November 9, 2022 • 23 mins
Approximately 150,000 to 200,000 migrant and seasonal farm workers and their families travel and work in Florida annually, many of which deal with issues such as vulnerable immigration status, housing insecurity, and lack of access to health care. The Farmworker Association of Florida (FWAF) works in communities composed of low-income, Latinx and other ethnic-minority, migrant and seasonal farmworkers to help them realize and build upon their power to be effective agents of social and personal change. In this episode, hear from Neza Xiuhtecutli, General Coordinator for the organization, as he discusses some of the challenges and occupational risks for laborers, and some of the ways the association serves their audience to promote economic, social, and environmental justice.
Resources:
The Farmworker Association of Florida Website
Transcripts available here: https://piecenter.com/media/podcast/#transcript
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ricky Telg (00:04):
This is Science by the Slice, a podcast from the
University of Florida'sInstitute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences Center forPublic Issues Education. In this
podcast, experts discuss thescience of issues affecting our
daily lives, reveal themotivations behind the decisions
people make, and ultimatelyprovide insight to solutions for
our lives.
Phillip Stokes (00:36):
Welcome to Science by the Slice, my name is
Phillip Stokes EducationCoordinator with the PIE Center
and you're listening to thethird episode in our series, The
Essential Worker. I'm sure manyof you know that agriculture is
a major contributor to the stateeconomy of Florida and a major
(00:57):
producer of many commodities. Infact, over 15,000 square miles
of Florida is farmland,approximately the size of
Massachusetts and Connecticutcombined. And many of Florida's
leading crops includingstrawberries, watermelons, bell
peppers, and tomatoes, just toname a few, are very labor
intensive and most of these areharvested by migrant and
(01:19):
seasonal farmworkers by hand.
Between 150,000 and 200,000migrant and seasonal farm
workers and their familiestravel and work in Florida
annually. In fact, it'sestimated that about 33,000
workers are needed to picktomatoes, and that's just one
commodity. Clearly, farmworkersare an essential part of the
(01:40):
workforce in Florida and a majorcontributor when thinking about
how food gets to our tables. Andtoday I speak with Neza
Xiuhtecutli, the GeneralCoordinator and Principal
Investigator for the FarmworkerAssociation of Florida.
Neza Xiuhtecutli (01:55):
My name is Neza Xiuhtecutli, I'm the
General Coordinator of theFarmworker Association of
Florida. I was born in Mexico,and I grew up in South Carolina
and North Carolina and been inFlorida since 2011. In 2016, I
joined the association as partof the research team. I kind of
told myself, you know, the kindof work that I want is something
(02:17):
that will allow me to travel andsomething that'll let me see the
real Florida. Because I had beento Orlando a few times and I
knew that the theme parks, asmuch revenue as they bring to
the state, are not really thewhole picture of what Florida
is. So I just wanted to see wassomething else something that
allowed me to interact withFloridians. Low and behold be
(02:42):
careful what you ask for,because that's what I got. So I
joined the team in 2016. Thathas really brought me to almost
every little rural corner of thestate.
Phillip Stokes (02:54):
Neza became the General Coordinator in 2020, and
has been in that role eversince. The Farmworker
Association of Florida has along standing mission to build
power among the farmworker andrural, low income communities.
Established in 1983 in OrangeCounty, Florida, the Farmworker
Association is now statewide,with offices in Pierson,
(03:17):
Fellesmere, Immokalee,Homestead, and Apopka, which is
their headquarters. So now,let's pick back up with my
conversation with Neza as Iasked him about who the
association serves.
Hello Neza, thank you so muchfor joining us on the PIE
(03:39):
Center's podcast, Science by theSlice. It's so great to have you
with me today. Can you just tellus a little bit about who is
your audience who are theindividuals that you serve? You
know, the FarmworkersAssociation has such an
important role. So who is theaudience that the Farmworkers
association serves?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (03:58):
We work primarily with farmworkers. And
we have our five offices. Butthey're not just farm workers
who are in those areas where ouroffices are located. We are
happy to help any farmworkerthroughout the state of Florida.
And we started out as amembership organization. So to
(04:23):
be part of the FarmworkersAssociation, you become a
member. That membership takesthe form of an ID that some
counties will accept as a formof identification so that can
seem really handy for some ofour members who don't have an
immigration status but some somecommunities will allow them to
(04:47):
use those those membership cardsas a form of ID. Of course, that
doesn't mean that they aredriver's licenses of course they
cannot use them to vote oranything like that, but you
know, with access to healthcenters. This is a form of ID to
report crime or anything likethat, you know, they they can,
they can use our membershipcards. But we don't just serve
(05:10):
farmworkers we also work with,we really work primarily in
rural communities. But reallyanybody who comes to us looking
for help, we won't turn themaway, we have the resources to
help them. And also as manyfarmworkers start in agriculture
and then move on to otherindustries. Primarily, we see
(05:32):
men moving into landscaping orconstruction work in farmworker
women moving to either childcareor housekeeping then we, you
know they continue being membersof our organization, and often
they continue being involved. Soalthough we do work primarily
(05:55):
with farmworkers, our membershipincludes people in other
industries.
Phillip Stokes (05:59):
Yeah, yeah. So what are some of the reasons why
some people might come to theFarmworkers Association? What
are some of the issues andconcerns people may have within
their occupational field?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (06:14):
Well, a lot of them come because of that of
that membership card because itis accepted as a form of ID. But
we also offer trainings inprimarily heat and pesticide
exposure, how to prevent it,raise awareness among workers.
We also work with some growersgoing out to them and saying,
(06:34):
hey, you know, we would havethese trainings and we offer to
you at no cost, you know, it'sjust what we really want is to
help protect the workers to makesure that they know what they
can do to protect themselves.
And also, so that they know whatwhat their rights are as
workers. But, you know, we'rehappy to work with with
(06:58):
employers to. The last thingthat we want to do is put
workers out of work. What wewant to do is just make sure
that they are protected, andthat they know how to take care
of themselves. And that theyfeel confident asking for for
those protections, andadvocating for themselves.
Phillip Stokes (07:17):
You mentioned that some come in for that ID
card, because they may not bedocumented. Does that make up
the majority of your membership?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (07:26):
At the national level, I understand
that about a little over 50% offarmworkers are undocumented
even though something like 75%of them are immigrants. I think
within our membership, withinour membership, it's probably
(07:51):
closer to that national averageof immigrants who who come in
looking for that for thatmembership card form of ID
because they don't have animmigration status.
Phillip Stokes (08:05):
What are some of the other challenges that they
face maybe in beingundocumented?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (08:11):
One, one of them is not able to get a
driver's license, so they can'tdrive. Some do take the risk of
driving without a driver'slicense, but some don't, and
they just they have to paysomebody to drive them around to
and from work. So that createsan additional expense that they
(08:32):
may if that's happened, itcreates a barrier to get access
to other, to enjoy some of theammenities that our society
offers obliging, you know, evenenjoying a leisure Sunday drive
just becomes an obstacle. Theyalso have to pay somebody to
travel to the grocery store anddrive them back. A lot of them
(09:02):
don't make enough money. Theylive below the poverty line. So
they but because they'reundocumented, they also don't
qualify for for Medicaid or anykind of assistance from the
federal government for for theirfor their healthcare needs. We
are seeing more H-2A workerswhich are the guest workers but
(09:24):
they I don't think most of themknow it, but they do qualify and
they're eligible for gettinginsurance through the Affordable
Care Act marketplace, but mostmost of them don't even know
what that is. And then I wouldsay that just just the mere fact
of being undocumented preventsthem from from speaking out for
(09:48):
themselves, just advocating forthemselves because they fear
that any kind of any kind ofissue they bring up might result
in retaliation in being let goor being replaced by another
worker who is more willing togive us talk not speak out.
Phillip Stokes (10:10):
Right. Right.
Yeah, it sounds like a number ofchallenges that if, if you've
never experienced that, ifyou've never been an immigrant,
if you've never lived, that,it's just hard to comprehend
what that would be like. And soI can imagine, yeah, that would
be difficult, and also scary attimes. And so, yeah, I think
(10:31):
that's what I'm seeing is, youknow, probably one of the really
great resources of theFarmworkers Association, to
provide some assistance there.
Yeah. And you mentioned, you dotrainings on heat stress and
pesticide safety. Yeah, what aresome of the the main activities,
(10:53):
you know, besides thosetrainings that you offer to your
members?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (10:58):
We also hold community events and we do have
a civic engagement program. Soout of those trainings, we also
hear from, from our members, oranybody that's coming to those
trainings, about the issues thatthey're facing at work. And then
we invite them to be part of theCivic democratic process,
(11:21):
because we also hold candidateforums, and we do legislative
visits. So whenever we have anyof those events, we invite them
to come and voice their concernsand their opinions. And really,
the the mission and vision ofthe association is for
farmworkers to build power amongfarm workers so that they
advocate for themselves. So Isaid earlier that the last thing
(11:47):
we want to do is put workers outof work but but our goal really
is to put ourselves out of work,because we want for workers for
farmworkers to be able toadvocate for themselves without
the need of an organization likeours.
Phillip Stokes (12:03):
So you know, one topic that is kind of a common
thread in this podcast seriesthat we're doing on agricultural
health and safety is thedisconnection between people and
their food. And that includesthe people that harvest and
plant and grow the food as well.
So what is it that you wouldlike the listeners to know here
(12:25):
today? What would you like themto know about the work and the
risks and the hazards? So itkind of just to help sort of
provide a full picture of whatthis livelihood and what this
work looks like?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (12:42):
Yeah, I think the first thing I would want to
say is that it's really hardwork. Probably doesn't come as a
surprise to anybody. But it ishard work. And they spend a lot
of time outside and just like,just like being outside, if
you're going out camping orspending any time doing outside,
(13:02):
you really are exposed to theelements. So I think that is
just something that I feel likesometimes doesn't get enough
attention. We often talk inorganization about heat
exposure. And it is one of thebiggest threats that we work
with. The latest statistic Ihave is that farmworkers are 35%
(13:26):
not 35%, 35 times more likely todie of heatstroke than workers
in other occupations. Butworking outside, they're also
exposed to rain, lightning,smoke, and, of course, through
(13:48):
the wind they sometimes also getexposed to pesticides, through
pesticide drift. And I want togo back to smoke because we
often hear about fires, forestfires taking place in out west
in California or Colorado,places like that, but but we
(14:11):
also do get forest fires inFlorida. And because they're not
of the same scale that we seeout west doesn't mean that
they're not producing asignificant amount of smoke that
farmworkers sometimes justwithout even realizing it are
breathing it in. And that canlead to respiratory illnesses
later on.
Phillip Stokes (14:30):
Right. Yeah, you know, I would think that I would
assume and I'd like to get yourinput on this, but I would
assume that sometimes healthkind of gets put aside because
you know, your main motivationis going to be doing your job so
you can you can collect yourpaycheck and so you can provide
(14:52):
for your family and and forwhoever you're providing for.
And a lot of times if you don'tif you're not proactive and take
preventative measures, then youmight have some of these health
issues later on. Is that whatyou have seen with some of the
workers that you work with?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (15:11):
Yeah, and I would say going back to heat
that is, especially where I seeit, because a lot of
agricultural workers get paid bythe piece rate, meaning that
they get paid for what theyharvest or pick or cut depending
on what they're working on. Andthey'll often keep working even,
(15:33):
even after they realize thatthey're thirsty that they've
been sweating for a while andnot take breaks, because they,
you know, for them, it meanshaving to stop and making money.
But also stopping means that theperson next to them is going to
be picking whatever they wouldbe picking. So they're in
essence competing against theirown co-workers and crew members.
(15:56):
And I think, also for thatreason, sometimes they they
don't recognize that they needto, they stop drinking water
because they don't want to takerestroom breaks. So they by
trying to work harder and nottake as many breaks, they're
also not hydrating as often asthey should. So that is a point
(16:17):
that we that we often try tomake with them because you know,
drink water drink, drink often.
Drink atleast a bottle of wateran hour just to stay hydrated.
Phillip Stokes (16:29):
Right. Right.
Yeah. It seems like thateducational component would just
be so important would be soimportant. Because health may
not be maybe it should be but itmay not be the top priority when
when they're when they're outthere and they're working. And
maybe not thinking about that.
Neza Xiuhtecutli (16:50):
Yeah, I guess I would say that, um,
farmworkers don't get paid alot. They don't have access to
health care. They often don'thave a way to get around. And
living in rural areas, therearen't that many health care
centers where they can go to.
Health care it really just isone of the main issues for them
(17:10):
too. And then not being able tocatch anything early enough. So
the screening like that lack ofaccess just puts a barrier on
screening. So oftentimes, theydon't even find out about a
chronic disease until it's likereally chronic. Till it's
advanced.
Phillip Stokes (17:31):
Yeah, yeah. Do you find health care providers
aren't always kind of up to dateon some of the risks of
farmworker worker injuries orfarm worker hazards and risks?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (17:48):
I would say that I think one of the main
things that need to be addressedis getting healthcare providers
to change their mindset whenthey're treating somebody to
also ask questions related tooccupational health and hazards.
(18:09):
Because we have heard fromworkers that that go to a clinic
and they come with rashes butthe health care provider doesn't
think to ask, oh, like, where doyou work? And I think just
asking where do you work mightbring up a line of questioning
and information that would leadto like, oh, you know, maybe,
(18:31):
maybe you got exposed tosomething maybe it's residue and
it might not be but at least atleast we're covering all areas.
Phillip Stokes (18:41):
Right. I guess kind of one of my last
questions. What would you sayare some of the impacts of the
Farmworkers Association ofFlorida that maybe are most
notable?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (18:54):
I think it was in 2004 we had an organizer in
Pierson, who was very active invery involved and he had been a
farm worker himself. His namewas (inaudible). He died in an
accident himself. His carcollided with a train. But he
(19:18):
had been working on some timefor some time on for workers to
be transported inside anenclosed vehicle instead of like
having like the back of a pickuptruck or anything that was kind
of open air. And then in 2004, abill was passed that actually
(19:39):
required in Florida forfarmworkers to be transported in
like an enclosed vehicle insteadof being transported on the back
of a pickup truck. So I thinkthat that's one of the one of
the biggest ones we've seen. Wehave been advocating for better
heat protections for farmworkersand OSHA is taking it up this
(20:03):
year as one of its one of itstasks is to to come up with a
set of protections that can beadapted across the board for all
workers exposed to heat. So Iwould say just the fact that
that is being taken up now is awin. Then earlier this year in
(20:27):
the Florida Legislature, we hada state senator from Miami Dade
(inaudible) introduced a billthat would have provided
protections for workers. Thatbill was really more about
education than enforcement, andactually passing a culture
(20:47):
committee. But it stalled in theother committees. So it didn't
pass it. But that's the farthesta bill like that has gone in
Florida so we're hopeful that itcan be reintroduced, if not by
her by another legislator, butwe would like to see something
like that passed at the statelevel.
Phillip Stokes (21:10):
Yeah, it does sound like advocating at the
legislative level and trying toget better laws and guidelines
in place to assist farmworkers,that's one of the big things
that you can do to help, likeyou said, empower farmworkers,
empower workers and kind of givethem a bigger voice. And I think
(21:32):
through legislative action,that's one of the best and most
broad ways that it can be done.
Well, Neza do you have any otherthings you want to talk about
anything we didn't touch on?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (21:44):
I would just say that it's really important
that we come up with some kindof immigration reform, because I
think that's the biggest barrierthat farmworkers face just not
being able to advocate forthemselves. Even if they find a
friendly environment, they don'tfeel safe and confident
advocating for themselves. Butthen we also have people are
(22:08):
choosing to vilify immigrants,and then that just creates a
really toxic environment wherethey don't, they don't really
feel comfortable, or confidentat all, just advocating for
themselves.
Phillip Stokes (22:19):
Well, Neza I just want to thank you for being
on the PIE Center's podcast,Science by the Slice. If people
want to get in touch, or findout more about the association,
where would you point them?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (22:31):
Well, they can visit our website,
Floridafarmworkers dot o-r-g.
They can also follow us onFacebook, Instagram and on
Twitter. I don't know the exactuser names for Facebook and
Instagram, but on Twitter, we're@ FWAFL.
Phillip Stokes (22:52):
Great. Great.
Well, Neza once again, thank youso much. I appreciate your time.
Neza Xiuhtecutli (22:57):
Thank you, Phillip. Appreciate you
appreciate the invitation.
Ricky Telg (23:04):
Science by the Slice is produced by the UF/IFAS
Center for Public IssuesEducation in Agriculture and
Natural Resources. Thanks forlistening to today's episode.
Subscribe to Science by theSlice on your favorite podcast
app and give us a rating orreview as well. Have a question
or comment? Send us an email topiecenter@ifas.ufl.edu. That's
(23:27):
piecenter, all one word, atifas, I-F-A-S, dot ufl dot edu.
We'd love to hear from you. Ifyou enjoyed today's episode,
consider sharing with a friendor colleague. Until next time,
thanks for listening to Scienceby the Slice.
This is Science by the Slice, a podcast from the
University of Florida'sInstitute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences Center forPublic Issues Education. In this
podcast, experts discuss thescience of issues affecting our
daily lives, reveal themotivations behind the decisions
people make, and ultimatelyprovide insight to solutions for
our lives.
Phillip Stokes (00:36):
Welcome to Science by the Slice, my name is
Phillip Stokes EducationCoordinator with the PIE Center
and you're listening to thethird episode in our series, The
Essential Worker. I'm sure manyof you know that agriculture is
a major contributor to the stateeconomy of Florida and a major
(00:57):
producer of many commodities. Infact, over 15,000 square miles
of Florida is farmland,approximately the size of
Massachusetts and Connecticutcombined. And many of Florida's
leading crops includingstrawberries, watermelons, bell
peppers, and tomatoes, just toname a few, are very labor
intensive and most of these areharvested by migrant and
(01:19):
seasonal farmworkers by hand.
Between 150,000 and 200,000migrant and seasonal farm
workers and their familiestravel and work in Florida
annually. In fact, it'sestimated that about 33,000
workers are needed to picktomatoes, and that's just one
commodity. Clearly, farmworkersare an essential part of the
(01:40):
workforce in Florida and a majorcontributor when thinking about
how food gets to our tables. Andtoday I speak with Neza
Xiuhtecutli, the GeneralCoordinator and Principal
Investigator for the FarmworkerAssociation of Florida.
Neza Xiuhtecutli (01:55):
My name is Neza Xiuhtecutli, I'm the
General Coordinator of theFarmworker Association of
Florida. I was born in Mexico,and I grew up in South Carolina
and North Carolina and been inFlorida since 2011. In 2016, I
joined the association as partof the research team. I kind of
told myself, you know, the kindof work that I want is something
(02:17):
that will allow me to travel andsomething that'll let me see the
real Florida. Because I had beento Orlando a few times and I
knew that the theme parks, asmuch revenue as they bring to
the state, are not really thewhole picture of what Florida
is. So I just wanted to see wassomething else something that
allowed me to interact withFloridians. Low and behold be
(02:42):
careful what you ask for,because that's what I got. So I
joined the team in 2016. Thathas really brought me to almost
every little rural corner of thestate.
Phillip Stokes (02:54):
Neza became the General Coordinator in 2020, and
has been in that role eversince. The Farmworker
Association of Florida has along standing mission to build
power among the farmworker andrural, low income communities.
Established in 1983 in OrangeCounty, Florida, the Farmworker
Association is now statewide,with offices in Pierson,
(03:17):
Fellesmere, Immokalee,Homestead, and Apopka, which is
their headquarters. So now,let's pick back up with my
conversation with Neza as Iasked him about who the
association serves.
Hello Neza, thank you so muchfor joining us on the PIE
(03:39):
Center's podcast, Science by theSlice. It's so great to have you
with me today. Can you just tellus a little bit about who is
your audience who are theindividuals that you serve? You
know, the FarmworkersAssociation has such an
important role. So who is theaudience that the Farmworkers
association serves?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (03:58):
We work primarily with farmworkers. And
we have our five offices. Butthey're not just farm workers
who are in those areas where ouroffices are located. We are
happy to help any farmworkerthroughout the state of Florida.
And we started out as amembership organization. So to
(04:23):
be part of the FarmworkersAssociation, you become a
member. That membership takesthe form of an ID that some
counties will accept as a formof identification so that can
seem really handy for some ofour members who don't have an
immigration status but some somecommunities will allow them to
(04:47):
use those those membership cardsas a form of ID. Of course, that
doesn't mean that they aredriver's licenses of course they
cannot use them to vote oranything like that, but you
know, with access to healthcenters. This is a form of ID to
report crime or anything likethat, you know, they they can,
they can use our membershipcards. But we don't just serve
(05:10):
farmworkers we also work with,we really work primarily in
rural communities. But reallyanybody who comes to us looking
for help, we won't turn themaway, we have the resources to
help them. And also as manyfarmworkers start in agriculture
and then move on to otherindustries. Primarily, we see
(05:32):
men moving into landscaping orconstruction work in farmworker
women moving to either childcareor housekeeping then we, you
know they continue being membersof our organization, and often
they continue being involved. Soalthough we do work primarily
(05:55):
with farmworkers, our membershipincludes people in other
industries.
Phillip Stokes (05:59):
Yeah, yeah. So what are some of the reasons why
some people might come to theFarmworkers Association? What
are some of the issues andconcerns people may have within
their occupational field?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (06:14):
Well, a lot of them come because of that of
that membership card because itis accepted as a form of ID. But
we also offer trainings inprimarily heat and pesticide
exposure, how to prevent it,raise awareness among workers.
We also work with some growersgoing out to them and saying,
(06:34):
hey, you know, we would havethese trainings and we offer to
you at no cost, you know, it'sjust what we really want is to
help protect the workers to makesure that they know what they
can do to protect themselves.
And also, so that they know whatwhat their rights are as
workers. But, you know, we'rehappy to work with with
(06:58):
employers to. The last thingthat we want to do is put
workers out of work. What wewant to do is just make sure
that they are protected, andthat they know how to take care
of themselves. And that theyfeel confident asking for for
those protections, andadvocating for themselves.
Phillip Stokes (07:17):
You mentioned that some come in for that ID
card, because they may not bedocumented. Does that make up
the majority of your membership?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (07:26):
At the national level, I understand
that about a little over 50% offarmworkers are undocumented
even though something like 75%of them are immigrants. I think
within our membership, withinour membership, it's probably
(07:51):
closer to that national averageof immigrants who who come in
looking for that for thatmembership card form of ID
because they don't have animmigration status.
Phillip Stokes (08:05):
What are some of the other challenges that they
face maybe in beingundocumented?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (08:11):
One, one of them is not able to get a
driver's license, so they can'tdrive. Some do take the risk of
driving without a driver'slicense, but some don't, and
they just they have to paysomebody to drive them around to
and from work. So that createsan additional expense that they
(08:32):
may if that's happened, itcreates a barrier to get access
to other, to enjoy some of theammenities that our society
offers obliging, you know, evenenjoying a leisure Sunday drive
just becomes an obstacle. Theyalso have to pay somebody to
travel to the grocery store anddrive them back. A lot of them
(09:02):
don't make enough money. Theylive below the poverty line. So
they but because they'reundocumented, they also don't
qualify for for Medicaid or anykind of assistance from the
federal government for for theirfor their healthcare needs. We
are seeing more H-2A workerswhich are the guest workers but
(09:24):
they I don't think most of themknow it, but they do qualify and
they're eligible for gettinginsurance through the Affordable
Care Act marketplace, but mostmost of them don't even know
what that is. And then I wouldsay that just just the mere fact
of being undocumented preventsthem from from speaking out for
(09:48):
themselves, just advocating forthemselves because they fear
that any kind of any kind ofissue they bring up might result
in retaliation in being let goor being replaced by another
worker who is more willing togive us talk not speak out.
Phillip Stokes (10:10):
Right. Right.
Yeah, it sounds like a number ofchallenges that if, if you've
never experienced that, ifyou've never been an immigrant,
if you've never lived, that,it's just hard to comprehend
what that would be like. And soI can imagine, yeah, that would
be difficult, and also scary attimes. And so, yeah, I think
(10:31):
that's what I'm seeing is, youknow, probably one of the really
great resources of theFarmworkers Association, to
provide some assistance there.
Yeah. And you mentioned, you dotrainings on heat stress and
pesticide safety. Yeah, what aresome of the the main activities,
(10:53):
you know, besides thosetrainings that you offer to your
members?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (10:58):
We also hold community events and we do have
a civic engagement program. Soout of those trainings, we also
hear from, from our members, oranybody that's coming to those
trainings, about the issues thatthey're facing at work. And then
we invite them to be part of theCivic democratic process,
(11:21):
because we also hold candidateforums, and we do legislative
visits. So whenever we have anyof those events, we invite them
to come and voice their concernsand their opinions. And really,
the the mission and vision ofthe association is for
farmworkers to build power amongfarm workers so that they
advocate for themselves. So Isaid earlier that the last thing
(11:47):
we want to do is put workers outof work but but our goal really
is to put ourselves out of work,because we want for workers for
farmworkers to be able toadvocate for themselves without
the need of an organization likeours.
Phillip Stokes (12:03):
So you know, one topic that is kind of a common
thread in this podcast seriesthat we're doing on agricultural
health and safety is thedisconnection between people and
their food. And that includesthe people that harvest and
plant and grow the food as well.
So what is it that you wouldlike the listeners to know here
(12:25):
today? What would you like themto know about the work and the
risks and the hazards? So itkind of just to help sort of
provide a full picture of whatthis livelihood and what this
work looks like?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (12:42):
Yeah, I think the first thing I would want to
say is that it's really hardwork. Probably doesn't come as a
surprise to anybody. But it ishard work. And they spend a lot
of time outside and just like,just like being outside, if
you're going out camping orspending any time doing outside,
(13:02):
you really are exposed to theelements. So I think that is
just something that I feel likesometimes doesn't get enough
attention. We often talk inorganization about heat
exposure. And it is one of thebiggest threats that we work
with. The latest statistic Ihave is that farmworkers are 35%
(13:26):
not 35%, 35 times more likely todie of heatstroke than workers
in other occupations. Butworking outside, they're also
exposed to rain, lightning,smoke, and, of course, through
(13:48):
the wind they sometimes also getexposed to pesticides, through
pesticide drift. And I want togo back to smoke because we
often hear about fires, forestfires taking place in out west
in California or Colorado,places like that, but but we
(14:11):
also do get forest fires inFlorida. And because they're not
of the same scale that we seeout west doesn't mean that
they're not producing asignificant amount of smoke that
farmworkers sometimes justwithout even realizing it are
breathing it in. And that canlead to respiratory illnesses
later on.
Phillip Stokes (14:30):
Right. Yeah, you know, I would think that I would
assume and I'd like to get yourinput on this, but I would
assume that sometimes healthkind of gets put aside because
you know, your main motivationis going to be doing your job so
you can you can collect yourpaycheck and so you can provide
(14:52):
for your family and and forwhoever you're providing for.
And a lot of times if you don'tif you're not proactive and take
preventative measures, then youmight have some of these health
issues later on. Is that whatyou have seen with some of the
workers that you work with?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (15:11):
Yeah, and I would say going back to heat
that is, especially where I seeit, because a lot of
agricultural workers get paid bythe piece rate, meaning that
they get paid for what theyharvest or pick or cut depending
on what they're working on. Andthey'll often keep working even,
(15:33):
even after they realize thatthey're thirsty that they've
been sweating for a while andnot take breaks, because they,
you know, for them, it meanshaving to stop and making money.
But also stopping means that theperson next to them is going to
be picking whatever they wouldbe picking. So they're in
essence competing against theirown co-workers and crew members.
(15:56):
And I think, also for thatreason, sometimes they they
don't recognize that they needto, they stop drinking water
because they don't want to takerestroom breaks. So they by
trying to work harder and nottake as many breaks, they're
also not hydrating as often asthey should. So that is a point
(16:17):
that we that we often try tomake with them because you know,
drink water drink, drink often.
Drink atleast a bottle of wateran hour just to stay hydrated.
Phillip Stokes (16:29):
Right. Right.
Yeah. It seems like thateducational component would just
be so important would be soimportant. Because health may
not be maybe it should be but itmay not be the top priority when
when they're when they're outthere and they're working. And
maybe not thinking about that.
Neza Xiuhtecutli (16:50):
Yeah, I guess I would say that, um,
farmworkers don't get paid alot. They don't have access to
health care. They often don'thave a way to get around. And
living in rural areas, therearen't that many health care
centers where they can go to.
Health care it really just isone of the main issues for them
(17:10):
too. And then not being able tocatch anything early enough. So
the screening like that lack ofaccess just puts a barrier on
screening. So oftentimes, theydon't even find out about a
chronic disease until it's likereally chronic. Till it's
advanced.
Phillip Stokes (17:31):
Yeah, yeah. Do you find health care providers
aren't always kind of up to dateon some of the risks of
farmworker worker injuries orfarm worker hazards and risks?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (17:48):
I would say that I think one of the main
things that need to be addressedis getting healthcare providers
to change their mindset whenthey're treating somebody to
also ask questions related tooccupational health and hazards.
(18:09):
Because we have heard fromworkers that that go to a clinic
and they come with rashes butthe health care provider doesn't
think to ask, oh, like, where doyou work? And I think just
asking where do you work mightbring up a line of questioning
and information that would leadto like, oh, you know, maybe,
(18:31):
maybe you got exposed tosomething maybe it's residue and
it might not be but at least atleast we're covering all areas.
Phillip Stokes (18:41):
Right. I guess kind of one of my last
questions. What would you sayare some of the impacts of the
Farmworkers Association ofFlorida that maybe are most
notable?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (18:54):
I think it was in 2004 we had an organizer in
Pierson, who was very active invery involved and he had been a
farm worker himself. His namewas (inaudible). He died in an
accident himself. His carcollided with a train. But he
(19:18):
had been working on some timefor some time on for workers to
be transported inside anenclosed vehicle instead of like
having like the back of a pickuptruck or anything that was kind
of open air. And then in 2004, abill was passed that actually
(19:39):
required in Florida forfarmworkers to be transported in
like an enclosed vehicle insteadof being transported on the back
of a pickup truck. So I thinkthat that's one of the one of
the biggest ones we've seen. Wehave been advocating for better
heat protections for farmworkersand OSHA is taking it up this
(20:03):
year as one of its one of itstasks is to to come up with a
set of protections that can beadapted across the board for all
workers exposed to heat. So Iwould say just the fact that
that is being taken up now is awin. Then earlier this year in
(20:27):
the Florida Legislature, we hada state senator from Miami Dade
(inaudible) introduced a billthat would have provided
protections for workers. Thatbill was really more about
education than enforcement, andactually passing a culture
(20:47):
committee. But it stalled in theother committees. So it didn't
pass it. But that's the farthesta bill like that has gone in
Florida so we're hopeful that itcan be reintroduced, if not by
her by another legislator, butwe would like to see something
like that passed at the statelevel.
Phillip Stokes (21:10):
Yeah, it does sound like advocating at the
legislative level and trying toget better laws and guidelines
in place to assist farmworkers,that's one of the big things
that you can do to help, likeyou said, empower farmworkers,
empower workers and kind of givethem a bigger voice. And I think
(21:32):
through legislative action,that's one of the best and most
broad ways that it can be done.
Well, Neza do you have any otherthings you want to talk about
anything we didn't touch on?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (21:44):
I would just say that it's really important
that we come up with some kindof immigration reform, because I
think that's the biggest barrierthat farmworkers face just not
being able to advocate forthemselves. Even if they find a
friendly environment, they don'tfeel safe and confident
advocating for themselves. Butthen we also have people are
(22:08):
choosing to vilify immigrants,and then that just creates a
really toxic environment wherethey don't, they don't really
feel comfortable, or confidentat all, just advocating for
themselves.
Phillip Stokes (22:19):
Well, Neza I just want to thank you for being
on the PIE Center's podcast,Science by the Slice. If people
want to get in touch, or findout more about the association,
where would you point them?
Neza Xiuhtecutli (22:31):
Well, they can visit our website,
Floridafarmworkers dot o-r-g.
They can also follow us onFacebook, Instagram and on
Twitter. I don't know the exactuser names for Facebook and
Instagram, but on Twitter, we're@ FWAFL.
Phillip Stokes (22:52):
Great. Great.
Well, Neza once again, thank youso much. I appreciate your time.
Neza Xiuhtecutli (22:57):
Thank you, Phillip. Appreciate you
appreciate the invitation.
Ricky Telg (23:04):
Science by the Slice is produced by the UF/IFAS
Center for Public IssuesEducation in Agriculture and
Natural Resources. Thanks forlistening to today's episode.
Subscribe to Science by theSlice on your favorite podcast
app and give us a rating orreview as well. Have a question
or comment? Send us an email topiecenter@ifas.ufl.edu. That's
(23:27):
piecenter, all one word, atifas, I-F-A-S, dot ufl dot edu.
We'd love to hear from you. Ifyou enjoyed today's episode,
consider sharing with a friendor colleague. Until next time,
thanks for listening to Scienceby the Slice.
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