key resources for/about farmworkers

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Farmworker Health

Guide to Labor and Employment Laws for Migrant Workers in North America Now Available

The Commission for Labor ation, an international organization created under the North American Agreement on Labor ation, is pleased to announce the release of The Guide to Labor and Employment Laws for Migrant Workers in North America. The guide consists of individual fact sheets about a range of areas of labor and employment law in each North American country. These fact sheets are written in an easy-to-read question-and-answer style and are downloadable in English, Spanish and French. The guide also contains a directory to all of the governmental labor and employment offices in every state and province in North America.

This guide is in the public domain and may be freely downloaded, reproduced and distributed without permission. Link: http://www.naalc.org. If you have questions or comments about this guide, contact migrants@... or (202) 464-1100.

September 2004 Agricultural Immigration Legislation Policy Brief from Farmworker Justice Fund, Inc.

To view a Policy Brief on current farmworker immigration policy, please visit Farmworker Justice Fund, Inc.’s website: www.fwjustice.org. The September 2004 brief describes pending proposals, including “AgJOBS,” three other farmworker immigration bills and the President’s proposal on immigration. The ten-page policy brief also explains guestworker programs.

What is the Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003 (AgJOBs, S. 1645, H.R. 3142)? A legislative proposal which represents a compromise among farmworkers, employers and advocates including the United Farm Workers, National Council of La Raza, National Council of Agricultural Employers, etc.

Why is it important? The compromise, reached after years of conflict on farmworker immigration policy, outlines two major advances: (1) a legalization program enabling undocumented farmworkers and H2-A guestworkers who have been working in American agriculture to obtain temporary immigration status and gain permanent immigration status upon completing a multi-year agricultural work requirement. Spouses and children can become immigrants once the farmworker becomes a permanent resident immigrant, and (2) revisions to the H-2A agricultural guestworker program that streamline the employer’s application process, modify the wage-setting process, create incentives for employers to negotiate with labor unions, and give the guestworkers the right to enforce their H-2A rights in federal court.

(Source: FJF Legislative News, http://www.fwjustice.org/LEGISLAT.HTM)