Rural News: January, 2002 - Volume #8

RURAL AMERICA

Agricultural California
Tulare county is included in the American Community Survey. In November 2001, a year ahead of planned detailed data collected from one in six households

Midwest: Meat and Poultry
Governing Magazine's January 2002 issue includes an article that describes attracting immigrants to Iowa meatpacking plants

FARM WORKERS

California: Housing, Dole
California's minimum wage rose from $6.25 to $6.75 an hour on January 1, 2002.

UFW, ALRB-Coastal, Krug
The UFW dealt with mushroom, nursery and furniture workers in Fall 2001. The UFW has been trying to negotiate an agreement

Northeast: New York, DeCoster
New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, in November 2001 ruled that farmer Paul Hafner Jr. can put mobile homes on his 800-acre farm

Southeast: Suits
Mecca Farms, one of Palm Beach County's largest growers, and its labor contractors, Rogerio Rodriguez, Maria T. Sanchez and M. Sanchez & Son Inc, were sued

Northwest: Teamsters Concede
Teamsters Local 760 of Yakima, Washington told the National Labor Relations Board in December 2001 that it would not seek to represent workers at the Stemilt Growers

Migrant Services
The US Department of Labor funds a rest stop near Hope, Arkansas that has 60 rooms that rent for $3 for 12 hours

IMMIGRATION

Tyson Indicted
Tyson Foods Inc., one of the world's largest poultry processors, was indicted December 19, 2001, charged with 36 counts of recruiting illegal workers

September 11 and Farm Workers 2002
The Food and Drug Administration issued voluntary guidelines urging criminal background checks on workers hired by food companies and farms

H-2A, Canada
The U.S. Department of Labor is holding hearings around the US on regulations proposed in July 2000 to streamline the H-2A program

Mexico: Bracero Lawsuits
The US signed a bilateral bracero (person who works with arms or hands) program with Mexico on July 23, 1942.

OTHER

FVH Commodities
California has nine million irrigated acres of farm land; most of the state's 35 million residents live on 5.5 million acres of urban land.

Policy, Trade and Water
Congress approved a new farm bill in Fall 2001 that continues the practice of paying farmers the difference between a target price set by the government and the market price

Coffee in Crisis
The price of coffee dropped from $0.95 a pound in December 1999 to $0.45 a pound in November 2001.

Zimbabwe: Land Invasions
President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, or ZANU-PF has been in power since independence in 1980.

RESOURCES

Washington's Agricultural Workforce
Washington's Employment Security Department released a report in August 2001 that there were 172,000 acres of apples, 18,000 acres of cherries, and 22,000 acres of asparagus.

Welfare Reform, Inequality
Between 1994 and 2001, over one million people, mostly women, have made the transition from welfare to employment.