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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: 202/219- 8211.
U.S. Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich today met with area
farmworkers to discuss enforcement initiatives and to tour a housing facility
representative of an emphasis on improving housing and working conditions.
Reich visited Kupina Ranch near Fresno. Petra Kupina, owner
and operator of the vineyard, led Reich and others on a tour of the improved
housing. Department investigators assessed penalties of $9,000 against Kupina
last year alleging migrant housing on the property did not meet standards.
After negotiating with the investigators, Kupina agreed to
make more than $50,000 worth of improvements to the housing. This year the
housing will be a safe dwelling for up to 30 migrant farmworkers.
"The Department of Labor enforces these laws for the
benefit of farmworkers and legitimate and concerned growers," Reich said. "The
majority of growers do play by the rules and treat their workers fairly. The
legitimate farming interests, those that have built the important agricultural
economy of California and the country, should not be undercut by the practices
of the illegitimate, bad apples of the industry."
The department's strategy includes an aggressive program of
education and outreach so that all parties -- farmworkers, contractors and
growers -- understand the rules, leveraging the department's scant enforcement
resources and conducting national- linked enforcement sweeps in the migrant
streams.
"The success of our enforcement efforts has to be judged by
results, not just the dollar value of fines and penalties," said Maria
Echaveste, administrator of the department's Wage & Hour division.
"Our enforcement actions must result in better living
conditions and safer workplaces. We can accomplish that more quickly and
efficiently by engaging in constructive dialogue with the agriculture
industry."
In his meeting with farm workers and farm labor advocates
today, Reich discussed the department's recent efforts to enforce labor laws
that affect farmworkers nationwide.
So far investigators have completed almost 800 compliance
reviews in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, New Jersey, California, North
Carolina, South Carolina, New Mexico, Connecticut, Washington and Maine.
As a result of the enforcement initiative, Reich said the
department's Wage & Hour Division recouped $900,000 in back wages for more
than 2,700 farmworkers and assessed $1.2 million in penalties for violations of
the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
But Reich said the ability of the department's Wage &
Hour division to effectively police the agriculture industry may be impaired by
proposed budget cuts on Capitol Hill.
"The working conditions for four million American
farmworkers are still far from what they should be," he said. "Budget cuts
proposed in Congress threaten to stall our efforts to enforce the nation's
labor laws as they apply to farmworkers."
President Clinton has proposed increasing by 200 the ranks
of labor department Wage & Hour enforcement staff focused on low- wage
industries. But Reich said proposed budget cuts in Congress would undercut
nationwide enforcement crackdowns by reducing the number of enforcement staff
targeted to low-wage industries.
"We are seeking the support and cooperation from all the
parties in the agriculture industry," Reich said. "We want the end results to
be better working conditions, better housing and safer transportation."
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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