Speech #920033023

I have received some disappointing reports on the role of the U.S. Department of Labor Farm Labor Service. which operates as a part of the Farm Labor and Rural Manpower Service of the Manpower Administration. In April 1970. the subcommittee conducted intensive hearings on migrant and seasonal farmworker manpower and economic problems. During those hearings. it was alleged that the Farm Labor Service had failed to fulfill its statutory obligations. abandoned the farmworker it is mandated to serve. and maintained an employer bias that often conflicts with the best interest of farmworkers. Today. a 1.500page complaint including verified exhibits was filed against the Secretary of Labor. The complaint seeks to close the nationwide Farm Labor Service and is brought by 16 prominent organizations as well as 398 farmworkers from across the Nation. Activities of the Farm Labor Service in the Nation genera~y. and in 15 States specifically. are challenged in the suit. Numerous affidavits filed as part of the law suit are claimed to document not only the Farm Labor Services refusal to enforce the minimum wage. housing. toilet. and drinking water requirements. but also the Services active assistance to growers who violate State and Federal law and the dignity of the migrant. Other affidavits allege that more than 300.000 foreign workers were placed by the Farm Labor Service in competition with unemployed local workers. Depositions of prominent Farm Labor Service officials allegedly show an employment policy of the pre-"Grapes of Wrath" era. Counseling. testing. and upgrading of migrant employment skills is nonexistent or only minimally effective. In the complaint. the farmworkers contend that they would be better off without any Farm Labor Service at all. since its groweroriented staff often refers them to the worst paying Jobs which offer the poorest working conditions. It is estimated that this policy costs the migrants approximately $100 million a year in lost income. In the alternative. they say that since the Farm Labor Service has failed for 30 years to protect. much less advance. the cause of the farmworker. that farmworkers should be given an opportunity to operate their own program with a minimal amount of employer or bureaucratic control. Although the Labor Department has made some effort to extend manpower services to rural areas. and although some States have performed their statutory obligations and legislative mandate admirably. it is significant that the complaint extends to Farm Labor Service activities of at least 15 States. and with the exception of severa experimental programs. manpower programs for farmworkers are practically nonexistent. We have failed the migrant and we will continue to fail the migrant until we give him an opportunity to develop dignity and selfsufficiency. It appears that farmworkers desire to either eliminate the program or alternatively to have an effective voice in the operations of the program. I hope that the Secretary of Labor will take a hard ook at the present Farm Labor Service operation.