“We work in the heat and cold to put food on the table [in] this country, but they call us criminals,” said one worker. “We need to lift up our voice.”
While fear induced by grower threats or immigration raids can be paralyzing, workers aren’t always fearful. Guillen says the committee at Washington Bulb was angry at Lelo’s detention and plans to organize their own march to protest. “Before the march in Delano,” Pinal says, “many farmworkers asked me, ‘Is it safe to do this?’ Seven thousand answered yes and came.” More marches are planned in other parts of the state.
In the end, a strong counterweight to fear of deportation or job loss is the anger many workers feel over the lack of recognition of the importance of their work, and the heavy demands it makes on them. Emma described to me the toll farm work takes on her. “In the oranges I have to climb ladders with a 40 or 50 pound bag on my shoulders,” she said. “When I’m bunching carrots, I’m on my knees all day. Every season my body has to learn to adjust to the way my hands and back hurt. It can take an hour and a half to get to the field, and for all that the most I make is $700 a week. And last year 70 percent of the time I only got four hours of work a day because the company hired so many other people.”
She resents growers and the government for threatening deportation instead of recognizing the value of her labor. “The company takes advantage of the fear [of deportation by paying] low wages, and sends us to meetings to tell us that the union is bad. We work in the heat and cold to put food on the table [in] this country, but they call us criminals. We need to lift up our voice.” {read}