By Herrana Addisu, From Freedom United

Most temporary workers are recruited via third-party foreign labor contractors (FLCs), some of whom act neither lawfully nor ethically. These FLCs take advantage of the desperation of low-income workers to increase their profits by charging high fees and deceiving them into exploitative work conditions.  

Once in the US, workers are bound to a single employer and are dependent on them for housing, food, and visas. Employers can take advantage of this power imbalance to abuse their workers—and because FLCs act as brokers between employer and worker,employers bear little responsibility for any wrongdoing. 

Felipe is just one worker who was exploited by an FLC and became trapped in forced labor.

Felipe was promised $10,000 by an FLC to work for a season on a farm near Bakersfield, CA. He paid over $2500 in fees for visa and transportation that was to be reimbursed. But when he got there, his visa was confiscated and he was not reimbursed—in fact, he was not paid at all for three months. After enduring months of forced labor and beating, Felipe overstayed his visa to earn more money at the FLC’s request, but is now being kept under fear of deportation. He has been in the US four years and fears he will die there.[6] 

California state legislators tried to protect people like Felipe in 2014 by passing Senate Bill 477 (SB477).[7]

The bill requires that all FLCs register and that California employers only use registered FLCs to recruit temporary workers. Under the bill, FLCs must give full and honest disclosure of terms and conditions in the recruiting process—including charging no fees. Both employers and FLCs face penalties for failure to comply. 

But when the bill became law, an error in the way it was incorporated into existing legal provisions for farm worker meant it failed in its goals. The new law allows for an interpretation that would limit the law to protect only around 3% of migrant workers. 

SB477 leaves thousands of workers in California, especially agricultural workers, at high risk of exploitation.[8]

We cannot stand by while the workers growing our produce are exploited.

Our partners at the Coalition Against Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) have been lobbying for the small legislative change that would be needed to fix the bill and ensure it applies to ALL temporary workers. While simple, the amendment has faced opposition from industry lobbyists who stand to gain from the loophole.[9]

Join us in calling on the California State Legislature to amend Senate Bill 477 to protect all migrant workers, regardless of visa or industry, from forced labor and human trafficking.

Sign the petition and urge California to ensure its produce is slavery-free.

In solidarity, 

Herrana and the Freedom United team 

[1] https://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/27/california-farms-produce-a-lot-of-food-but-what-and-how-much-might-surprise-you/ 
[2] https://www.almonds.com/sites/default/files/2016_almond_industry_factsheet.pdf
[3] https://cdmigrante.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Recruitment_Revealed.pdf
[4] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/05/05/california-now-worlds-5th-largest-economy-beating-out-uk/583508002/ 
[5] https://civileats.com/2019/07/16/the-h-2a-guest-worker-program-has-ballooned-in-size-but-both-farmers-and-workers-want-it-fixed/ 
[6] https://www.castla.org/human-trafficking/policy/#agendas​​​​​​​
[7] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB477 
[8] https://prospect.org/labor/close-to-slavery-legalization-undocumented-farmworkers/
[9] https://www.castla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/CASTSB477Fix1-2018final.pdf 

For more on this story go to: https://www.freedomunited.org/advocate/california-protect-workers/?trk_msg=OBQOH2U1ON04T99611LQBR3KJ4&trk_contact=037FSGUJ91I19DOFIHRSCHO86K&trk_sid=O1QGKSK4CCG3UAP2D4DHL8S5GO&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Urge+California+to+ensure+all+its+temporary+workers+are+free+from+slavery&utm_campaign=FU-7Feb2020-+Bill+SB+477