Guest guest Posted December 31, 2001 Report Share Posted December 31, 2001 You are correct that the government collects and publishes data regarding average earnings of workers within broad standard industrial code (SIC) groupings. Thus, you can obtain easily the average wage for field and livestock workers in a state (this is published annually as the "adverse effect wage rate" used in conjunction with the temporary foreign worker program, administered by the United States Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration). However, this wage does not separate migrants and non-migrants, and includes some better-paid supervisory workers and machine operators, so it is higher than the wages for many field workers. For specific crops, state employment service agencies occassionally compute "prevailing wages" in various growing regions of a state. Because of financial limitations, these data are not universally prepared. However, in any instance in which guestworkers are requested through the H-2A program, the state agency should prepare these prevailing wage surveys. The state prepares them and submits them to the national office of the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration for final approval. These surveys are crop specific, and usually only cover a portion of the state - however, they do break down wage rates by "instate" workers and migrant workers. The National Agricultural Worker Survey (NAWS) contains detailed demographic data based on intensive worker surveys. These data are useful in demonstrating trends over the years, as well as mobility and employment relationships. However, the NAWS data were never intended to develop detailed earnings information on a state or regional level. I'm sorry the data are not as precise as we'd like. In the classic documentary "Harvest of Shame," moderator R. Murrow bemoans the fact that while the goivernment spends millions counting and studying migrant birds, it does little to count or study migrant farmworkers. The situation has changed only slightly since "Harvest of Shame" aired in 1960. Greg Schell Migrant Farmworker Justice Project 508 Lucerne Avenue Lake Worth, Florida 33460-3819 (561) 582-3921 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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