Tag Archives: migrant workers

Migrant Workers Have Always Been Essential, So We Should Be Treating Them Like It

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In response to “‘Essential Workers’: Heroes or a Sacrifice to Capitalism?” by Ashley (@ash_marie)

The U.S. has historically relied on the labor of minority groups to provide this labor since the conception of the nation even in times of normalcy. From the use of slave-labor on plantations to the current use of Latinx labor, minorities have driven commercial agriculture for centuries. Yet many Americans hold the notion that these migrant workers are not essential workers but are actually stealing the jobs of American citizens.

The view that these essential workers are “stealing jobs” has been strongly held, even in recent years. We must question this and ask why it is that minority groups have been the main supply of agricultural labor in the U.S.. This question appeals to the larger system of immigration and class structures, and it is deeply intertwined with the history and politics of the U.S. and the countries that the migrants had immigrated from. It all boils down to this: employers seek the cheapest labor, and the cheapest labor can be provided by the most vulnerable populations. The essential work that these workers provide is low paid and the conditions are often unsafe. Even when the United Farm Workers launched the “Take My Job” campaign, a counter discursive act against the “stealing our jobs” mentality, incredibly low numbers of American citizens moved to take on these jobs due to the labor conditions that they present.

As we begin to recognizing these workers as essential during this pandemic, their conditions stay the same. They continue to receive low wages and their working conditions do not comply with the basic precautions of social distancing that are so vital in this pandemic. Instead of calling these workers “heroes”, a term which normalizes their deaths as an inevitability, we must improve the conditions of this essential labor.

“Essential Workers”: Heroes or a Sacrifice to Capitalism ?

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In the face of major shifts and/or unrest both global and domestic, the US has historically relied on the most marginalized groups to uphold the status quo; an aspect of our history that is too often left out of, or skewed within, popular narratives. An example ringing with familiarity, was the onset of WWII (when swaths of the agricultural labor force migrated into war production factories) the 1942 Mexican Farm Labor Program Act systematically promoted the exploitation of immigrant labor as a means to keep meeting food demands on the backs of “cheap” labor. Our immigrant workers are a labor force that has been consistently condemned, ridiculed, and cast out. And again, today, in the face of a global pandemic, we are turning to the numerous undocumented immigrants that make up our 2.4 million farmworkers to continue to supply us with our demands (Honig, 2020). They are essential to keeping America fed.

Yet, as the choir of bells ring through our cities in gratitude to those who are on the front lines, these essential workers continue to work unprotected in close quarters, high risk conditions, and extremely limited access to testing or health care. And when calls are made to solve these issues, and to provide adequate provisioning, they are too often being met with no answer. Ultimately, they are being ignored. Still though, the faces of leadership turn to the media to give praise and show appreciation of our essential workers… our “heroes.”

Is this the way to treat our heroes? Do we truly believe that these people put themselves at risk everyday, in-spite of the love of their families and own lives, to be our “heroes?” Or have they been given no other choice, no other option to sustain themselves, or their families? And, in knowing this well, the faces of leadership can chose to tend to their need or not. The migrant workers, who have always been an essential labor force, are treated as if they are disposable. This pandemic is not an independent actor, it is constantly being fed by the conditions that were already established, long before it’s outbreak. Vulnerable living conditions, limited access to health care, muted voices, and insufficient ground to establish self-determination are the by-products of our capitalist structure that continues to sustain itself through the most marginalized people, who tend to fill our most essential positions.

 

This blog post was inspired by the FERN article: https://thefern.org/2020/04/as-pandemic-spreads-and-growing-season-ramps-up-farmworkers-deemed-essential-but-still-largely-unprotected/