NOW THEY ARE ESSENTIAL

The day begins at 4 a.m.

Almost every morning for the past 10 years, Vasquez (whose full name is withheld for privacy) starts his work day by feeding and caring for the cows at a local dairy farm in upstate New York.

He operates the farm’s tractors and trucks, and brings food into the cows’ barn twice a day for feeding. The shift lasts for 11 hours, from 4 a.m. until 4 p.m., with a one-hour break.

Vasquez hails from Guatemala but now lives in a house provided by his employer with his wife and two children. His job is, literally, back-breaking work. Vasquez has suffered from back pains from driving the tractor all day and having to sustain such a physically, demanding job.

It’s a plight that many farm workers across the state and nation understand. The job of keeping America’s food supply in constant motion requires its employees to also be constantly and continuously working. Many workers are undocumented or arrive on work visas — and on top of having to do such difficult work — must navigate the overarching threat of deportation.

Altogether, the work takes a heavy toll — both physically and emotionally. Vasquez is tired, he says, and the amount of work that goes into how food goes from farm to table seems to be in an out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality.

When the coronavirus hit, farm workers across the country became essential workers to ensure food availability and were hailed as heroes. Overnight, farm workers have gone from being left in the dark to being thrust into the spotlight and handed the responsibility of ensuring that America’s food supply isn’t interrupted.

DEEMED ESSENTIAL

 The New York State Catholic Conference (NYSCC) — the working arm for the state’s bishops on public policy matters — have long advocated for the improvement of farm and migrant worker’s rights. Dennis Poust, director of communications for the conference, said the government deeming farm workers essential was “the irony of ironies.”

“This population that has for so long not only sort of been at the margins of society, but they didn’t have the same rights as anyone else, and now they are deemed one of the essential industries out there while we sit in our homes,” Poust said. “We rely on them to get our food that sustains us.”

Vasquez thought that being deemed essential helped push farm workers into a national spotlight. “It feels good because a lot of people are realizing that we actually exist. Everyone is realizing how important we are,” he said.

Farming and farm workers have long played an integral role in New York State’s history and economy. According to a 2017 report by the New York State comptroller, state farms generated $5.7 billion in gross income during 2017, an increase of more than 23 percent from a decade earlier.

In 2017, state farms employed more than 55,000 workers, including migrants. Milk is by far New York’s largest agricultural commodity and the state ranks third nationally in milk sales. With 624,000 milk cows, the state leads the nation in the production of a variety of dairy products including cottage cheese, sour cream and yogurt.

But for the farmers and workers, continuing to work during the pandemic means increasing the risk for exposure to the virus. Many farm and migrant workers share housing, work in tight quarters, or use public transit. In fact, Fortune Magazine reported last week, a farm in Tennessee tested all of its workers for COVID-19, and all 200 tested positive.

Richard Witt, executive director for the Rural Migrant Ministry (RMM), a non-profit based in Poughkeepsie, said “farm workers are being deemed essential workers and yet there are all sorts of issues around their housing ... and transportation.”

The RMM strives to bring about systemic change for farm workers in the state and was founded in 1981 by five religious denominations. The Albany Diocese joined the ministry in the early 2000s under Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard, and has continued its involvement under Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger.

Vasquez noted that no adaptations to COVID-19 were put in place at his job, but that workers are “taking precautions on their own” by wearing masks, gloves and being careful when out on the farm.

Deirdre Cornell, Hudson River/Catskill coordinator for the Rural Migrant Ministry (RMM), has been trying to help more farm workers get proper protection while on that job. “In western New York some of the workers were saying we want to have masks and we don’t have masks, and the growers couldn’t get them. But my understanding is even if employers wanted to provide, they couldn’t,” she said.

In the last few months, RMM has been working to get face masks and other PPE to farm workers. A week before Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced face masks needed to be worn in public, RMM put out a call for face masks for farm workers on its Facebook page and Cornell was hoping to get a few offers. “And wouldn’t you know, I think we’ve gotten 3,500 face masks.”

“There’s been a tremendous response to that,” Cornell said. “It’s very encouraging to know people care. People send in very caring messages, saying we support you, we haven’t forgotten you, you’re essential, thank you for providing food for us, it’s really nice.”

STILL IN THE DARK

The RMM has been working to get needed resources and information about the COVID-19 virus to farm and migrant workers across the state. The need for public awareness about the plight of farm workers is stronger than ever, said Witt, now that the vulnerability of the state’s food chain is exacerbated by the virus.

A few weeks back, the RMM was notified of a worker who tested positive for the virus on a farm not far from Syracuse. “There were 15 (workers) living in a hotel and their boss told them that on Friday that they were all being fired and they had to be out of the hotel by Monday,” Witt said.

“All of a sudden we had to get lawyers involved … had to get the health department involved because you have workers who are testing positive; that’s an impact on the community not to mention themselves. That’s just one example of issues across the state of farm workers, historically, out-of-sight, out-of-mind and even in the midst of this right now.”

Witt added that a large number of those workers are undocumented, making them ineligible for stimulus funds, and adding to the challenge.
Poust said that the coronavirus “highlights the need for comprehensive federal reform that the U.S. bishops have been calling for years and years. It hasn’t gotten done in Democratic administrations in Congress, it hasn’t gotten done in Republican administrations in Congress. All we see, more and more, are immigrants being demonized, especially by the current administration, making it that much harder to get the reform we need.”

In June 2019, New York State passed the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act — a bill long supported by the Catholic Conference — to help farm workers gain better rights and benefits for their work. The new legislation established worker protections, including collective bargaining rights, a 24-hour day of rest every calendar week, provides workers with eligibility for compensation benefits and applies the sanitary code to migrant housing.

Cornell said the plan for 2020 was to focus on informing workers about this change and knowing “what they’re entitled to, whether or not they’re undocumented, it doesn’t matter, these are rights that we won.”

Then COVID-19 hit, and the main concern became issues with health and safety. “We thought going into 2020 we would be focusing on making sure that workers know that this has happened.”

Vasquez said that he was not aware of any changes made to his job, or that the Farm Workers Bill had even passed.

FEAR GOING FORWARD

In addition to exposure while on the job, trips to the grocery store or doctor’s office also carry a risk. For many undocumented migrant workers, there is an added fear of government interference and potential deportation.

“That’s one of those great ironies right now, (workers) being deemed essential and still vulnerable to homeland security and ICE and border patrol,” Witt said.

According to a New York Times article published in April, the pandemic has put many of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s operations on hold. “On March 18, the agency said it would ‘temporarily adjust its enforcement posture’ to focus not on ordinary undocumented immigrants, but on those who pose a public safety or criminal threat.”

Despite the government’s promise, fear is deeply rooted in many undocumented migrants, and that fear is becoming “a major, major issue,” Witt said.
“New York is a border state, so we have border patrol wandering all around Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, with special powers being within 100 miles of the border,” Witt added.

“A lot of workers and families are fearful of accepting donations, or are (afraid) to go to local nonprofit community health clinics, afraid … that will either get them arrested or deter their immigration process somewhere down the road,” he said. “I mean we’re offering people food and they’re afraid to take it. The Rural Migrant Ministry is literally offering folks food and they’re afraid to take it.”

Still, many locals and supporters of farm workers around the state are continuing to offer their help. These small gestures, like the 3,500 face masks, say what many farm workers, like Vasquez, hope for: that their needs will be heard and help will be there.

“I think that’s the way to make change,” Cornell said, “to focus on the positive and what brings people together.”

Added Poust: “I hope that when this is over that people can understand more just how important … farm workers actually are to our society and they have equal dignity to any of us. Hopefully society changes in some ways from this, in a lot of ways.”