Notes from Susan: Essential But Unprotected: US Farmworkers
Notes from Susan: Essential But Unprotected: US Farmworkers
By Susan MacLaury
Shine Global is hosting a series of most of its documentaries throughout 2020 in celebration of our 15th anniversary. On June 12th – World Day Against Child Labor – we screened The Harvest (La Cosecha) and I had the privilege of moderating its Q and A. The panelists included US Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, who authored the CARE Act (Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety) and was a co-sponsor of the recent HEROES Act, which provides protections to millions of Americans dealing with COVID-19. She was joined by Norma Flores López, the Chief Programs Officer at Justice for Migrant Women and Chair of the Child Labor Coalition’s Domestic Issues Committee. The third panelist was Zulema Lopez, one of the three young subjects of The Harvest, then 12 and now 23 and a recent college graduate.
We spoke mostly about how little has changed for migrant farmworkers in the US. Their lives are arduous, traveling many months a year following crops to harvest, often traveling thousands of miles each season. Their children routinely miss weeks of school, making it very difficult for them to keep up with classmates. Their housing is substandard, wages very low, and though now deemed “essential workers,” farmworkers still lack many of the basic rights afforded workers in other lines of labor like the right to overtime, or to collective bargaining.
The Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA) passed earlier this spring provides protections and salaries for many workers through from April 1 -December 31 of this year. It requires employers with under 500 employees to give workers up to 2 weeks of fully or partially paid sick leave for COVID-19 reasons. It makes full-time employees who’ve been employed for at least 30 days and must quarantine because of symptoms or possible exposure to the virus, eligible for 80 hours of paid sick leave at their regular wage. They’re also able to get 2/3 of their salary if they can’t work because they need to take care of a sick relative or a minor.
The problem is that migrant workers may not work as long as 30 days for an employer. When they don’t qualify, they are left to bear the full brunt of the loss of head start and childcare programs and public school closures. Thus, while the FFCRA is an important first step in the protection of “essential” farm workers, it’s not a 100% guarantee that their rights and needs will be protected. Much more can and must be done.
As I watched The Harvest again, I was struck by how hard the lives of migrant farmworker families are. As filmmakers we come in, document these issues with the help of charismatic and courageous subjects. Then we go on to our next project while they continue to live their lives. And their lives are very, very hard.
I asked all our panelists what average American’s can do to help – and I’ll leave you with their inspiring words:
In 1992, Lucille Roybal-Allard became the first Mexican-American woman elected to Congress. Last year, she became the first Latina to serve as one of the 12 “cardinals,” or chairs, of a House Appropriations Subcommittee. Congresswoman Roybal-Allard is author of The Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE) to address abusive and exploitative child labor practices in agriculture. She is a prominent advocate for children and families as co-chair of the Maternity Care Caucus, vice chair of the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, and vice chair of the Task Force on Aging and Families. She is also an original co-author of The Dream Act, which would allow certain U.S.-raised immigrant youth to earn lawful permanent residence and eventual American citizenship. In 2019, she introduced the newest version of this bill: HR 6, The Dream and Promise Act.
Zulema Lopez is a Michigan State university Graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Human Capital and Society from the Human Resources And Labor Relations college at MSU. Throughout her 23 years she has been able to overcome the harsh obstacles she faced as a migrant farm worker and has used her platform to advocate for child labor laws. Zulema participated in the documentary The Harvest (La Cosecha) at age 12, in which her life as a child migrant worker was documented to show the underlying issues of the child labor in the US. In 2018 she was a guest panelist at the 107th Session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland where she spoke on the issues of child labor in the US. Most recently in 2019, Zulema returned to her home state of Texas to attend two conferences where she shared her story to help motivate students with a similar background. Zulema continues to be a child labor activist in hopes that there will be change to come.
Norma Flores López grew up as a child of a migrant farmworker family from South Texas. She began working in the fields at the age of 12, where she continued working until she graduated from high school. She has long been an active advocate for migrant farmworker children’s rights and continues to raise awareness on issues affecting the farmworker community. Norma serves on the Board of Directors for the National Consumers League, is the chair of the Child Labor Coalition’s Domestic Issues Committee, and the representative for the United States on the Board of Directors for Global March Against Child Labour. Prior to joining Justice for Migrant Women, Norma was the Governance and Development/Collaboration Manager at East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, a co-founder of The Foundation for Farmworkers, served on the Board of Directors for the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association, and was director of the Children in the Fields Campaign at the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs.
Susan executive produced The Harvest (La Cosecha) as well as the Emmy Award®-winning, Academy Award®-nominated documentary War/Dance, the Academy Award® Winner Inocente, 1 Way Up in 3D, The Eagle Huntress, and Liyana. She is also the producer of The Wrong Light and Virtually Free. Susan is in charge of the educational outreach and social advocacy efforts for all of Shine Global’s films. She is dually degreed in social work administration and health education and was associate professor of health education at Kean University from 1994 through 2013.
Roberto Romano was an award winning photographer, filmmaker, and human rights educator. He worked on human rights projects with such organizations as GoodWeave, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, The International Labor Organization, Stop the Traffik, The Hunger Project, and The Council on Foreign Relations, among others. He was the Director, Producer, and Director of Photography of The Harvest (La Cosecha). His other film credits include: Dark Side of Chocolate (Director of Photography) about slavery in the West Africa cocoa trade; Stolen Childhoods (Producer, Director, and Director of Photography) about child labor. His powerful photography was also published in many prestigious newspapers and magazines and featured in many galleries and shows.
Shine Global is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media company with the mission to give voice to children and their families by telling stories of their resilience to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. Since founding in 2005, we’ve produced and supported over 15 films about children and families and run educational and engagement campaigns that have a real world impact. Our films include the Oscar-winning short doc
Justice For Migrant Women protects and advances migrant women’s rights through education, public awareness and advocacy. Justice for Migrant Women aims to ensure that all migrant women are guaranteed human and civil rights, including the freedom of mobility, the ability to live and work with dignity, and the right to be free of threats of violence against them and their families, whether they are migrating across borders, around regions or within states. 
The Latinx House is a gathering place for people who appreciate and support the Latinx community and who celebrate Latinx excellence in film and entertainment. We are also a space to discuss pressing societal issues and the content creation related to these stories. We will provide engagement, activation and community building opportunities. 
