Farmworker voices: contesting and renegotiating essential status during the COVID-19 pandemic

Martinez-Medina, Jennifer

doi:10.1080/21565503.2022.2144390

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…These findings are consistent with previous studies that found employers' decisions about workplace safety shaped farmworkers' access to workplace safety information, safety training, and personal protective equipment [62][63][64]. Previous studies have also shown that farmworkers perceive that their employers prioritize economic interests over worker health and safety [34]. Regulatory oversight and enforcement are needed to prevent employers from solely shaping workplace safety conditions based on their economic priorities, as it can produce workplace conditions that are conducive to viral transmission.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…The COVID-19 pandemic exposed racial and social inequities in occupational health and safety that negatively impacted Latinx immigrant farmworkers despite their essential worker status [34][35][36][37]. Political economy of health theory suggests that the organization of the agricultural industry likely produced workplace safety inequities during the COVID-19 pandemic that shaped Latinx immigrant farmworkers' workplace risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus.…”

Section: Latinx Farmworkers and Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Influence of Organizational Aspects of the U.S. Agricultural Industry and Socioeconomic and Political Conditions on Farmworkers’ COVID-19 Workplace Safety

Perez-Lua,

Chan-Golston,

Burke

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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Farmworkers in the U.S. experienced high rates of COVID-19 infection and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their workplace may have been a significant place of exposure to the novel coronavirus. Using political economy of health theory, this study sought to understand how organizational aspects of the agricultural industry and broader socioeconomic and political conditions shaped farmworkers’ COVID-19 workplace safety during the pandemic. Between July 2020 and April 2021, we conducted and analyzed fourteen in-depth, semi-structured phone interviews with Latinx farmworkers in California. Findings show that regulatory oversight reinforced COVID-19 workplace safety. In the absence of regulatory oversight, the organization of the agricultural industry produced COVID-19 workplace risks for farmworkers; it normalized unsafe working conditions and the worker—rather than employer—responsibility for workplace safety. Under these conditions, farmworkers enacted personal COVID-19 preventative practices but were limited by financial hardships that were exacerbated by the precarious nature of agricultural employment and legal status exclusions from pandemic-related aid. Unsafe workplace conditions negatively impacted workplace camaraderie. Study findings have implications for farmworkers’ individual and collective agency to achieve safe working conditions. Occupational safety interventions must address the organizational aspects that produce workplace health and safety inequities and disempower farmworkers in the workplace.

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