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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 3, 1993                   TAG: 9303030070
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Cox News Service
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

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MIGRANT FARM WORKERS AIDED UNDER PROPOSAL

Saying that migrant farm workers continue to live and work in "deplorable" conditions, a California congressman introduced a wide-ranging reform bill Tuesday that would hold growers responsible for violations by labor contractors.

Since the Agricultural Workers Protection Act was passed in 1983, "employers have found new ways to avoid the law," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif.

Miller said growers now rely on farm labor contractors, known as crew leaders, who often provide no services or substandard services to migrant workers.

As a result, Miller said, there is ample evidence that the migrants work in fields without drinking water or toilets, are exposed to pesticides without being told about their dangers, live in substandard housing, are transported in unsafe vehicles and are denied Social Security benefits and the protection of child-labor laws.

- Cox News Service

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