My name is Rosa, and I immigrated to the United States 18 years ago. I split my time between Ohio and Florida. In Ohio, I pick cucumbers, peppers and pumpkins. I used to pick tomatoes, but the farmer retired. In November, we migrate to Florida to start the strawberry season. We will stay in Florida until April when we come back to Ohio. There were three years in which we did not make this journey. When the tomatoes stopped, we spent three years going to New Jersey, North Carolina and Michigan, following the work. That's the thing about being a farmworker — you go where the jobs are. Unlike other workers, we have no job stability. Once the harvest season is over, we have to fight and scramble to find the next job.
When we are working, we are on our own. We don’t have much contact with the farmer, except for when he comes around to call out something we did wrong. Even though we have been coming to Ohio all of these years, we don’t feel like we are part of the community. But, we do go to a small Catholic church in Fremont, and we feel like we are a community there.
I am proud of what I do for a living. I do it for my children, in order to build a better future for them. I wish I could visit my parents. It has been 18 years since I have seen them, but I cannot leave my children here nor take them with me. And I feel like they would have no future back in Mexico.
I wish people understood that this work is hard and that we do this work because it is what is available to us. It is not that we don’t like the work, but when the harvest season is over we are left scrambling. We wish we could feel secure. We want to get ahead.
En Español:
Mi nombre es Rosa. Emigré a los Estados Unidos hace 18 años. Divido mi tiempo entre Ohio y Florida. En Ohio, recojo pepinos, pimientos y calabazas. Antes recogía tomates, pero el granjero se retiró. En noviembre, migramos a Florida para comenzar la temporada de recolección de fresas. Nos quedamos en Florida hasta abril cuando regresemos a Ohio. Fueron tres años en los que no hicimos este viaje. Cuando cesaron los tomates en Ohio, pasamos tres años yendo a Nueva Jersey, Carolina del Norte y Michigan. Seguimos los trabajos. Eso es lo que tienes que hacer cuando eres un trabajador agrícola — vas a donde están los trabajos. No tenemos una estabilidad laboral como los demás. Una vez que termina la temporada de cosecha, tenemos que luchar para encontrar el próximo trabajo.
Cuando trabajamos, todos trabajamos solos. No tenemos mucho contacto con el ranchero, excepto cuando viene a decir algo que hicimos mal. A pesar de que hemos estado viniendo a Ohio todos estos años, no nos sentimos como parte de la comunidad, pero vamos a una pequeña iglesia católica en Fremont y nos sentimos en comunidad allí.
Estoy orgullosa de lo que hago. Lo hago por mis hijos, para construir un futuro mejor para ellos. Ojalá pudiera visitar a mis padres. Han pasado 18 años desde que los vi, pero no puedo dejar a mis hijos aquí ni llevarlos. Siento que no tendrían futuro en México.
Ojalá la gente entendiera que este trabajo es duro y que hacemos este trabajo porque es lo que está disponible para nosotros. No es que no nos guste el trabajo, pero cuando termina la temporada de cosecha, nos quedamos luchando. Deseamos sentirnos seguros. Queremos salir adelante.
Essential workers, many of whom are immigrant women, provide life sustaining work through their labor. Yet, many of these community members are denied basic rights and face challenges such as unfair wages and workplace harassment. Such challenges are greater for immigrants in low paid industries, such as the food supply chain, who many times lack access to physical, mental and legal support. Workers in the food supply chain are among the 5 million undocumented essential workers in the United States who have always done essential work. Join us in not only celebrating their contributions to our community, but working together toward a world that treats all workers with dignity and respect.
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