2008 Woodie Awards
Local migrants settle into farms
Dina Magaril
Issue date: 5/8/08 Section: Features
"Here's the deal. I'm looking for some help. You'll need to be up at five in the morning and working till six o'clock at night and it's going to be dirty, dusty, smelly dangerous work for about 10 dollars an hour. So how many of you want to do this. Just raise your hands please."
Sheryl Connor, a co-founder of the Addison County Migrant Workers Coalition often begins discussions regarding issues faced by migrant workers in Vermont with the above-mentioned speech. Her plea for help reflects the serious issue of securing workers who are willing to work under less than desirable conditions for as many as six days a week. No one ever raises their hands, a fact that doesn't surprise Connor, and would not surprise the majority of the farmers in Addison County.
"No one wants to do this job," said Connor regarding the day-to-day job description required of dairy farm work. Connor and her husband own a dairy farm with nearly 250 cows that need to be milked twice a day, fed and washed.
"Without these migrant workers, dairy farming would not be able to survive," she said.
Four years ago, Connor's husband was involved in a serious farming accident, requiring him to be hospitalized for several weeks. Connor recalled hiring some workers temporarily, but to her dismay they lasted for less than a week before they left for less-stressful climates. It was at this point that Connor began employing migrant workers, many of whom had come from Mexico looking for work.
"Our first Mexican workers were just like family to us," said Connor, referring to the husband-wife pair who came to work on the Connor's farm along with the young woman's brother for over a year.
Associate Professor of Spanish Gloria Gonzalez-Zenteno has been working with Connor and other members of the coalition in conjunction with her independent book project entitled "Invisible Mexico." Through a compilation of interviews Gonzalez hopes to tell the story of the Mexican migrant worker population living in Vermont, or as she said, the pioneering immigrants in Vermont.
Sheryl Connor, a co-founder of the Addison County Migrant Workers Coalition often begins discussions regarding issues faced by migrant workers in Vermont with the above-mentioned speech. Her plea for help reflects the serious issue of securing workers who are willing to work under less than desirable conditions for as many as six days a week. No one ever raises their hands, a fact that doesn't surprise Connor, and would not surprise the majority of the farmers in Addison County.
"No one wants to do this job," said Connor regarding the day-to-day job description required of dairy farm work. Connor and her husband own a dairy farm with nearly 250 cows that need to be milked twice a day, fed and washed.
"Without these migrant workers, dairy farming would not be able to survive," she said.
Four years ago, Connor's husband was involved in a serious farming accident, requiring him to be hospitalized for several weeks. Connor recalled hiring some workers temporarily, but to her dismay they lasted for less than a week before they left for less-stressful climates. It was at this point that Connor began employing migrant workers, many of whom had come from Mexico looking for work.
"Our first Mexican workers were just like family to us," said Connor, referring to the husband-wife pair who came to work on the Connor's farm along with the young woman's brother for over a year.
Associate Professor of Spanish Gloria Gonzalez-Zenteno has been working with Connor and other members of the coalition in conjunction with her independent book project entitled "Invisible Mexico." Through a compilation of interviews Gonzalez hopes to tell the story of the Mexican migrant worker population living in Vermont, or as she said, the pioneering immigrants in Vermont.
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