Latigo Morgan on Nostr: Agricultural work is seasonal - but there is always something in season somewhere, so ...
Agricultural work is seasonal - but there is always something in season somewhere, so the workers are transient. They pick oranges in Florida, Arizona (when Arizona had orange groves - they are all houses now), and California in the winter. In the spring, they'll pick strawberries, cherries, etc. In the summer, you got lettuce crops, beets, radishes, sweet potatoes. Fall, you get cane, onions, etc etc.
Thing is, people once made a living in the industry and raised their families. It was a semi-nomadic lifestyle, but it worked out for everyone involved. Then the corporate farms started bringing in illegal aliens and paying them less than livable wages, but putting them up in company housing that is pretty much barracks style living.
As much as a piece of crap Caesar Chavez was, he knew the score and his group would go down on the border and chase the wetbacks back across.
Thing is, people once made a living in the industry and raised their families. It was a semi-nomadic lifestyle, but it worked out for everyone involved. Then the corporate farms started bringing in illegal aliens and paying them less than livable wages, but putting them up in company housing that is pretty much barracks style living.
As much as a piece of crap Caesar Chavez was, he knew the score and his group would go down on the border and chase the wetbacks back across.