Action Alert on NAWS Farmworker Study: Sign on Letter to Secretary of Labor

[Guest guest]

Action Alert on NAWS Farmworker Study: Sign on Letter to Secretary of Labor

Attached is the letter prepared by Bruce Goldstein, Farmworker Justice Fund on behalf of the National Farmworker Alliance, for your review and sign on. Please send your reply to Bruce at lbaez@..., fax 202-783-2561, or phone at 202-782-2561 ext. 211, to have your organization participate and listed as a supporter with a cc to Ruiz at jruiz@....

Thank you - Ruiz

Dear Friends:

PLEASE CONTACT FJF'S LORNA BAEZ at lbaez@..., fax 202-783-2561, or

phone at 202-782-2561 ext. 211, to have your organization participate in a

sign-on letter asking Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao to reverse the

Department of Labor's decision to cancel the National Agricultural Workers

Survey (NAWS). The NAWS provides some of the best information ever obtained

about migrant and seasonal farmworkers employed in labor-intensive crops.

The letter is attached and below. It is circulated by the National Farmworker Alliance,

a coalition that includes FJF, the National Council of La Raza, the United

Farm Workers of America, UMOS (based in Wisconsin), the Association of

Farmworker Opportunity Programs, the National Migrant and Seasonal Head

Start Association, NACHC and many others. Only organizations (not individuals)

will be on the letter. Please circulate this letter to help us get a large

number of organizations. DEADLINE for sign-ons is 4 PM ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY

7.

Please provide us with: Name of Organization Contact Person Street

address City,State, Zip Code Phone No. Fax. No. email address. We

will provide you with a copy of the final letter. THANK YOU.

Bruce Goldstein

Farmworker Justice Fund, Inc.

1010 Vermont Ave., NW, Ste. 915

Washington, D.C. 20005

202-783-2628 fax: 783-2561

www.fwjustice.org

The Honorable Elaine Chao

Secretary of Labor

U.S. Department of Labor

Washington, D.C. 20210

Dear Secretary of Labor Chao

The National Farmworker Alliance and the undersigned organizations request that the Department of Labor continue the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) and that it rescind the stop-work order regarding the field surveys for the upcoming season.

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers remain a critically-important asset to the nation's food supply, especially in labor-intensive fruits, vegetables and other horticultural products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that the value of fruit and tree nut crops in 2003 had increased to $13.1 billion, and that the value of fresh vegetables and melons was $9.67 billion. Farmworkers are important to the economic benefits of trade as well as to feeding the world. USDA reported that the dollar value of our nation's exports of fruits, nuts and vegetables during the first eleven months of 2004 was $8.68 billion.

Accurate Information regarding migrant and seasonal farmworkers is in short supply. Many obstacles impede collection of information from such workers, including nontraditional housing, long work hours, lack of telephones, migration, language differences, limited education, and tenuous or non-unauthorized immigration status. These obstacles and a lack of resources contribute to the paucity of data about farmworkers. In addition, much information that is collected about agricultural workers is limited in value or fundamentally flawed because the studies fail to confront the reality of farmworkers' living and working conditions and therefore rely on samples of unrepresentative workers. Some studies that do provide useful information are nevertheless limited in value because they focus on narrow geographic areas or subsectors of the agricultural economy.

The NAWS is one of the very few sources of solid information about migrant and seasonal farmworkers. The demographic, economic and other information provided by NAWS offers a useful portrait of the nation's farmworkers that is not available in any other study. Its findings provide the public and policy makers with important information related to employment, immigration, health, public benefits, education, and wages and income. Numerous government and non-government agencies rely on NAWS to fulfill their missions regarding health, education, employment and training, and disaster relief. In the absence of the NAWS, the public and policy makers would be forced to rely on other data, much of which contains misleading conclusions about such basic issues as the race, ethnicity, national origin, wages, amount of work and immigration status.

The NAWS is especially necessary as we confront challenges posed by an increasingly global economy marked by expanded agricultural trade, greater labor migration, the need for continuing recent increases in agricultural-worker productivity, and efforts to reduce poverty. In the presence of a major debate regarding immigration policy, it is especially important that the Department continue the ongoing study of changes in the farmworker population, including immigration status of farmworkers. The study should not be interrupted with a lapse in surveys.

The relatively small investment in NAWS has yielded major results and should continue. We understand that there have been discussions regarding a shift of the NAWS to other agencies, but we strongly believe the best approach would be to continue to house the study in the Department of Labor because this is fundamentally an issue about workers and their working and living conditions.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

cc: Honorable Vargas Stidvent

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy

<<NFACHAOLETTERGOLDSTEIN1282005.doc>>

Ruiz

Assistant Director, Systems Development and Policy Administration

Migrant Health Coordinator

National Association of Community Health Centers, Inc.

7200 Wisconsin Avenue Suite 210

Bethesda, MD 20814

(301) 347-0442

(301) 347-0459 FAX

(202) 365-0154 Cell Phone

jruiz@...

www.nachc.com

" Youth is the gift of nature but age is a work of art. "

- Garson Kanin

Mark your calendar now for the 2005 National Farmworker Health Conference, Caribe Hilton, San , Puerto Rico May 12-14, 2005. Watch NACHC website at www.nachc.com for further program and registration information as it becomes available.