User:Calcantar/Bracero Program

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The aftermath of the Bracero Program's effect on labor conditions for agricultural workers continues to be debated. On one hand, the end of the program allowed workers to unionize and facilitate victories made by labor organizations and other individuals. A key victory for these braceros was the abolition of the short-handed hoe, el cortito, spurred by the efforts of American lawyer Maurice Jordan. Jordan was successfully able to win against California growers, claiming that the tool did not increase crop yield and caused several health issues for workers.

However, the unionization efforts of the United Farm Workers, as popular as they were, were increasingly challenged by growers in the 1970s. Employers would pit unions against one another as they increasingly hired workers from the Teamster union, for example, that challenged the earlier work done by the UFW to achieve favorable contracts. Furthermore, union participation has decreased among many farmworkers, reaching a 90% decline from 1975-2000, consequently lowering the bargaining power of these organizations.

Some consider the H-2A visa program to be a repeat of the abuses of the Bracero Program where workers report dangerous conditions. For example, a blueberry farm worker in Washington died on August 2017 for reported 12-hour shifts under hot conditions to meet production quotas.

The UFW would later turn increasingly aggressive towards migrant workers as Chavez wanted to protect Mexican-American interests. The UFW would then, according to Frank Bardarcke, create its “Campaign Against Illegals” where it would compile lists of undocumented workers in the 1970s and even go so far as to go to the US-Mexico border and prevent immigrants from arriving en masse.