Speech #830070122

When interviewed the man was feeling desperate as to how he was going to make enough money to get home. find a new job in Texas. and keep his family alive In the interim period. These racketeer contractors are so desperate to get workers to sign up with them that they lie about the State employment service. Migrants told our investigator tales. obviously malicious and untrue. about what the employment service would" do if they went to It for jobs. It is not without significance that in our Colorado study. where the fieldwork covered a 4month period. the only threats made to migrants who talked with interviewers came from labor contractors. And the only persons who refused to talk with interviewers were labor contractors. We earnestly hope Congress will take immediate steps to stop this trafficking in human misery. I Your committee has also under consideration the question of a minimum wage for migrantfarm workers which we strongly favor. You have already had documented testimony on incredibly low wage rates in many migrant areas. The principle of a minimum wage has long been accepted for industrial workers. Men and women who work in agriculture are the same kind of human beings. They too must eat. clothe themselves. and take care of their children. Migrants must pay cash for all these things. They cant raise their own produce for. even if they have homes. they are not there during the growing season. They are absolutely dependent on their cash wages. But in supporting a minimum wage. we would point out that a minimum wage is not. of itself. a cure for the poverty of migrants. A wage of $1 an hour doesnt mean much if a person averagesonly 2 or 3 days work a week. Many factors. other than the wage scale. push down the migrants income. He is not paid during the period of transportation to and from his home base to the State he workssometimes over 1.000 miles. as from Texas to Michigan. He is not paid for the time he spends going from one job to another in a State.