ST. PAUL, Minnesota - One hundred migrant farm workers and their families held a demonstration at the Minnesota state capitol in St. Paul July 26. The workers called on Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson to include aid for them in a state request for federal disaster assistance in response to the heavy rainfall that has prevented them from working.
About 1,000 families work each year in the sugar beet fields near Moorhead. This year they have only been able to work one or two days a week because of heavy rains. Octavio Medrano said they had to wait a month before beginning work.
Spokesperson Jorge Galvan explained that workers have been up to their knees in mud with weeds five and six feet high. As a result, a family of four or five can only clear one acre in a day. The workers are usually paid $22 an acre. This year some farmers have sought to pay only $14 an acre, citing rain damage to the crops.
The workers denounced discrimination and other problems they face obtaining housing. Landlords routinely demand a six-month lease, although the workers are only there for a couple of months. Other rent-gouging is also common. Some landlords flatly refuse to rent to immigrants.
Some of the demonstrators also explained that local authorities deny them assistance if they have a newer model vehicle. Many farm workers travel thousands of miles as they follow the crops. Many of the workers at the rally were from Juanajueto, Mexico, and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.
Joe Callahan is a member of United Auto Workers Local 879 in St. Paul, Minnesota.