Farm Labor Issue Centers on Itinerants

Migrant farmers have discovered their new residence to be a continual cause of strife.

John M. Brumm, a man formerly employed by the Migratory Labor Survey of the Resettlement Administration, was kind enough to disclose the fact that the wages of migrant workers lie just above the living expenses at the time. These wages (17 - 25 cents an hour) make it extremely difficult to take residence in sanitary dwellings, many living in houses of tin and wood. Such domains also lacked adequate space for the more than 600 migrants living in such cities, water, and toilet facilities. A negligent garbage system also presents many ailments and illnesses.

Most migrants are pickers. When the crop for a specific area becomes depleted, the families are forced to pack their belongings and attempt to move to another area. This continual motion has caused a strain on the children of these families’ education. The education crucial in presenting the opportunity for a job outside of farm picking lacked stability, bringing many children to continue their parents’ work in a hopeless cycle.

“State and Federal officials, farmers and workers, and social workers agreed that the lack of housing and proper sanitation for the migrant workers are(was) deplorable.” Yet, these American citizens were forced to live in such horrendous conditions.

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