, with negotiation lasting over two years.

This contract guarantees benefits for the farm’s 150 workers, 80 of whom are Jamaicans. The benefits include wage increases for both hourly and piece rate work; retirement plan with a company match of three per cent; grievance process to resolve work issues and violations; a guarantee that they be provided with necessary equipment, tools, and protective gear; nine paid holidays; paid vacation time; sick days, and bereavement leave; layoff and recall of workers determined by seniority for all workers and discipline and termination only for just cause.

“For them this means a lot,” Romero said. “These companies where we have a contract, and where we have been certified, they cannot say ‘we have 100 Jamaican workers here, they are not coming back’, they cannot say that anymore, because the contract says that they have to come back.”

These concerns mirror those uncovered in Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Workers Programme in which hundreds of Jamaicans take part yearly.

Exploitation and hazardous working conditions

A recent Amnesty International report outlined multiple alleged instances of exploitation and hazardous working conditions. It detailed how many workers risk having their contracts terminated and being swiftly repatriated if they fall ill, suffer injuries, or develop occupational diseases as they are deemed no longer “fit” for the job. Furthermore, the report claimed, any complaints they raise can lead to contract termination, loss of legal status, and, in many cases, forced departure from Canada.

The report further highlighted how the programme’s tied visa system facilitates these abuses as immigrant workers are granted temporary visas that are dependent on a single employer, who controls both their immigration status and work conditions.

In response to the report, the Jamaican Government outlined the steps it has taken to address the concerns on Canadian farms, including sending a fact-finding team in 2022 to assess conditions on 65 farms across that North American country. The Government also highlighted efforts to improve communication between farmworkers and liaison officers.

The Sunday Gleaner on Friday reached out to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security for comment on the concerns regarding US farms; however, the ministry said it would require a minimum 24 hours to respond to queries sent in writing.

Meanwhile, Romero noted that there are an additional seven UFW certifications across New York where negotiations are ongoing, while it continues to organise at other farms.

The UFW is also fighting for worker rights and benefits in California, and has contracts in Washington and Oregon with approximately 8,000 farmworkers onboard.

Wright is employed at one of those farms that is certified and said he was already seeing a difference in how his employer relates to workers.

“Since the union is onboard, things kinda calm down little bit. He (the employer) is not so arrogant and so forth,” he said.

For Johnson, whose farm is now under contract, while he may not benefit from all the terms that have been negotiated, he is happy that those who came after him will.

“It’s nice and, I’m glad that came up because the younger guys would benefit from it,” he said.

Stressing that the work of the union, and that of the liaison officers are similar, UFW Secretary Treasurer Armando Elenes is hoping “to be a good partner with them in raising wages and standards for the Jamaican workers”.

However, ultimately he anticipates that the Jamaican Government will see value in the work of the union and support it.

“If we are able to negotiate contracts, we can negotiate recall rights. That is great for Jamaica and Jamaicans, because that deals with their number one issue; being replaced. So that the ministry can focus on actually getting more farms,” he said.

*Names changed to protect identity.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com