farm workers

World News

As Workforce Ages, South Korea Increasingly Depends On Migrant Labor

1:32pm June 02, 2021

by Anthony Kuhn

South Korea's population is shrinking and aging. Foreign workers help fill shortages on farms and in factories, but it's very hard for them to become citizens. Some say that will soon have to change.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

As California Expands Vaccination, Some Worry Farm Workers Will Lose Out

8:01am February 14, 2021

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Walter Newman, has been giving flu vaccines to California farm workers for decades. He talks to NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro about ensuring they get COVID-19 shots, even as the state runs low on doses.

These men, harvesting sweet potatoes in North Carolina, came to the U.S. on H-2A visas that are designated for seasonal agricultural workers. Such "guest workers" now account for about ten percent of U.S. farm workers.

Farm Workers Say The Government Is Trying To Cut Their Wages

4:02pm November 11, 2020

by Dan Charles

Farm worker advocates are accusing the U.S. Department of Agriculture of trying to cut the wages of farm workers who come to the U.S. on temporarily guest worker visas.

Syrian refugee Mohammad al-Saleh near Amman. He and his wife are farm laborers and were working in the fields when their tent caught fire in June, killing their four youngest children.

World News

'No Hope': A Deadly Tent Fire In Jordan Leaves Syrian Refugee Farm Workers In Despair

8:01am August 22, 2020

by Jane Arraf

The Saleh family lost four young children in a fire that broke out in their tent in June, when the parents were working in farm fields. Syrian refugees make up about 70% of Jordan's farm workers.

With the coronavirus spreading, farms try to keep workers like these in Greenfield, Calif. safe through physical distancing and other measures but advocates for laborers say protections are often not adequate.

Without Federal Protections, Farm Workers Risk Coronavirus Infection To Harvest Crops

7:00am August 08, 2020

by Victoria Knight

Labor advocates say the lack of enforceable federal standards to ward off the coronavirus allows farmers to prioritize the harvest over worker safety.

National

Washington Farmworkers Ask State Supreme Court For Overtime Pay

8:03am August 02, 2020

by Eilis O'Neill

Farmworkers in Washington state have gone to court to demand overtime pay. Coronavirus outbreaks in agricultural communities have focused new attention on working conditions and pay on farms.

Queue Listen Now

Farmworkers pick organic strawberries at Stehly Farms Organics in Valley Center, Calif., on March 25.

'Essential' Status Means Jobs For Farmworkers, But Greater Virus Risk

2:37pm March 27, 2020

by Dan Charles

Farmworkers are still working during the coronavirus epidemic. They're essential. But they're also at greater risk of infection.

Workers pick apples in a Wapato, Wash., orchard last October. U.S. farms employ hundreds of thousands of seasonal workers, mostly from Mexico, who enter the country on H-2A visas. The potential impact of the coronavirus on seasonal workers has the food in

COVID-19 Threatens Food Supply Chain As Farms Worry About Workers Falling Ill

2:10pm March 18, 2020

by Dan Charles

COVID-19 has turned one end of the food industry — stores and restaurants — on its head. At the other end, food production hums along as usual, but that could change if workers catch the virus.

Charles Brain helps hand harvest grapes in a Shiraz vineyard in the Swartland wine region of South Africa. Lubanzi Wines, which was started by Brain and his partner, Walker Brown, earned its B Corp certification this year.

Why Some Wineries Are Becoming 'Certified B Corp' — And What That Means

1:17pm May 13, 2019

by Shana Clarke

To be certified, a business must operate according to three principles of sustainability: people, planet and profit. B Corp wineries are investing in farmworkers, but some say it's still not enough.

A migrant worker in a Connecticut apple orchard gets a medical checkup in 2017. A proposed rule by the Trump administration that would prohibit some immigrants who get Medicaid from working legally has already led to a lot of fear and reluctance to sign u

Clinics Struggle To Resolve Fears Over Medicaid Sign-Ups And Green Cards

5:00am January 15, 2019

by Ana B. Ibarra

Should doctors warn patients of a policy threat that may not come to pass? That's the question pending, as the Trump administration weighs whether to deny green cards to immigrants on Medicaid.