Chair: Congressman Ed Pastor
Members: Representatives Joe Baca, Luis V. Gutierrez, Ciro D. Rodriguez, Hilda L. Solis

The Labor Task Force was formed in order to help the CHC track developments and issues that affect American workers, particularly Hispanic workers.  The Labor Task Force is committed to helping ensure that workers receive:

• Fair and just compensation for their labor, including fair wages, overtime pay, unemployment compensation, and benefits such as health insurance and retirement savings when appropriate;
• Safe working environments that enable them to work at their full potential, including fair amounts of rest and break periods and the most appropriate ergonomic conditions for their duties;
• Appropriate advancement opportunities that take into account their abilities and skills, this includes training and mentoring when necessary and/or fitting;
• Adequate representation, whether individually, through a union, or legal representation, an employee must have the opportunity to voice their opinions and make their supervisors aware when problems arise.

In order to ensure that these rights are provided to all workers, especially those of Hispanic descent, the Labor Task Force will carry out the following duties:

• Monitor legislation that affects employees;
• Keep CHC members informed of labor issues;
• Suggest a position for the CHC on important issues and legislation and, when appropriate, garner the necessary support within the CHC membership;
• Respond to requests for CHC assistance in a timely and efficient manner, this typically means drafting letters or meeting with key stakeholders;
• Maintain open lines of communication with key players in labor—including unions and major employers.

For the 110th Congress, the Labor Task Force will focus on the following issues:

• Union Organization

For a long time, unions have helped workers obtain justice and fairness at the workplace and have helped raise their standards of living.  However, some employers routinely interfere with their workers’ freedom to join a union through tactical methods. 

• Pay Equity

Today’s working women, many of whom are the primary or sole sources of income for their families, earn between 77 and 81 cents for every dollar earned by men.  The gap is even greater for Latina women.  The wage gap is not just a woman’s issue, but also a family issue.  The lingering gap in pay translates into less money and significant losses in retirement benefits over a woman’s lifetime. 

• Workforce Training

Employers indicate that every year more than one million positions go unfilled due to a shortage of skilled workers.  However, according to the Department of Labor, seven million Americans are unemployed and looking for work, 1.6 million have stopped looking but want to work, and another 4.7 million are working part-time but want full-time jobs.  Therefore, we must address the gap between what employees need and what workers are trained to do.  We must examine existing training programs, such as vocational education, the Workforce Investment Act, and the Welfare-to-Work program, to see how these programs can better address the needs of employers and workers—as well as support the development of new programs that provide necessary job skills to those who need them.

• Workplace Injuries

The rate of workplace injuries for Latino workers is disproportionately high.  Latino workers, who comprise almost 15% of the U.S. labor force, suffer disproportionately high job-related fatality and injury rates.  Between 1992 and 2005, the number of job fatalities among Hispanic workers has increased by 66%.   

The high incidence of workplace fatalities among Hispanics is attributed to:  the high rate of Latinos working in dangerous industries, language barriers, and fears among immigrants who do not want to complain about unsafe work because of their immigration status. 

• Child Labor in Agriculture

There is currently a disgraceful double standard where children working in agriculture may work longer hours, at a younger age, and in more hazardous conditions than children working in other jobs.  The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allows children as young as 10 years of age to work in agriculture, while children in non-agricultural work generally must be 16 years of age, and are limited to 3 hours of work a day while school is in session.

Children working on our nation's farms are being left behind in education. In fact, 45% of children working in large-scale commercial agriculture never graduate from high school.  Long work hours and fatigue impair children's ability to concentrate and stay awake, making it difficult for them to succeed in school.  Further, many children simply do not attend school.

Children working on farms are consistently exposed to hazardous pesticides.  Despite ample evidence of harmful pesticide exposure, no reliable long-term tests have examined the consequences of cumulative exposure to these pesticides for children.  Even worse, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) existing standards for pesticide exposure are based on 154-pound males—children’s smaller size and developmental differences are completely ignored.