Migrant labor is a farm labor force that moves into a region temporarily to help harvest and process crops. Migrants usually harvest fruits and vegetables that must be picked as soon as they ripen. Few of these workers settle permanently in any community. In the United States, most migrant farmworkers were born in Mexico. No one knows how many migrants work in the United States. Educated estimates range from 250,000 to 500,000, depending on how “migrant worker” is defined.
Migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFW’s) receive lower than average wages. A typical MSFW is employed about half the year and earns about half the average hourly wage in the United States. Federal and some state labor laws exclude MSFW’s from certain protections, including the right to form unions and to receive overtime pay for more than eight hours of work in a day. This incomplete labor-law coverage has prompted the federal government to establish special programs to assist MSFW’s and their children. These include programs focused on migrant education and health. Despite this federal assistance, many migrants live in substandard housing and lack access to social services.
About three-fourths of U.S. migrant workers were born in Mexico, where most completed elementary school. Children born in the United States to MSFW families get more education, but many still do not finish high school. Migrant children may change schools several times a year, which can make it hard for them to maintain normal progress. However, a variety of programs help migrant children to graduate from high school. Other programs provide scholarships for those who go to college. Still other programs provide free training for those who want to find nonfarm jobs.
During the 1960’s, the California labor leader Cesar Chavez organized what is now the United Farm Workers union (UFW). Most farm employers opposed the union, which sought higher pay for farmworkers and a voice in how farm jobs are organized. Farmers wanted to operate their farms without union contracts, prompting the UFW to launch a table grape boycott in the late 1960’s that eventually led to union contracts for most California grape harvesters. However, most union contracts disappeared in the 1980’s. Rising unauthorized migration combined with an increased number of contractors who provide laborers allowed farmers to get their crops picked without unionized workers. Today, less than 5 percent of the 2.5 million workers who work for wages on U.S. farms during a typical year are union members.
See also Chavez, Cesar Estrada ; United Farm Workers of America .
