[Fwd: REMINDER: Sign-on Letter to DOL ON NAWS farmworker survey]

[Guest guest]

The Farmworker Justice fund has made it very easy for us to express our

support for the National Agricultural Workers'Study by indicating our

desire to add our names to a sign on letter initiated by FJF. For

those of you who are already aware of the situation, all you need to do

is call or email Lorna Baez at the address below and let her know you

and/or your organization wish to be a co-signer.

For those of you for whom this is a new issue, there is plenty of

information below. Please read and add your support to this effort.

Many thanks. Bobbi Ryder

-------- Original Message --------

Subject: REMINDER: Sign-on Letter to DOL ON NAWS farmworker survey

Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 10:29:52 -0500

From: Bruce Goldstein <bgoldstein@...>

Organization: Farmworker Justice Fund

<fjf@...>

CC: <lbaez@...>

Wednesday, February 2

Dear Friends

Thanks to all of you for gaining so many organizations to sign on to this

important letter to Secretary of Labor Chao. We know that some of you are

still out there who have not signed on or have not circulated the letter to

other organizations. Please do so. The more organizations, the better. The

deadline is firm: Monday, February 7 at 4 pm. Thanks again for all your

help.

Bruce Goldstein

Farmworker Justice Fund, Inc. www.fwjustice.org

and the National Farmworker Alliance

- - - - - -

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

Dear Friends:

PLEASE CONTACT FJF'S LORNA BAEZ -- at lbaez@...-- or at fax

202-783-2561, or phone at 202-783-2623 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 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 Assocition, 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.

- - - -

Sign-on Letter to be sent on Tuesday, February 8 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

--

Bobbi Ryder

CEO

National Center for Farmworker Health

1770 FM 967

Buda, TX 78610

512-312-5453 (direct)

512-312-5451 (Assistant, Eckhardt)

512.312.2600 (fax)

http://www.ncfh.org