I'm from a farm family. In Canada we have the Temporary Foreign Worker program for jobs unable to be filled by Canadians. In Home Care that could be a Punjabi speaking relative for a disabled senior. They might end up working 24/7 off the record, but are supposed to follow labour standards.
That sounds similar to dairy industry staffing needs in that they are 24/7. Shifts, overtime, vacation etc. would need organizing. And 25 to 30 bucks an hour is something that may have appeal to uneducated non-english manual labour workers. If the workers could communicate with each other through a labour organization, it would encourage good behavior amongst management, as you said.
As someone who thinks a LOT about the "food supply" and the coming climate disruptions to agricultural*. I found your piece both interesting and informative.
I would never have guessed that there might be 500,000 undocumented workers involved in producing the milk I put on my daily oatmeal. I find it appalling that so little has changed from the days of Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath".
"This report involving Cornell University researchers indicates that for every 1°C of warming, yields of major crops like corn, soybeans, and wheat decrease by 16% to 20%. This study, which was a collaboration with other institutions and reported by the Cornell Chronicle, highlights the significant negative impact of rising global temperatures on agricultural productivity."
I'm from a farm family. In Canada we have the Temporary Foreign Worker program for jobs unable to be filled by Canadians. In Home Care that could be a Punjabi speaking relative for a disabled senior. They might end up working 24/7 off the record, but are supposed to follow labour standards.
That sounds similar to dairy industry staffing needs in that they are 24/7. Shifts, overtime, vacation etc. would need organizing. And 25 to 30 bucks an hour is something that may have appeal to uneducated non-english manual labour workers. If the workers could communicate with each other through a labour organization, it would encourage good behavior amongst management, as you said.
As someone who thinks a LOT about the "food supply" and the coming climate disruptions to agricultural*. I found your piece both interesting and informative.
I would never have guessed that there might be 500,000 undocumented workers involved in producing the milk I put on my daily oatmeal. I find it appalling that so little has changed from the days of Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath".
*See the report : Warmer planet will trigger increased farm losses (https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2024/01/report-warmer-planet-will-trigger-increased-farm-losses)
"This report involving Cornell University researchers indicates that for every 1°C of warming, yields of major crops like corn, soybeans, and wheat decrease by 16% to 20%. This study, which was a collaboration with other institutions and reported by the Cornell Chronicle, highlights the significant negative impact of rising global temperatures on agricultural productivity."