Untitled Document

"Agricultural Workers, Other." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 17 May 2010. Web. 09 Nov. 2010. <http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos349.htm>.

This article outlines what being a low-wage agriculture worker entail, specifically describing the nature of the work, the qualifications required, the distribution of employment, job opportunity, and earnings. Also, it provides statistics about agricultural workers that can illustrate the importance of this topic to American citizens and the workers themselves. These points are crucial to my hypertext in that understanding the broad description of the job will help determine whether or not this is a sustainable way of life in today’s world, and whether or not this is a job that can employ solely American citizens.

Dunn, L.F. Nonpecuniary Job Preferences and Welfare Losses among Migrant Agricultural Workers. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 2nd ed. Vol. 67. Oxford UP. 257-65. Jstor. May 1985. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://0-www.jstor.org.sculib.scu.edu/stable/1240677>.

This article analyzes the economic losses of migrant agricultural workers due to unfair laws and restrictions. It provides data and statistic as well as analysis about the problem. It proves that the wage and lack of benefits for agricultural workers is unfair compared to their workload and difficulties/risks of their job. It also lists the incentives for farmers to under pay their employees, or rather their lack of incentives to give them a fair wage. I will use this article’s main points to show that the American Dream is not a realistic goal for most migrant workers.

Frisvold, George, Richard Mines, and Jeffrey M. Perloff. The Effects of Job Site Sanitation and Living Conditions on the Health and Welfare of Agricultural Workers. American Journal of Agricultural. 4th ed. Vol. 70. Oxford UP. 875-85. Jstor. Nov. 1988. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://0-www.jstor.org.sculib.scu.edu/stable/1241929>.

This article explores the effect of the environments agricultural workers live and work in on their and their families’ health. The writers took a survey asking workers whether sanitation and other rules are enforced in the work place. The general conclusion was that the working conditions these workers have to deal with are usually unsanitary, and that their on-property homes were far too small and unclean. I will use this article to prove that the risk that agricultural workers take at work is far too great for the amount of pay that they receive.

Ise, Sabrina, and Jeffrey M. Perloff. Legal Status and Earnings of Agricultural Workers. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 2nd ed. Vol. 77. Oxford UP. Jstor. May 1995. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://0-www.jstor.org.sculib.scu.edu/stable/1243547>.

This article uses data from a national survey to investigate whether or not agricultural workers receive legal hours and weekly earnings. It found that even legal migrant workers often are being treated unfairly, but because they don’t have the means, they cannot fight these injustices. It argues that legal workers and illegal workers receive comparable treatment and wages, both being well below the legal minimums. I will use this article to examine the differences between legal and illegal workers’ treatments in proving that all agricultural workers need to be treated better.

Lawton. "Anti-illegal Immigration Law Affecting Agriculture Sector | Tulsa World."Oklahoma Latest & Breaking News, Sports, Weather, Entertainment, Business, Jobs, Homes, Cars, and Classified Ads OK | Tulsa World. 4 Nov. 2007. Web. 09 Nov. 2010. <http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectID=12&articleID=

071104_1__LAWTO37824>.

This article describes the affect of an anti-immigration on law in Oklahoma on the agriculture industry. Available workers decreased a large amount. Because of this, some farmers had to cut their night shift crews, forcing them to work a longer season by up to two or three weeks. This article exemplifies how crucial illegal immigrants are to the agriculture industry. The farmer also said that the quality of work he is getting has decreased is the law has been put into action. This is just a small microcosm of what could potentially happen to the agriculture industry if immigration laws continue to become more strict.

McNatt, Robert, and Frank Benassi. "Econ 101 on Illegal Immigrants." BusinessWeek - Business News, Stock Market & Financial Advice. 7 Apr. 2006. Web. 09 Nov. 2010. <http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/apr2006/pi20060407_

072803.htm>.

This article answers six questions regarding illegal immigration, a very important aspect of the agriculture industry. It provides important statistics about illegal immigration, like that seventy-eight percent of illegal immigrants come from Latin-American countries, fifty-six percent being from Mexico. It also proves that the cost to Americans of having illegal immigrants is minimal. They make up for most of what they cost in education and health care. The article also includes the agriculture industry as one area of our economy that may suffer due to severely restricting illegal immigration.

Perloff, Jeffrey M., Lori Lynch, and Susan M. Gabbard. Migration of Seasonal Agricultural Workers. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 1st ed. Vol. 80. Oxford UP. 154-56. Jstor. Feb. 1998. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://0-www.jstor.org.sculib.scu.edu/stable/3180277>.

This article explores the different migration patterns between legal and illegal agricultural workers, and if their wages correlate with who migrates more. In general, workers were willing to migrate for work, but the only ones that could, were the ones who had previously decent paying jobs (decent being around the legal minimum wage). I will use this article to help me depict the difficulty to get a family out of poverty when wages are too low, like being below the legal minimum wage.

United States Department of Labor. "The National Agricultural Workers Survey, Employment & Training Administration (ETA) - U.S. Department of Labor." Home Page, Employment & Training Administration (ETA) - U.S. Department of Labor. 27 Mar. 2004. Web. 09 Nov. 2010. <http://www.doleta.gov/agworker/report9/summary.cfm>.

This article gives a detailed statistical analysis of agricultural workers in the United States, using graphs and charts, but also describing in detail their significance and meaning. It breaks up the work force into different groups in order to easily identify trends. For example, seventy percent of agricultural workers are between the ages of twenty and forty-four. In most professions this isn’t a problem, but because these jobs are so low-paying, and most workers don’t have a high level of education, they remain in poverty for the rest of their lives. They have no source of income past their job as an agricultural worker. This will advance my theory that the “American Dream” is not an attainable goal for the average low-income worker.

Vaughan, Elaine, and Genevieve Fridland Dunton. "Difficult Socio-economic Circumstances and the Utilization." EBSCOhost.com. 9 Sept. 2007. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://0-web.ebscohost.com.sculib.scu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&hid=106&sid

=af0898e1-a566-43df-8a2d-0f65487a8952%40sessionmgr112>.

This article outlines the risk involved in working in the agricultural industry, and shows that the people working within this industry are the least capable of dealing with these side effects because eighty percent of immigrant agricultural workers are living in extreme poverty. It also explores the living and working conditions that these workers put up with in their every day lives. This will help my hypertext in that these obstacles just reinforce my issue with “The American Dream.”