GEOG 130 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: National Labor Relations Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Bracero Program
Corporate Cosolidatio: Rae ad Food
Ijustie Laor April , 7
• Paradox?
o Workers in the food system (farmers, laborers) of grocery stores and restaurants are the
most food insecure people in the US
o Contributing factors: agriculture has been treated under the law differently
▪ Agricultural exceptionalism
• National Labor Relations Act: protect laborers in work, excluded all farm
workers
• Fair Labor Standards Act (1938): exluded all far workers until it was amended
in 1978
• Clean Water Act and other environmental acts: exempt agriculture
• Bracero program7 (1942-1964)
o 4.5 million contracted workers came into the US
o Mexican government certified that people worker were from farms
o Came to work in the US as farm laborers
• The Mann-Dickinson Thesis
o Labor time: the amount of time of actual human labor required to produce something
o Production time: the overall length of time between initiating and completing production
o In agriculture, production time is often greater than labor time
o Creates difficulties for capitalist agriculture – you do not want to pay your laborers for the
time in between when you are waiting for the crops to grow
▪ Labor relations are forced to adapt to this complication (ie: hire people on contract
or short-term)
▪ Average farmworkers work 190 days per year
▪ Approximately 53% of farmworkers lacked legal status
• A vicious cycle – why farmers are getting paid so little?
o Low wages in the US (ie: bracero program) = cheaper food
o Free trade ie: NAFTA) = lower prices for farmers overseas
o Declining prices = poverty = migration
o Migration = lower wages in the US
• Grocery sector
o Shift to big-box grocers (ie: Walmart) that pay low wages to compensate for their low prices
o Full time union workers saw greatest losses in wages, but retained better wages than non-
union workers
o Workers who sell food in the US are able to afford healthy foods or the foods they need
o Tipped ages are are iiu ages federally ad i states
• Behind the Kitchen Door? Video
o Questio: Do you eat ethially?
o Workers are paid around $2.13 an hour and rely primarily on tips
• Top food retailers in the US
o Walmart, Kroger, Costco, Target
o Costco has a different model – treats workers pretty well
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