March 09, 2004
Jeb! vows to protect growers who abuse migrants
At first, this proposal sounds pretty good:
Gov. Jeb Bush and top Republican legislators on Monday vowed to improve the lives of Florida's migrant farmworkers, announcing legislation to toughen penalties against those who abuse the laborers who harvest the state's rich crops.
But something smells fishy, and it’s not just the fertilizer.
A farmworker advocate said that Bush's plan ''has some good things in it'' but is not a cure-all to the industry's ills. ''They are making some improvements on the law,'' said Rob Williams, Director of Florida Legal Services' Migrant Farmworker Justice Project. ``On the other hand, I don't think you can characterize this as the comprehensive reform that would be required.''While the governor's proposal targets the farm contractors who are hired by growers to provide laborers, Williams believes more should be done to target the growers who ``benefit from the system.''
So, this proposal would punish the subcontractors who hire the actual laborers. The growers will continue to claim no knowledge or responsibility for what is happening in their fields. From the SP Times, we learn that “All three state legislators who joined Bush at his announcement are growers back in their districts.”
Sounds like business as usual to me.
Posted by Norwood at March 9, 2004 07:28 AMComments
