Seasonal Workers Research Articles

Patterns of Polydrug Use Classes Among a Subset of Latino Male Seasonal Workers in South Florida: A Latent Class Analysis

ABSTRACT Background Little is known about polydrug use among Latino seasonal farmworkers. This cross-sectional study with male Latino seasonal workers (LSWs) living in South Florida categorized distinct classes of drug use and then characterized each drug use typology by demographic, structural, and psychological factors. Methods One hundred and twenty-five male LSWs were recruited during community events using convenience sampling between July 2019-March 2020. Latent class analysis was conducted by leveraging measures of self-reported use of nine drugs in the past year (sedatives, cannabis, stimulants, heroin, opioids, cocaine, PCP, hallucinogens, and inhalants). Correlates of latent class membership were examined using 3-step categorical latent variable logistic regression. Analyses were performed using Mplus version 8 and SAS 9.4. Results Four drug use classes were identified, male LSWs who exhibited: 1) use of illegal opioids only (n = 32); 2) concurrent cannabis and cocaine use (n = 75); 3) concurrent sedative and cannabis use (n = 13); and 4) high concurrent drug use (n = 5). About 84.7% of the sample reported use of at least one drug in the past 12 months. LSWs who identified as White and were married or in a stable relationship were likely to only use illegal opioids. LSWs with less than high school education and self-reported good to excellent health were more likely to use cannabis and cocaine. Men with moderate to severe anxiety and self-reported bad health were classified as engaging in sedative and cannabis co-use. Survivors of physical abuse were more commonly classified as people using high concurrent substances relative to non-abused men among the four classes. Conclusions This pilot study suggests the presence of heterogeneity in polydrug use classes among LSWs in South Florida.

Stress, Mental Health, and Coping Among Workers in the Northern California Cannabis Industry: A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis.

California is home to a multibillion-dollar cannabis (marijuana) industry, but little is known about the occupational health and safety hazards faced by cannabis workers and even less of the stress, mental health, and coping mechanisms among these workers. Previous research has been based on long-term workers at legal businesses, but most California cannabis is produced and sold unlawfully. There are many seasonal workers whose experiences have not been studied. A qualitative study based on focus group discussions and key informant interviews was performed to understand cannabis workers' experiences, knowledge, and perceptions of occupational hazards. Participants reported sources of stress including production pressure and isolation, and mental health outcomes such as depression and mental fatigue. They described primarily maladaptive coping mechanisms. Unique characteristics of the cannabis industry, including criminalization and isolated, remote farms, make interventions challenging. However, policy approaches that involve community organizations could promote worker health.

Fruit production and exploited labor in northern Italy: Redefining urban responsibility toward the agrarian ground

AbstractImmigrants play a crucial role in the development of capital‐intensive, industrialized agriculture and often find themselves living in derelict, stigmatized neighborhoods where they become not only objects of fear and exclusion but also objects of racketeering, exploitation, and profit‐making dynamics. Global trends and migration flows trigger new concerns among policymakers who realize that food production is not only a rural issue. Discussing the Italian case of the Saluzzo Fruit District and the Prima Accoglienza Stagionali (PAS, First Reception of Seasonal Workers) project, this contribution focuses on the role that cities as institutional complexes can have in preventing illegal recruitment and exploitation of labor in agriculture as well as improving the living conditions of migrant field hands through the activation of urban–rural synergies for multifactor and multilevel cooperation. Results offer an overview of the potentiality of the abandonment of an emergency approach limited to the sole provision of shelters to migrant workers for adopting a more structured and holistic approach to territorial planning.

Social guarantees for cross-border and seasonal workers in Europe during COVID-19 and other global crises

Globalization has intensified international migration, which is a powerful driver and an important factor of political, economic, social, and demographic changes in the countries of the world economy. The decision to migrate is mainly based on economic motives, but a migrant's choice of destination country is often determined by personal factors, which in modern conditions are formed under the influence of the system of social ties. Almost all countries of the world are now involved in international labour migration, and it has become increasingly widespread, resulting in many new problems for both states and the world community as a whole. The issue of protecting the rights of labour migrants in the EU is of particular relevance. The purpose of this study is to highlight the protection of labour migrants in the context of COVID-19 and other global crises. The article uses some general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis, deduction, induction, forecasting), as well as special legal scientific methods, including historical, formal legal, structural, and functional. As a result, the article examines measures and policies adopted by the countries of the European Union to improve the social protection of cross-border and seasonal workers during the crisis, as well as recommendations for further steps in this direction. The article provides a narrative analysis of social guarantees for cross-border and seasonal workers in Europe during the global crisis, which can be positioned for research in international labor law, social sciences, migration studies and economics.

“Non-Lieu” of women seasonal agricultural workers in everyday life geographies: A study on the sample of Şanlıurfa

Gündelik yaşam coğrafyalarında gündelik pratikleri ve toplumsal mekânı örgütleyen toplumsal ilişkiler sisteminin sürekliliği içinde kadınlar, farklı mekânsal dokularda benzer gündelik-mekânsal pratiklerini deneyimlemektedir. Toplumsal aktörlerin etkileşimleri gündelik-mekânsal pratikler aracılığıyla zamana ve mekâna içkin dinamiklere göre farklılaşır ya da aynılaşır. Bu araştırmada mevsimlik tarım işçisi kadınların gündelik-mekânsal pratiklerini, sürekli olarak ikamet ettikleri kentsel mekân ile çalışma alanları olan tarladaki iktidar ilişkileri bağlamında nasıl ve ne şekillerde deneyimlediklerini incelenmektedir. Bu analiz için Lefebvre’nin toplumsal mekân ile gündelik yaşam eleştirisine odaklanan teorisi ve Bourdieu’nün toplumsal aktörlerin pratiklerini toplumsal uzam içindeki konumları üzerinden değerlendiren sermaye, alan ve habitus kavramlarından yararlanılmıştır. Bu amaçla, Şanlıurfa kent merkezinde ağırlıklı olarak mevsimlik tarım işçilerinin yaşadığı üç mahallede mevsimlik tarım işçisi kadınlarla yarı yapılandırılmış ve derinlemesine görüşme teknikleri kullanılarak saha araştırması yapılmış, elde edilen bulgular nitel olarak analiz edilmiştir.

An extraordinary wave of SARS-CoV2, the youngest and the least serious.

The second wave of SARS-CoV2 in our health region began at the end of June 2020 coinciding with the widespread decrease in cases in all areas of Catalonia. This resulted in the relaxation of measures that coincided with the end of the school year and the arrival of seasonal workers for the fruit-picking campaign. This led to a rapid increase in cases that culminated in perimeter confinement of the Segrià in July 2020, the only such measure imposed in the whole of Spain that month. This increase in cases was attributed to the influx of agricultural workers with a change of trend in the age of persons affected that had until then consisted mainly of older people. Simultaneously, in other areas of Catalonia the number of cases had dropped dramatically.

How do the people that feed Europe feed themselves? Exploring the (in)formal food practices of Almería’s migrant and seasonal food workers

The EU's Farm to Fork strategy (European Commission European Commission. 2020. Farm to Fork strategy. https://food.ec.europa.eu/horizontal-topics/farm-fork-strategy_en. Accessed 31 August 2023.) highlights the need for a resilient food system capable of providing affordable food to citizens in all circumstances. Behind the provision of affordable food for EU citizens there is the effort of many migrant and seasonal food workers (MSFWs). In Almería, Spain, the area with the biggest concentration of greenhouses in the world, MSFWs face vulnerability in the form of physical and institutional invisibility despite performing the essential task of providing affordable food for the EU’s food system. This paper aims to move on from structuralist concerns and place MSFWs’ lived experiences at the center, including the (in)formal nature of their food practices, to understand how the people that feed Europe feed themselves. A combination of social practice theories and diverse economies is used to explore MFSWs’ daily food routines. These theories are used as lenses that inform the data collection process, performed through semi-structured interviews, photography, and observations. The findings of the study reflect a dynamic portfolio of (in)formal practices that evolve based on the length of stay in the county. These practices demonstrate how the EU food system resilience relies on the diverse economies of migrant settlements. We conclude that informality is a reality in the EU food system, and that shedding light on previously hidden food practices and their structures can help us envision food security interventions that are inclusive for all actors involved.

The Canadian ‘War of the Two Sugars’: Homegrown Sugar Beets and the Racial Stratification of Labour

Abstract This paper provides a history of more than a century of efforts to establish and maintain a homegrown Canadian sugar supply – a twentieth-century version of what Eric Williams called the ‘war of the two sugars’, or the global competition between sugar beet and cane. To resolve beet sugar’s so-called ‘labour problem’, the industry has collaborated with the Canadian state to produce new classes of temporary workers, mobilising incarcerated Japanese Canadians, migrant Indigenous families, and Mexican and Caribbean workers employed through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. At the same time, the sugar industry has sought to refine itself of the racialised workers upon whom it relies by promoting the figure of the white Canadian worker. The Canadian ‘war of the two sugars’ has been fought through the stratification of the labour force along the lines of citizenship, resulting in the production of unique racial forms.

The impact of the influx of Syrian refugees on rural areas of Türkiye

The rapid and significant influx of Syrian refugees to Türkiye, has transformed rural communities in Türkiye significantly in terms of living space, social and economic aspects. This study was conducted through a time-series survey over approximately four years beginning in 2016. The study area selected for this study was Çukurkuyu town, situated within the Niğde province in the Central Anatolia region of Türkiye. We argue that over this time period, conflicts and frictions between locals and Syrian refugees changed in terms of the object and intensity of the conflicts over time. The community members in the study area experienced significant confusion and conflict in the early days following large influxes of Syrian refugees. However, as refugees gradually migrated to urban areas in large numbers, and living spaces became separated from local people, confusion and conflicts were alleviated. On the other hand, competition for employment with seasonal Turkish agricultural workers living in the same temporary residential areas and engaged in the same agricultural activities, and conflicts over wage decreases emerged.

Seasonal Workers at White Asparagus Farms in Limburg, the Netherlands: Focusing on Recent Trends of Migrating Workers in Agriculture in the EU Context

Seasonal Workers at White Asparagus Farms in Limburg, the Netherlands: Focusing on Recent Trends of Migrating Workers in Agriculture in the EU Context

The Impact of COVID-19 on Migrant Agricultural Workers in Ontario

Migrant agricultural workers (MAWs) who enter the province through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) were disproportionately affected by COVID-19 due to gaps in the policy that ensure they are treated fairly.

Strategi Inggris Raya Terhadap Permasalahan Industri Agrikultur Pasca Brexit

Brexit has restricted the flow of migrant workers in the industrial sector and agricultural system in the United Kingdom. This research examines the dynamics of the agricultural industry issues in the United Kingdom, as well as the strategies implemented by the UK government to minimize the issues faced in the agricultural sector. The methodology employed is qualitative, utilizing theories of international migration and concepts of international immigration policy. The UK Government has implemented strategies to minimize the agricultural issues after Brexit. These strategies include implementing seasonal worker visas, adopting a points-based immigration system, formulating the agricultural act 2020, promoting local workers, and embracing automation. These strategies have successfully minimized the issues in the agricultural industry in the United Kingdom.

The globalisation of Italian agriculture. Transformations of migrant labour composition in agriculture in Trentino

AbstractThe cultivation of apples is one of the principal economic activities in Trentino, which is responsible for 25% of Italian apple production and 4% of European apple production. The industry is structurally based on migrant work, especially from Eastern European countries in the EU. This model has come up against obstacles due to EU migrant workers redrawing their trajectories: They now tend to remain in their country of origin or move towards central European countries, where they find better wages and working conditions. This is also due to the inadequacy of Italian migration policies, which make it difficult for employers to recruit migrant workers. As a result, employers started to recruit refugees and asylum seekers from countries in the sub‐Saharan and Indian subcontinent who had recently arrived in Trentino. This article analyses these transformations and the trend of ‘refugeeisation’ process of the agricultural workforce, as well as the partial replacement of seasonal workers in Trentino. It then focuses on the impact of the pandemic on international recruitment and on the organisation of the migrant workforce.

The impact of agricultural minimum wages on worker flows in South Africa

AbstractThis paper is the first to provide estimates of how minimum wages affect worker flows and employment growth rates in an employment scarce developing country context. We investigate the effects of a large, exogenous increase in agricultural minimum wages in South Africa. We find that changes occurred primarily among non‐seasonal workers. Non‐seasonal agricultural employment growth decreased in the initial periods after the minimum wage hike. This was mainly driven by slower rates of entry. The effect on the rate of entry decreases over time. While farms also responded by shedding non‐seasonal workers at higher rates, this negative effect was limited to 1 year directly after the minimum wage hike. Employment growth recovers 4 years after the policy shock, indicating that firms adjusted relatively quickly despite the large legislated minimum wage increase. Seasonal employment growth and rates of entry and exit of seasonal workers were for the most part unaffected. Descriptive statistics, however, suggest a slight compositional change among seasonal workers: Farms replaced the worst paid seasonal workers with other low‐income workers who were slightly better paid and presumably more productive.

Designing a skills training pathway for the agricultural workforce from the employer perspective: skills micro-credentials from seasonal worker to supervisor

ABSTRACT Purpose To identify a skilled micro-credentialled training pathway for agricultural careers. Design/Methodology/Approach A survey consisting of open ended and Likert-type ratings questions regarding workforce skills requirements, training priorities and training delivery preferences was administered with 17 agricultural business managers and employers. Data were analysed to understand current workforce structures, compliance and training skills needs for workforce segments including: (a) seasonal workers, (b) entry level workers, and (c) supervisors. Findings Seventeen compliance and technical skills were identified as training priorities, and preferred approaches to training delivery included blended and on-the-job training, with formal accredited training preferred across all skills domains. Practical Implications Findings suggest that micro-credentials for these skills domains are of use for industry, with a skills development pathway for different workforce segments identified. Theoretical Implications It has been argued that micro-credentials may be a mechanism to improve the career motivations of workforce segments that traditionally do not engage in certificate or diploma level courses. The current research reports on an employer-identified need for this type of system, with further research required to explore employee perspectives. Originality/Value This research contributes a skills map that can be used to inform the design a micro-credentialled training pathway for the agricultural workforce.

Essential Work: Eastern European Immigrants and Models of Participation

This article investigates the relationship between a marginalised community of essential workers and dominant models of participation. I focus on Agri-Care, The Royals, and Alien Species, projects created in collaboration between Eastern European seasonal agricultural workers in Jersey and the artist Alicja Rogalska, and analyse them through a productive confrontation with theories of participation. I begin by juxtaposing Jacques Rancière’s ideas of aesthetic regime as interpreted by Claire Bishop, to Rogalska’s sculpting workshops conducted with Jersey Royal potato pickers. I argue that Rogalska shifts the aesthetic experience from audiences onto participants, repositioning ‘unskilled’, manual labour as craft, and uncovering seasonal workers as craftspeople, holding expertise. As a result, Rogalska disassembles the idea of low-skilled labour. The article then confronts Miwon Kwon’s ideas of a disobedient community with Rogalska’s making of a community, ostensibly coherent and ‘compliant’ but subverting the fleeting group of temporary workers into a permanent precariat, the backbone of the local economy. The participatory process and its subsequent introduction into the local archives, I argue, impose a different relation between permanent and temporary locals of Jersey, with the latter now embedded into local institutions. I end by considering why these participatory projects seem incompatible with theories on participation and suggest this incompatibility stems from the arts’ preoccupation with virtuosic labour. The concept of artists as the ultimate precarious workers of late-capitalism, I argue, excludes the communities at the extreme of late capitalist exploitation from artistic attention and the scope of art subsidy, depoliticising art practice in the process.

Витоки та становлення системи примусової праці у Третьому Райху: на матеріалах Польщі

The purpose of the study is to show the main stages of the formation of the German system of forced labor in the second half of the 19th and the fi rst half of the 20th centuries, which is closely related to the territory of Poland and the Polish population, based on the work of pred- ecessors and the available source base. Th e research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, and systematicity. Th e scientifi c novelty lies in the fact that, for the fi rst time in Ukrainian historiography, an attempt has been made to trace the stages of transformation of economic relations between neighboring nations from mutually benefi cial to the mass enslave- ment and exploitation of the Polish population by the German regimes. Conclusions. At the end of the XIX – at the beginning of the XX century in Polish-German economic relations, the use of Polish seasonal workers in agriculture was of great importance, which became the basis for the formation of the system of forced labor in Germany. Th e Kaiser’s government was forced to turn to it due to the overexertion of the country’s forces in the fi ght against an enemy whose forces and resources greatly exceeded those of Germany. In the conditions of a protracted bloody war, the practice of forced labor of foreign workers proved to be eff ective, especially in the fi eld of agriculture, and provided an opportunity to control the occupied territories and their population, cementing the cynical idea that forced labor was profi table only under the conditions of its mass and the ap- plication of totalitarian measures during its organization. Kaiser Germany laid the foundation for the system of forced labor of foreign workers and the policy of segregation based on nationality and state affi liation, which later became the foundation of the economy and ideology of the Th ird Reich. During the Second World War, the policy of the German occupiers varied depending on the country or region of enslavement, and it also changed at diff erent stages of the war. On the territory of Poland, the attempt of the Th ird Reich to create loyal authorities with the assistance of the Polish right-wing forces proved unsuccessful due to their small number and disunity. Th e occupiers man- aged to organize the use of Poland’s economy and human resources mainly by relying on national minorities and the experience of the Kaiser’s government, which was improved and supplemented by the idea of racial superiority at the legislative level.

Do corporate taxes affect employee welfare? Evidence from workplace safety

We examine the impact of tax policy on worker safety that exploits spatial discontinuity in treatment and control establishments stemming from state-level corporate tax changes. The granularity of our data and econometric approach allows us to exploit within-firm, across-establishment variation in worker safety shedding light on the real effects of headquarter versus plant-level decisions. Plant-level injury rates increase with tax hikes in establishment states, but not with those in headquarter states, highlighting the importance of plant-level decisions. We explore three plausible non-mutually exclusive mechanisms to help explain these findings ─ safety investment, leverage, and labor stress channels. We find that in the presence of a tax hike, firms reduce safety-related investments, and the tax effect on injury rates is exacerbated for firms that increase leverage and for firms where employees work longer hours and seasonal workers are used. Overall, our findings suggest that tax increases lead to negative welfare outcomes for employees, with no similar benefit accruing for tax cuts.

Collaboration between local Indigenous and visiting non‐Indigenous researchers: Practical challenges and insights from a long‐term environmental monitoring program in the Canadian Arctic

Abstract There is a growing appreciation for the value of collaborative research projects involving local Indigenous and visiting non‐Indigenous researchers. Examples of such partnerships are now numerous and diverse, and best practices and respectful approaches have been well presented, including the five priorities of the National Inuit Strategy on Research (NISR) defined by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami in Canada. However, the application of best practices remains challenging, and examples of ‘on‐the‐ground’ implementation remain scarce in the literature. We present a practical case study in which scientists from the Federal Department of Environment and Climate Change Canada and Inuit have co‐delivered a multidecade‐long monitoring program of nesting common eider ducks Somateria mollissima in the Arctic. We review our experience as southern‐based government researchers in this collaboration. We reflect on successes and, more importantly, on the practical challenges that prevent the full implementation of best practices in our program. First, we highlight challenges to co‐designing a data collection protocol that combines both Indigenous and Western scientific methods. We show how combining the strengths of Inuit Knowledge and rigorous random sampling design has led to a more powerful approach to eider population monitoring. Second, we review how the federal government's administrative approaches are poorly suited for employing seasonal Indigenous workers living in remote communities, particularly in Canada. We argue that to deliver respectful employment and payment practices, the financial and hiring administration of collaborative projects must be based at the community level. Finally, we show how sociocultural factors have made it challenging to ensure the safety of all field workers consistently. To increase their perceived value and uptake, we suggest that safety guidelines must be co‐designed by visiting researchers and local partners for each project to ensure that they are appropriate to the local culture, field conditions, and the nature of the fieldwork. Based on our experience, we draw attention to gaps that still exist between the best practices of collaborative research and factors that hamper their practical implementation. We invite other research teams to do the same so that, collectively, we can improve collaborative approaches nationally and internationally.

Sociocultural problems of seasonal migrant agricultural workers in Manisa region (Turkey): a qualitative study

Agriculture is a mode of production that maintains its importance for humanity across all historical periods. Despite the development of technology and the mechanization that comes with it, agricultural labour continues to be the basic element of agricultural production. Seasonal work is one of the most common types of agricultural work, which is shaped by the different production conditions in a country. In Turkey, where agricultural product diversity is quite high due to a favourable climate, most agricultural workers migrate to different regions seasonally for work in agricultural production. Therefore, it is important to evaluate this group’s problems and life experiences from sociocultural and economic perspectives. In this respect, research was carried out using qualitative techniques in the towns of Kavaklidere and Piyadeler in the Alasehir District of Manisa Province. These regions are important seasonal destinations for migrant agricultural workers during harvest periods. These regions produce 1/3 of the seedless raisins in the country. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 seasonal migrant agricultural workers determined by judgemental sampling, and semistructured observations were carried out in the research area. Based on the results of this research, this study reveals that seasonal migrant agricultural workers in the region live at standards far below the general welfare level of society. Workers generally do not have social security. However, seasonal agricultural work for migrants has turned into a regular work- and lifestyle. The most important reason for this situation is poverty in rural areas. The workers are different from the local people in terms of ethnic origin. However, there is a long-standing relationship of trust between the local people and the workers. Workers do not have any problems with wages. These are other factors that ensure the continuity of seasonal agricultural work. In this context, this study proposes that the project (METIP) carried out by the government for seasonal migrant agricultural workers in Turkey should be transformed into an employment-guaranteed national programme that includes solutions for all the problems identified in the field studies.