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North Carolina Migrant Housing Campaign
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Migrant Housing Proposal
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1) Please call, email and write the members of the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Agriculture Committee to ask that they support this proposal that would improve farmworker housing in NC. See contacts below.
2) Organize a small delegation to meet with your Senator and Representative when they are in their home community (Friday - Monday afternoon), to ask for support of this proposal.
3) Distribute migrant housing postcards to your constituents, friends, co-workers. Just let us know how many postcards you need.
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Background:
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Among the primary concerns of the Farmworker Advocacy Network are overcrowding, structural problems poor sanitation, proximity to pesticides and lack of inspection and enforcement. The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) reports that "farmworkers are among the worst-housed |
groups in the United States." Of the housing inspected during a HAC survey of farmworker housing on the East Coast, researchers found 38 percent severely inadequate or unfit for human habitation.
The bill has garnered wide support from over 20 statewide organizations including the Covenant for NC's Children, the Affordable Housing Coalition, the Housing Development Corporation, the NC Community Health Center Association, the Agriculture Resources Center and various committees of the NC Council of Churches. |
 Migrant Housing Overview
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NC Migrant Housing Facts
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NC Migrant Housing Exhibit |
| Talking Points: |
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This legislation aims to improve the health of migrant farmworkers and the general public by strengthening the North Carolina Migrant Housing Act. Migrant and seasonal farmworkers provide the backbone of North Carolina's agricultural labor force. Because farmworkers often leave their homes to work in remote rural areas, they frequently receive housing as part of their employment.
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Too often, this housing is unsanitary, unhealthy and dangerous. The Wake Forest University School of Medicine has found that 40% of farm worker families live in overcrowded housing. Farmworkers also are at great risk of such illnesses as lead poisoning, parasitic diseases, and gastrointestinal infections, as well as toxic burns resulting from exposure to pesticides.
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The North Carolina Migrant Housing Act sets standards for farmworker housing. These standards, however, are minimal. For example, the Act requires one toilet for every 15 residents. This ratio is below what is required in the state's prisons.
Senate Bill 962 and House Bill 1180 aim to improve the health of farmworkers by improving basic standards, strengthening enforcement and protecting workers from retaliation. For instance, the legislation would ban outhouses. It would also require that farmworkers are provided: A mattress that is clean and sanitary, Access to telephones in the event of an emergency. Adequate laundry facilities, especially for washing off clothing that has come into contact with toxic pesticides, Sufficient number of showers and toilets, with privacy to protect human dignity, The unfettered right to have health care providers and other invited visitors in your home.
We recognize that there are many well-intentioned, good growers who are already complying with these standards; therefore we hope that they will support these standards being on the books.
The bill also addresses of enforcement of the current code. It requires the NC Department of Labor to use creative means to locate those who don't register camps, develop procedures to prosecute repeat violators of the law, and conduct post-occupancy inspections, giving priority to previous violators.
This bill also gives workers the ability to enforce the protections themselves and allows workers who report poor conditions to be protected from retaliation.
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Contact:
Lori Fernald Khamala
lori@nfwm.org
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c/o ERUUF
4907 Garrett Rd., Durham, NC 27707
(p) 919-489-4485 (f) 919-489-9149
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| About the Farmworker Advocacy Network |
| The Farmworker Advocacy Network (FAN) is a network of organizations that advocates for improvements in farmworkers' living and working conditions. FAN members include: the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Farmworker Unit of Legal Aid*, National Farm Worker Ministry, NC Community Health Center Association, NC Justice Center's Immigrants Legal Assistance Project, NC Farmworkers' Project, NC Farmworker Health Program* and Student Action with Farmworkers. *Advisory Members only. |
