Part One:
Our first guest is Michael Haedicke, professor of sociology at Drake University. We discuss his article about the importance of seasonal farmworkers in producing the food we eat.
Most seasonal farmworkers are migrant non-citizens, Some of them are in the US on H2A visas, which are good for 10 months before the workers must return to their home country. Most people producing our food, however, are undocumented immigrants who live with their families in the US year-round. Their status in this country would be in jeopardy if federal officials enforced the immigration laws against them and against their farmer employers.
Farmworkers, including seasonal, are truly essential, even though we may not, at first blush, think of them that way. If not for them, we would not have food to eat. Agriculture is an important part of the infrastructure that we need during this time of national crisis.
Even beyond the immigration laws, farmworkers do not receive the kind of employment and safety protections that would be consistent with the role that they play for all of us. Actually it’s been that way for a long time: the businesses that employ farm workers are exempted from the labor laws that protect many other workers in our economy. They don’t qualify for overtime and usually not even for a minimum wage. They are exposed to toxic chemicals and pesticides, dirt and sun, and they usually don’t have adequate sanitation, clean water or normal hygiene facilities. They are not provided with health care and if they get hurt or sick on the job, they have little or no recourse. Moreover, if they have any complaints about their treatment – including physical or sexual abuse, exploitation, nonpayment of wages – they are afraid to file anything official for fear of losing their livelihood and possibly being deported.
Now during the COVID-19 pandemic, all these — are supplemented by the terrifying risk of becoming contaminated with a virus that can kill the farmworker and entire families. At the same time, the disease makes it clear how important it is that we retain the people necessary to produce our food. How can we do that?
During Hurricane Katrina, Pres. Bush realized the essentiality of maintaining our food supply, so he temporarily suspended the federal prohibition on employers’ hiring workers who could not show proper documentation of their status. But Pres. Trump has not shown much tolerance for immigrants of any kind, and he has demonized undocumented immigrants as the supposed cause of all problems facing our country. Can we expect the Trump administration to take any steps – temporary or otherwise – that would permit all the seasonal farmworkers we need to produce our food?
Even if the Trump administration were to enact rules granting temporary exemptions to seasonal farmworkers so they couldn’t be deported if they work on the farms during COVID-19, and even if the government could be trusted to comply with such legal rules — the other worker protections would still not be made available to farm workers. Farming companies still would not be required to give seasonal workers access to sanitary facilities, field hospitals, overtime rules, etc. And during this pandemic, lack of such protections would mean that workers won’t be able to protect themselves.
Part Two:
We speak with Mark Joseph Stern, reporter at Slate.com, about the careening ups and downs of the elections in Wisconsin. Because of COVID-19, the Legislature was considering whether to delay the state’s primary election, scheduled for today, Tuesday April 7. On Monday morning, the Legislators, dominated by Republicans — thanks to some heavy donations by the Koch brothers over the years – refused to postpone the elections, deciding to force Wisconsin voters to choose between risking their health and their lives or else forfeiting their right to cast their ballots. Truly a Hobson’s choice.
On Monday afternoon, the Governor canceled in-person voting on April 7, exercising his emergency authority to protect public health from COVID-19. The governor rescheduled the primary until a less dangerous time. Immediately, the Republicans filed an appeal with the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and we must await a judicial decision.
Meanwhile, it’s important to note that one of the most hotly contested elections on Tuesday’s ballot involves one of the arch-conservative judges on the supreme court, who is being challenged by a Democrat. Given his personal interest in the outcome of the legal appeal, should the conservative judge recuse himself from sitting on the appeal? Will he recuse himself? What will happen if different branches of government order two different outcomes?
We also discuss the presidential (and other) elections coming up in November. What if the pandemic isn’t over by then? Should/must state and county election officials prepare for 100% absentee voting, in order to preserve both the right to health and the right to vote, both quite important ? What happens if some states choose one course of action and others make a different decision? Dare we say this is a scary thought?
Finally, we discuss Trump’s latest nomination to the powerful DC Circuit Court of Appeals. He is Justin Walker, a 37-year-old with no real litigation experience whose main claim to fame is having been a vigorous and persistent promoter of Brett Kavanaugh’s elevation to the US Supreme Court. Rated “unqualified” by the ABA, Walker was appointed to the US District Court in Kentucky just 6 months ago. If confirmed as a judge on the next step below the Supreme Court, he would join other Trump appointees – such as Gorsuch and Kavanaugh – who want to eviscerate government agencies authorized by Congress to regulate the excesses of polluters, bankers, consumer ripoffs, and other out-of-control entities that reap enormous profits while their workers and customers struggle to make ends meet.
