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WMM&M
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Sarah Kickler
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
NIGHT EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
Plowing down migrant workers
A new proposal for 'guest
workers’ would lower wages
and hurt all farm workers
Guest worker.
Has there ever been a
more troublesome phrase
in the history of U.S. im
migration policy? Immigrants of all
nationalities have faced racist slurs
and insults for generations, but the
new language of migrant labor
masks all that hatred behind smil
ing pro-agribusiness rhetoric.
Guest worker programs are noth
ing new. In the 1980s and 1990s,
Congress passed legislation that al
lowed tens of thousands of immi
grants into the United States solely
for the purpose of working as farm
laborers.
Nor are the justifications for
such proposals new: labor short
ages. Business leaders, who remain
convinced that because they don’t
want to work in the fields no
American does, complain that
farms face a labor shortage.
What is new is the latest bill to
allow 40,000 “guest workers" into
the United States. The bill, advo
cated by Oregon Rep. Bob Smith in
the U.S. House and Oregon Sen.
Gordon Smith in the Senate, has
drawn little media attention.
It has, however, drawn the wrath
of alert politicians, farm labor ac
tivists and Latino groups. Some of
these groups rallied last Friday in
downtown Eugene to protest the
proposal.
The bill is, admittedly, small in
scale. Unfortunately, because it is
being touted as a pilot program, it
has the potential to quietly slip
into something much larger after
the two-year test run is over.
There are a number of reasons
that people such as state Sen. Su
san Castillo, state Rep. Tony Corco
ran and a spokesman for U.S. Rep.
Peter DeFazio showed up at the ral
ly to speak against the bill. Fore
most is the way it tilts the scale
against farm labor and in favor of
agribusiness.
As Mark Stricherz pointed out in
the May 11 issue of The Nation,
many of the areas considered for
guest worker programs have high
levels of unemployment, often
reaching into the double digits.
While those unemployed may be
unwilling to work for the paltry
wages farm owners hope to pay im
migrants, local laborers would cer
tainly take a job that provides rea
sonable compensation.
Of course, reasonable compensa
tion has never been the goal of
most business owners. Importing
farm labor, just like the proposed
importation of high-tech workers
that has received more recent me
dia attention, is simply a way to
flood the labor market and keep
profit margins high.
There are other problems with
the bill that would further damage
workers, both immigrants and lo
cals. As Stricherz notes, the bill
would not guarantee workers hous
ing, full-time work or even a set
contract.
By not ensuring housing, the bill
would draw migrant workers away
from their families and into com
munities already full of laborers
unable to afford housing, leading
to homelessness and a drain on the
area’s social services. (Of course,
with federal repeal of most services
for even legal aliens, many immi
grants may simply starve or die
from disease.)
The lack of a guarantee of full
time work could allow agribusi
ness to push wages even lower. By
inviting hundreds of workers north
and then making them compete for
a far smaller number of jobs, grow
ers can select only the most obedi
ent workers — rejecting those who
might report labor abuses or at
tempt to join a union.
By not having a clear contract,
workers are at even greater risk of
abuse and mistreatment by farm
owners. Workers with a thin paper
trail vanish back south easily when
they don’t behave or challenge
poor labor practices. They also
have a hard time holding growers
to verbal agreements that recruited
the workers in the first place.
Anyone who is concerned about
the fair treatment of workers, both in
the United States and elsewhere,
should worry about many of the pro
visions of the guest worker proposal.
By flooding the labor market and
crippling worker protections,
agribusiness — like many other types
of corporations — will increase its
profit margins at the cost of the com
munities it ought to be a part of.
This editorial represents the opinion of
the Emerald editorial Ixxird. Responses
may he sent to ode@oregon.uorepon .edu
letters to the editor
Bartel best choice
The citizens of Eugene pride themselves on be
ing liberal and progressive. Evidence of this is
everywhere around town, from recycling pro
grams to tree plantings. Simply put, Eugene is a
unique city.
Therefore, it shouldn’t be surprising that a
unique city such as Eugene has its own water
and electric utility. What is surprising is that no
body really seems to pay attention to the actions
of the Eugene Water and Electric Board. In an
area so concerned with the environment, it is
ironic that the elected board that deals with
many environmental issues is also the one that
generates the least attention.
I write today to say that in the upcoming pri
mary election, one candidate for the board
stands out. If you live in the South Eugene/cam
pus area, I urge you to vote for Peter Bartel. Bar
tel has been a Eugene small-business owner for
15 years, in addition to serving on the Lane
County Budget Committee and as an aide to for
mer County Commissioner Jerry Rust. But above
anything else, Bartel is a long-time Eugene area
resident who cares about the community.
In the May election, vote for dedication, re
sponsibility and commitment. Vote Peter Bartel
for E WEB.
Robert Ackley
Bartel Campaign Volunteer
Thumbs
TO CONTINUED
ANTI-MISSILE
DEFENSE RE
SEARCH:
In late April,
the administra
tion granted Boe
ing a $1.6 billion
contract to devel
op an anti-mis
sile system. In
2000, Clinton will
decide whether
to implement the
system, which
could mean at
least $3 billion
for the Seattle
based aerospace
company. Given
that earlier anti
missile programs
have performed
miserably,
spending almost
$2 billion to de
velop another
that might not
even be used
seems absurd.
Worse, if the pro
gram is imple
mented, it would
represent a seri
ous threat to
global security.
Such programs
could easily be
converted into
space-based
weapons sys
tems, could po
tentially misfire
and could cause
malfunctions of
land-based
weapons track
ing systems,
leading to acci
dental firings of
nuclear
weapons.
Correction
ln“Cinco de
Mayo is celebration
of tradition” (ODE,
May 5), MEChA
should have been
referred toasaChi
cano student orga
nization.
In “Protesters
say bills exploit
farm workers”
(ODE, April 4), Amy
Casso is the co-di
rector of MEChA.
In “Next year’s
ASUO plans for
changes" (ODE May
6), the ASUO Exec
utive coordinator
will be replaced
next year by an Ex
ecutive organizer.
The Emerald re
grets these errors.