Farmworker Awareness Week

Farmworker Awareness Week March 25-31

Did you know that March 25 – 31 is National Farmworker Awareness Week?

National Farmworker Awareness Week is a week of action for students and community members to raise awareness about farmworker issues on our farms, campuses and in our communities across the country. In 2018 we celebrate the 19th Annual National Farmworker Awareness Week to raise awareness about farmworker conditions and to honor their important contributions to us every day!

I AM | I SEE | I THINK | I WONDER from SAF on Vimeo.

WHY DO WE CELEBRATE NATIONAL FARMWORKER AWARENESS WEEK?

- Farmworkers feed the world- 85% of our fruits and vegetables are handpicked. There are an estimated 2-3 million men, women, and children work in the fields in the United States. Farms are in every state, including yours, yet farmworkers remain largely invisible and continue to live and work in horrific conditions. We demand dignity for farmworkers!​

 - Farm work is the third most dangerous job in the United States. The people who plant and harvest our fruits and vegetables suffer from the highest rate of toxic chemical injuries of any other workers in the nation and have higher incidences of heat stress, dermatitis, urinary tract infections, parasitic infections, and tuberculosis than other wage-earners. We demand safe working conditions for farmworkers!

 - Farmworkers are treated differently under the law. Overtime, unemployment insurance, and even protection when joining a union are not guaranteed under federal law. Farmworkers were excluded from almost all major federal laws passed in the 1930s. The Fair Labor Standards Act was amended in 1978 to mandate minimum wage for farmworkers on large farms only and it still has not made provisions for overtime. We demand just living and working conditions for farmworkers and an end to unfair treatment under the law.

Spread the message and let’s do something about it together to honor the critical contributions that farmworkers make. 

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