During the interwar period, California's labor-intensive agriculture transitioned from reliance on diverse immigrants to preference for Mexicans. Political movements to restrict immigration, the Great Depression, and labor unrest compelled farm employers to search for labor that could be used flexibly and deported easily. To achieve this…

Educating farm labor supervisors about the regulations that govern agricultural operations and employment is critical to reducing unintentional violations of workplace safety and labor laws. Cooperative Extension can provide the training needed to professionalize this vital and diverse workforce. One challenge to providing adult education to a…

NUMEROUS PROVISIONS HAVE BEEN MADE BY NEW YORK STATE TO ASSIST AND TO PROTECT FARMERS, THEIR WORKERS, AND THE PUBLIC. SPECIAL SERVICES AND LAWS SHOW THE NATURE OF THIS ASSISTANCE WITH REGARD TO THE ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION OF MIGRANT CHILD CARE PROGRAMS, EDUCATION OF MIGRANT CHILDREN, SANITARY REGULATIONS FOR FARM LABOR CAMPS, FARM LABOR…

This document assesses the preliminary impact of the first year of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). The act had three primary goals: (1) to discourage illegal immigration into the United States and to encourage the departure of recent illegal immigrants; (2) to permit the legalization of illegal immigrants who have been in…

EARLY ATTEMPTS DURING THE 20TH CENTURY TO ORGANIZE FARM WORKERS, TO GAIN WAGE INCREASES, AND TO SECURE EMPLOYER RECOGNITION OF A UNION AS THE WORKERS' AGENT FOR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FAILED. AN ESTIMATED 380 AGRICULTURAL STRIKES INVOLVED OVER 200,000 WORKERS IN 33 STATES BETWEEN 1930 AND 1948. THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT, ENACTED AS A RESULT…

The author, who is Director of the National Committee on the Education of Migrant Children, reviews the history of child farm labor and the development of legal protection for them. (DM)

A Congressman recounts hearings and legislative progress relative to a House bill which he introduced in 1971 to ban child labor in agriculture altogether. (DM)

This two-part article reports an investigation by the National Committee on the Education of Migrant Children and its role in correcting illegal and exploitive practices of a school in Louisiana attended by migrant children. (DM)

Due to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's definition of a farm as an "economic unit which produces at least $1,000 worth of agricultural products a year", more than 570,000 farms were eliminated from the 1975 agricultural census. In addition, over 12,000 farms went out of business, continuing a trend begun in 1940. Although American food prices…

THE BASIC PHILOSOPHY UNDERLYING THE REGULATION OF FOREIGN WORKER IMPORTATIONS INTO THE UNITED STATES FOR AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT IS THAT EMPLOYMENT OF SUCH WORKERS WILL NOT BE PERMITTED IF IT WILL HAVE AN ADVERSE EFFECT ON DOMESTIC WORKERS. THE "ADVERSE-EFFECT" POLICY HAS BEEN FOLLOWED SINCE THE ENACTMENT OF PUBLIC LAW 78 IN 1951 WHICH GOVERNED…

THIS REPORT RECAPITULATES CONDITIONS AFFECTING THE SMALL FARMERS, SHARECROPPERS, AND AGRICULTURAL LABORERS IN 1965. THE AUTHOR PRESENTS INFORMATION ABOUT FARM LABOR STRIKES, UNIONIZATION, MECHANIZATION, AND STATISTICS OF ACCIDENT RATES, CHILD LABOR, WAGES AND EARNINGS, AND FOREIGN LABOR. THE AUTHOR EXPLAINS SEVERAL NEW FEDERAL AND STATE LAWS…

Evidence suggests that living and labor conditions have improved very little among agricultural laborers and are particularly hopeless among migrants. Since the government, food producers, industry, and consumers are all beneficiaries of the present farm system, it is unlikely that farm workers will be able to unionize and control their own…

The number of farms in rural America continued to decline. In 1974, 23,420 farms went out of business. Farm subsidy payments, originally designed to assist small farmers, contributed little to the survival of the small farmer. The 1974 increased costs in fuel and fertilizer alone reduced net farm income by $5 billion--approximately a $2,500…