|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
News
|
Activist pushes plan to hike farmworker pay Harvest for Humanity President Dick Nogaj wants federal tax credit, marketing campaign, for growers who increase workers' pay to 'living wage.' By LAURA LAYDEN For years, local farmworkers have fought for better working conditions and better wages. Still, they say they don't get the respect they deserve, or the pay. Dick Nogaj, president of Harvest for Humanity Inc., wants to see that change, and he's come up with an idea he feels may persuade local growers to give in to farmworker demands for a "living wage." Nogaj - the same man involved in a not-for-profit blueberry farm and an affordable housing project in Immokalee - is working to get support for a new federal tax credit program that would allow growers to raise the pay for farmworkers to an average of $8.50, and collect some of that money back from Uncle Sam. Under the proposal, growers could get up to a $4,800 yearly tax deduction for three years to help support higher wages. The program would start in Immokalee, and if successful could expand throughout the state and the nation. The deduction, which would match what growers would pay out in extra wages, would be available until growers saw an increase in the selling price of their products. Now, it's difficult for farming operations to consider wage increases because their costs continue to mount, while prices remain low. Nogaj's plan includes a marketing campaign he believes will eventually convince consumers to pay more for produce at the chick-out counter - whether it's for tomatoes, oranges or nursery plants. Growers participating in the program would be able to put special labels on their products to let people know they were picked by workers who make a living wage, and that they are "Florida fresh." "It's a solution for the labor shortage and for the profit problems the growers are having because they are in a defensive marketing position now with brokers and retailers," Nogaj said. "We want to take the offensive. We want to take the initiative to set the demand for our product, and that is what this would do." The plan could make growers less dependent on seasonal workers, and help them attract more permanent employees who can be trained and who would stay on the farm because they are making higher wages. Now, most farmworkers make $7.50 or less an hour. "We are losing so much of the payroll to people who are sending money out of the country because they don't have a hope to build a permanent life here," Nogaj said. "It's not going to happen overnight. But we need to shift the paradigm." Nogaj has contacted U.S. Senator Bob Graham's office, and there are hopes the Democratic leader, who has pushed for changes to improve the lives of farmworkers, will take the lead in pushing legislation through Congress. Graham's office is waiting to hear more feedback from growers and others with interest in farmworkers. "We are trying to put together a consortium of individuals that are interested in pursuing the idea, including representatives from both the University of Florida and Florida Gulf Coast University, as well as some of the citrus and nursery representatives," Nogaj said. Through his non-profit company, Nogaj has made some headway in trying to change the way farmworkers live. He's behind a new blueberry farm, located about a mile north of the Southwest Florida Research & Education Center, that pays higher than average wages to its workers. He has also created an affordable housing project called Jubilation, which is offering new homes in Immokalee at prices farmworkers and other low-income workers can afford. Nogaj's latest idea seems to be gaining momentum, not just locally but in other parts of the state. Carl Sherman, owner and general manager with Chestnut Hill Tree Farm in North Central Florida, said it may be one of the only ways growers could afford to pay laborers more money. "There is just not enough dollars in the pockets of nursery growers to raise wages," he said. "The margins aren't large enough, unless there is a tax incentive." Costs continue to grow at his nursery. Sherman is paying more for pots, more for fertilizer and more for gas to run his equipment. "At a certain wage level, you would drive many nurserymen out of business," he said. He feels nursery owners could benefit from the higher living wage because they could attract better employees, and have more of a predictable workforce, he said. Greg Asbed, a leader with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which has been pushing for higher wages for farmworkers for years, also likes Nogaj's idea and hopes it will gain the needed support from politicians. Politicians, he said, should not be put off by the tax breaks that growers would initially receive. "Growers are subsidized in all kinds of ways any way," he said. "This wouldn't be the first subsidy growers get." Asbed believes if consumers know produce has been harvested by workers earning a "living wage," they will be willing to pay more for it. He points to the success of the campaign the coalition has launched against Taco Bell. The goal is to get the fast-food chain to pay an extra penny a pound for the tomatoes it buys from Immokalee growers. Hundreds of people have joined farmworkers in picketing restaurants in college towns throughout Florida and in other states. This tells Asbed that consumers care about the plight of farmworkers. If they are willing to pay more for a soft taco or Chalupa, they would probably pay more for a tomato or orange at the grocery store, he said. "In the end the marketplace decides how business is done," Asbed said. "More and more consumers are getting educated on the labor conditions of the people that produce the things that they consume, and there are more and more consumers deciding to buy products that are produced in conditions that they approve of." Now, pickers make 40 to 45 cents for a 32-pound box of tomatoes in Immokalee, and that means they have to harvest two tons of tomatoes a day to earn $50, Asbed said. "That is without overtime pay," he said. "That is without any kind of health insurance whatsoever, without any kind of sick leave whatsoever, without any kind of vacation pay or holiday leave, pension or even the right to organize that all other workers have in this country." The coalition has fought for better wages and working conditions since 1995, and it supports the idea of a more stable, productive workforce. "If you pay the lowest wages in the labor market, then it stands to reason that you will not hold on to your best workers and they will flow through your hands. Agriculture has a turnover unequal to that of any other industry." Nogaj's idea has also reached the ears of researchers at the University of Florida's Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences in Immokalee. Fritz Roka, an agricultural economist with IFAS, applauds what Nogaj is tying to do. But, he questions whether Nogaj's idea will get the support it needs to get off the ground. "I don't think the general public would sit still long if a special group of people get a special credit. There are hotel workers, there are lots of people who work as seasonal workers on a day-to-day basis." The issue of farmworker pay is a tough one to understand, he said. Now, the local agricultural industry relies on seasonal farmworkers. The idea of having full-time, permanent workers goes totally against that trend. "As much as Dick and other people would like to see a more stable and reliable workforce there are some real challenges in agriculture, especially involving seasonal production like we do here." More study is needed to see if Nogaj's idea has enough support from growers and farmworkers. Roka hopes to be a part of that research. "I very much want to pursue the idea," he said. "I very much want to see it develop. I can't tell you how it's going to develop." |
|
|
|
