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Tough working trip
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October 10, 2006
By GERRY BAKSYS
H&N Staff Writer
TULELAKE - Lupe Hernandez is awake by 4:30 a.m. and is in the
strawberry fields by 7.
It's been three weeks since she
left her husband and four children in Janos, Mexico, to come to the
United States to earn money working on a farm near Tulelake.
“I came here out of necessity,” she said. “I was originally
supposed to come with my husband, but my husband didn't get through
the border even though he worked before in Colorado.”
Hernandez is one of more than
400 migrant workers hired by Sierra Cascade Nursery, based in
Susanville, Calif., to help with the strawberry plant harvest in
Tulelake. They sleep on cots in a shed at the Tulelake-Butte Valley
Fairgrounds.
Sierra Cascade employed the workers through a U.S. Department of Labor
program, called H-2A, that allows agricultural employers to bring in
migrant workers from other countries for seasonal work.
This is the first year Sierra Cascade Nursery officials have used the
program. It also is the first year for Hernandez.
Both sides say it hasn't been easy, citing unrealized expectations by
both employer and employee. Some disgruntled workers were by choice
transported back to Mexico.
Worker's perspective
For Hernandez, little has gone right since she had to leave her
husband at the border. The couple was supposed to come together, but
his passport application was denied.
She sat on her cot as Mexican music played in the background and a group of young men talked about the clothes they just received from the Hispanic Council of Lutheran Community Services. Like Hernandez, many of them came from Mexico with little extra clothing or shoes.
Hernandez cradled her own bundle of clothes as she
talked.
Rows of cots stretch the length of the shed, each equipped with a
pillow, foam mat and sleeping bag provided by Sierra Cascade. Some
have colorful blankets stretched over them.
Hernandez said it stays fairly warm in the shed, and it doesn't get
too cold at night.
“My husband had to give up a
job to come out here,” Hernandez said through an interpreter. “And
who knows if it will be there for him when he gets back? Plus, we left
the kids with a babysitter, and they will have to be paid.”
And the expectations and reality of agricultural work is new to her.
“We haven't received a paycheck yet,” Hernandez
said. “I have to get up at 4:30 a.m. and we are at work by 7. We get
back at 5 p.m. We do not get any breaks, just lunch. I feel a lot of
pressure to work hard here. Those that don't, get fired.”
She also isn't pleased with the company-provided living conditions,
and says Mexican workers weren't given the correct information about
what to expect.
The employer's
perspective
The process hasn't been smooth for Steve Fortin, president of Sierra
Cascade Nursery, either.
He says there were problems,
but added the company has quickly sought to correct legitimate
complaints.
“They're a couple of things we expected and a few big surprises,”
Fortin said. “The first big surprise was the work ethic and attitude
of some of the workers we brought up. We felt that by paying 150
percent in an hour, what they make in a day, and by providing safe
transportation and living conditions while here, they would at least
want to earn the $9 an hour.”
Fortin said workers will receive checks every two weeks, with the
first checks coming Thursday.
“We have many people that are working hard, but we had a loud
minority of people that were disgruntled from the beginning.”
Fortin declined to give exact numbers, but added, “We have lost a
fair percentage, but not half.” Workers who quit or are fired are
transported back to the border at a cost of $200 per person, he said.
Sierra Cascade was inspected by various federal agencies to make sure
requirements, including food, housing and working conditions are met.
“We have people crawling all over us from different agencies,”
Fortin said. “We knew that this was going to be an expensive and
complicated process when we went into it, and we set about to deal
with all of requirements.”
The effectiveness of H-2A
This year was an expensive lesson in how to use the federal H-2A
program, Fortin said, but Sierra Cascade will continue to use it
because it is one sure way to hire legal workers.
“What everybody else does is use domestic sources of labor,” he
said. “There are shortages of (legal) labor. You would find that
somewhere at or about 70 percent of the domestic, migrant workforce is
not legal. That rate is probably higher in California and Oregon.”
“This program is right for the right reasons,” Fortin added. “It
is not the (cheapest) option. We have learned things, and I do believe
we will continue to do this. We will take our lumps, learn our lessons
and keep going forward because it is the right thing to do.”
Fortin said the H-2A workers will be in Tulelake until the end of
October, and then will be transported back to Mexico.
But Hernandez is not sure she will come back next year.
“If I didn't feel under so much pressure,” Hernandez said, “I
would come back. But now, I don't know.”
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