skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

NC Farmers Accused of Using Immigration Threats to Discourage Legal Claims

play audio
Play

Monday, May 22, 2017   

ROSE HILL, N.C. – You might not look at your kale smoothie the same way again.

Four migrant farmworkers recently settled a class action lawsuit against an eastern North Carolina farm.

The farm workers alleged unsafe working conditions and wage theft as they picked kale and other vegetables from Teachey Produce in Rose Hill.

Catherine Crowe, a spokeswoman for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), the farmworker union that assisted the plaintiffs, says as kale grows in popularity, it's important to think of how it's getting to your store.

"Oftentimes we see people talk about kale as a trendy crop in the market, and they want it to be organic and from local farmers, but a lot of people forget to think about the people who are picking the kale and what that means,” she points out. “And if there are abuses in the fields, who is there to protect them and are there remedies for those problems?"

The four migrant workers involved worked with FLOC to settle their individual disputes, only to have the produce stand respond with threats to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and be "kicked back to Mexico."

Teachey Produce is ordered to pay $60,000 to resolve the claims. Attempts to reach the farm in response to this story were unsuccessful.

Crowe says cases of unsafe working conditions and threats of deportation are increasingly more common with the current climate of immigration law.

"Farm workers are excluded from a lot of labor laws to protect workers in this country,” she states. “Farm workers don't get overtime pay, they don't qualify oftentimes for worker's compensation, and they don't have freedom of association and the right to collectively bargain with their employer, which means that it's harder for workers to speak out if there are issues."

Last year California passed a law entitling farm workers to overtime pay.

Reporting for this story by North Carolina News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest. Media in the Public Interest is funded in part by Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021