Despite the general prosperity of California’s farming and agricultural industry, the economic status of California farm workers has weakened significantly over the decades since the passage of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) in 1975. The legislation was groundbreaking in its provision of various protections for agricultural workers, including allowing them to directly participate in increasing their wages.
However, despite the gains realized from this legislation, California farmworkers are the state’s lowest paid production workers. Significantly, the annual wage rates earned by farm laborers in California is lower than it was in 1974 (as adjusted for inflation), which preceded the passage of the legislation. The annual average wage rate in 2014 was reported to be $11.33 per hour for field and livestock workers, which is a deficit of $2.19 in keeping pace with inflation. Moreover, there are fewer farm workers who are parties to labor management agreements than there were in 1974.
The agriculture industry however, has thrived in the past 40 years. The sale of agricultural products as evidenced by farm cash receipts was estimated to be $43 billion dollars in 2012. This amounts to an increase in real sales growth of 26% as measured in comparison to the sales generated in 1974. In addition, farm production in California has become clustered in a smaller number of very large farms over the last few decades. The largest farms in California accounted for 63% of sales in the entire state by 2012.
Direct appeals to consumers have been successful in raising farm worker wages and improving the working conditions of laborers in general. Experts maintain that improving the economic status of farm workers requires a consolidated effort among farmers, ranchers, food processors, supermarkets and end users. The organizational efforts by vendors have demonstrated the growing realization that farm labor conditions are an important factor in the consumer’s food variety and quality.
Contact Shane Coons at 949-333-0900 for assistance, or visit his website at www.ShaneCoonsLaw.com to find out more about the practice.