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Christmas tree cutters' labor fight shines light on holiday season's forgotten workers
Source: The Guardian
Christmas tree cutters' labor fight shines light on holiday season's forgotten workers
In the mountains of North Carolina, low-wage workers scored a hard-earned victory on safety and pay – but Republicans in the state are retaliating
Mike Elk
Monday 18 December 2017 11.00 GMT
As Americans gather around their Christmas tree, few think about the forgotten workers of the holiday season: the low-wage Latinos who toil in the fields cutting down trees and facing abuse, injury – and retaliation for speaking out.
In the mountains of North Carolina, workers at Hart-T-Tree farm in Grassy Creek say they had their wages stolen, were exposed to hazardous chemicals, and lived in constant fear of injury on the job. They also say they faced intimidating bosses pushing them to work harder in order to meet the holiday demands.
So they decided to organize to fight for their rights as members of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee – and won a $350,000 wage theft settlement against their employer.
-snip-
The workers’ story is an inspiring one that is likely to encourage others in the industry. However, scared by their organizing efforts of over 10,000 unionized farm workers in North Carolina, Republicans in the North Carolina general assembly are attempting to making it more difficult for farm workers to unionize; putting the gains of workers in the mountains of North Carolina at risk.
-snip-
In the mountains of North Carolina, low-wage workers scored a hard-earned victory on safety and pay – but Republicans in the state are retaliating
Mike Elk
Monday 18 December 2017 11.00 GMT
As Americans gather around their Christmas tree, few think about the forgotten workers of the holiday season: the low-wage Latinos who toil in the fields cutting down trees and facing abuse, injury – and retaliation for speaking out.
In the mountains of North Carolina, workers at Hart-T-Tree farm in Grassy Creek say they had their wages stolen, were exposed to hazardous chemicals, and lived in constant fear of injury on the job. They also say they faced intimidating bosses pushing them to work harder in order to meet the holiday demands.
So they decided to organize to fight for their rights as members of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee – and won a $350,000 wage theft settlement against their employer.
-snip-
The workers’ story is an inspiring one that is likely to encourage others in the industry. However, scared by their organizing efforts of over 10,000 unionized farm workers in North Carolina, Republicans in the North Carolina general assembly are attempting to making it more difficult for farm workers to unionize; putting the gains of workers in the mountains of North Carolina at risk.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/18/christmas-tree-workers-north-carolina-equality-fight
