Seguir Adelante: A Qualitative Exploration of Latino Farmworkers\u27 Work and Non-Work Resources

Precarious work sectors within the United States have relied on Black and Brown labor for many decades. More specifically, Latino immigrant workers have been an exploited community within many dangerous workforces but especially within the agricultural industry. They are a crucial population for the labor and economy of the U.S., yet Latino farmworkers report feeling expendable, being discriminated against, and being exposed to hazardous working conditions. Due to these experiences, scholars have explored the role non-work resources have in providing support for this community, their social networks being especially beneficial for them. However, research on the links between their work and non-work domains and the resources they find valuable is lacking. The current study draws upon qualitative phone interviews conducted with 41 Latino farmworkers in Oregon in 2021. Themes pertaining to both work and non-work resources were uncovered through deductive and inductive thematic analysis and included how farmworkers lack financial resources, experience mistreatment from supervisors, need legislative labor protection, need a pathway to citizenship, receive support from their proximal communities, are speaking out at work or would like to be, and have poor physical and psychological health due to work. Findings from this study demonstrate the imbalance of resources provided from their microsystems, organizations, and macrosystems, with proximal communities providing much of the aid to farmworkers. Findings make clear that employers and those in legislation must do more to advocate for Latino immigrant farmworkers and provide resources to better protect Latino immigrant farmworkers\u27 well-being. Findings also demonstrate the need for future research related to: their changes in resources over time; reporting of workplace violations; impact of legislation on their health; what they enjoy about their work and why; the goals and desires of this community; and how information sharing or unionization occurs

Seguir Adelante: A Qualitative Exploration of Latino Farmworkers\u27 Work and Nonwork Resources.

Latino immigrant workers have been an exploited community within many dangerous workforces, but especially within the agricultural industry. They are a crucial population for the labor and economy of the U.S., yet Latino farmworkers report feeling expendable, discriminated against, and exposed to hazardous working conditions. Due to these experiences, it is essential to explore the resources that farmworkers find valuable in improving their working conditions. This study draws upon qualitative interviews conducted with 41 Latino farmworkers in Oregon. Themes pertaining to work and nonwork resources were uncovered through thematic analysis, illustrating that farmworkers receive support from their proximal communities and feel empowered by them, but lack support from their distal communities and need basic work necessities, fair wages, supportive supervisors, legislative labor protection, and a pathway to citizenship. Findings make clear that employers and elected officials must do more to advocate for Latino immigrant farmworkers and provide resources to protect their well-being. We demonstrate the need for future research related to changes in farmworkers\u27 resources over time, their reporting of workplace violations, the impact of labor legislation on their health, and how information sharing or unionization occurs among farmworkers

Understanding the Role of Family-Specific Resources for Immigrant Workers

Very few studies to date have examined immigrant workers’ (i.e., workers who were not born in the United States) experiences of the work-family interface. In a sample of healthcare workers across two time points, the present study evaluates the role of different family-specific resources for immigrant workers compared to native-born workers (i.e., workers born in the U.S.). The results suggest that family-specific support from coworkers is especially beneficial for reducing immigrant workers’ experiences of family-to-work conflict. For both native-born and immigrant workers, those who experience more family-specific support from supervisors and coworkers, and those who work in an organization that does not expect workers to sacrifice their family or personal life for work (i.e., has perceptions of a positive organizational work-family climate), have lower work-to-family conflict and lower family-to-work conflict. Thus, family-specific support from coworkers, supervisors, and the organization have beneficial effects for workers, with coworker support being especially helpful for immigrant workers, which provides important insights for future work-family research and practice with increasingly diverse workforces