Keep the Union at Bay
The Racial Dimensions of Anti-Union Practices in US Agriculture and the Long Fight for Migrant Farm-Labor Representation
Francesca Coin
Abstract
In the United States, farm-workers are traditionally excluded from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and from the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) which guarantee basic rights to workers, including the right to organize and engage in collective bargaining. In a sense, farm-workers are confined to a secondary market characterized by substandard wages and labor conditions. This study explores how migrant farm-workers in North Carolina have responded to their labor conditions with a campaign that culminated in the achievement of the first labor contract for guest-workers in US history. Based on ethnographic research, it reflects upon the role of grassroots organizing in challenging a culture of racism that has remained dangerously alive in many parts of our society.
Introduction
Driving down US highway 117 in the proximity of Goldsboro in North Carolina is almost like watching the richest country in history disappear behind a series of overcrowded shacks and shanty towns. In 2004 I was living in Atlanta and on occasion I would drive to Raleigh to visit the union organizers and the migrant camps in North Carolina. Used to the city, I was disoriented in the countryside. The highway dominated the land for miles and miles, only interrupted by endless tobacco fields and refueling sta- tions. The bucolic image of the white family with a blonde woman smiling at the basket of fresh tomatoes was quite alien in those areas. The glorious days of farming seemed to have long gone, transforming the countryside into a long highway surrounded by Tyson Food, Chick-fil-A and Wal-Mart. Somehow, the glittering image of US agriculture seemed to vanish along those highways as the advertisements of the most profitable food retailers and poultry producers ruled the rural landscape undisturbed by farmers haunted by debts and broken dreams.
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Keep the Union at Bay. The Racial Dimensions of Anti-Union Practices in US Agriculture and the Long Fight for Migrant Farm-Labor Representation
Francesca Coin
© 2018 Francesca Coin per il testo
© 2018 Edizioni Ca’ Foscari – Digital Publishing per la presente edizione
Quest’opera è distribuita con Licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione 4.0 Internazionale This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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1a edizione marzo 2018 ISBN978-88-6969-222-2 [ebook]
