This paper documents migrant farm workers as being among the most persistently underprivileged groups in American society. Migrant farm workers typically receive low wages from irregular employment and live in poverty with access to only substandard housing and inadequate health care. The lack of economic improvement stems from a number of…

This report examines conditions in the California nursery industry and develops a comprehensive baseline of labor force requirements and practices. A telephone survey was conducted with 167 randomly selected nurseries in a 10-county area. Additionally, 455 workers and 85 employers participated in on-site interviews. Workers were classified as…

Designed to inform key members of La Raza about practical implications of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, this bulletin outlines immediate action that should be taken to educate the Hispanic community and employers about the legislation. Brief summaries are provided for four critical provisions of the legislation: (1) a…

California, the largest employer of seasonal labor in the United States, provides low-cost housing for migrant farmworkers in 15 counties during the harvest season from April through November. In 1987, the 21st year of data collection, 27 housing centers with 2,071 housing units served 2,461 families containing 12,174 individuals. About 53% of…

With minor exceptions, the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program is working well and is meeting its legislative mandates. The public-private partnerships that have emerged at the local community level and the strong leadership role assumed by the private sector representatives on the State Job Training Coordinating Councils and Private…

It is the thesis of this booklet, one of a series intended to apply economic principles to major social and political issues of the day, that minimum wage laws actually hurt those whom such laws are designed to help. From this point of departure, separate subsections examine economic implications of minimum wage laws, including discussion of what…

Despite predictions in the 1950's and 1960's that computer technology would reduce job opportunities by 90%, historical data published by the Department of Labor reveal that total manpower demands accelerated from 1947 through 1977 and were primarily satisfied by a decreased demand for farm laborers, an increase in percentage of women in the…

Short biographical sketches and drawings of 30 prominent Mexican Americans are presented in this book of reading exercises. Written on a fourth or fifth grade level, the book includes figures representing a variety of occupations and fields of achievement: the arts, sports, business, journalism, education, entertainment, literature, medicine, law,…

A project was conducted to design, develop, and evaluate the effectiveness of bilingual (Spanish and English) career education materials for adult farmworkers with limited English-speaking ability. A career education manual, a series of audio- and video-taped interviews with former farmworkers employed in various job cluster areas, and a…

THIS BIBLIOGRAPHY WAS PREPARED FOR CONSULTANTS WHO SERVE OEO MIGRANT AND SEASONAL FARM WORKER PROGRAMS. THE FIRST SECTION PERTAINS TO CURRICULUM MATERIALS AND INCLUDES (1) READING AND LANGUAGE, (2) ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE, (3) SOCIAL STUDIES, (4) MATHEMATICS, (5) VOCATIONAL, AND (6) CHILDREN'S SERIES. THE SECOND PART IS A LIST OF TESTING…

A CONFERENCE ON MIGRATORY LABOR WAS HELD IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA ON APRIL 10-13, 1960 TO WHICH OFFICIALS FROM TWELVE WESTERN STATES WERE INVITED. HEADS OF STATE DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE, EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, HEALTH, LABOR AND WELFARE, CHAIRMEN OF STATE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES WHICH DEAL WITH LEGISLATION IN THESE FIELDS, OTHER LEGISLATIVE LEADERS,…

Designed for the secondary level, this curriculum guide on labor unions provides an historical background, inquiry-oriented classroom lessons, and resources. The guide contains 17 lessons which examine the structure and daily activities of unions and their members. The first six lessons explore the structure and function of local and national…

A rationale is presented for a new direction in educational historiography which reevaluates the treatment of the working class as active creators of history. Presently the impact of the working class on the public school history curriculum is not fully assessed or explained in light of other social and economic circumstances in the twentieth…

The end of the bracero program after 1965 brought about a major change in the growing, harvesting, and processing of California tomatoes which dramatically influenced the structure of the harvesting labor force. In order to determine the social consequences of the transition from man to mechanized harvesting procedures, the following areas of…

The Good Neighbor Commission of Texas coordinates the work of the Federal, State, and local government toward the improvement of travel and living and working conditions of Texas migrant laborers and their families. Covering the full spectrum of migrant labor activity directly related to the improvement of the well-being of migrant and seasonal…