Oxfam America

Workers' Rights

Farmworkers in the US can be beaten for picking the wrong-colored tomato or taking a drink of water. And pay at the end of the day is not a given. Oxfam seeks to expose sweatshop conditions and human rights violations in America's fields.

What Oxfam is Doing

Improving Conditions for Farmworkers in the U.S.

Oxfam focuses our work on:

  • Farmworkers — The US Department of Labor estimates 52 percent of farmworkers are undocumented. These farmworkers are subject to the greatest abuses, but are the least likely to speak up for themselves. Oxfam partners help farmworkers understand their human rights and effectively confront abuses in the fields.
  • Corporations — Corporate purchasing practices have a profound affect on farmworkers. Oxfam's Workers' Rights Campaign targets specific corporations to pay a fairer price for produce, establish and enforce a supplier code of conduct, and recognize the right of farmworkers to organization.
  • US Government — Oxfam partners lobby for specific legislation to protect farmworkers. Case in point: Veteran farmworker Geraldine Matthews lobbies the Florida legislature for a farmworker's right to know about pesticides.

Campaigns

Oxfam's Workers' Rights Campaign

Visit the main campaign page and get involved.

News & Publications

Read the latest news and feature stories about Oxfam America's work on Workers' Rights. more »

An Issue of Basic Human Rights

"Here [in the US] nearly two million farmworkers toil without rights and live in dehumanizing conditions. It is time to restore basic human rights to those who toil in America's fields."

— Ray Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America

Learn more