California growers are recruiting record numbers of seasonal farm workers from Mexico while amassing a growing tally of fines and settlements over abuse allegations, according to U.S. Labor Department and court records.
Recruitment of seasonal foreign workers soared to a record 20,905 so far this year — with hiring still underway for the winter desert season, according to a Times analysis of federal labor data. That’s more than double the number of workers recruited just four years ago, and an 11-fold increase across eight years.
Those cases pale in comparison with a $2.2-million settlement this summer covering thousands of workers contracted to pick for Salinas Valley industry leaders Taylor Farms California and Dole Fresh Vegetables.
That may be part of the problem, said Guadalupe Sandoval, managing director of the California Farm Labor Contractor Assn. “It’s growing so fast in such a short period of time that I think there are a lot of people jumping in who are not very well informed,” Sandoval said. Other workers are isolated on or near rural farms with little access to food outlets other than a roving catering truck, and find their meal vouchers don’t cover the number of calories needed for long shifts in the summer heat, Rice added.
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