Migrant Farm Workers .
Squat down to back the ripest, back up to cover your mouth from the poisoning pesticides, and wipe the dripping sweat off your forehead. This is a basic description of the Okies', and the migrant farm workers' day. Both of these groups were suffering in great poverty, and poor working and living conditions. Not many issues facing migrant farm workers have changed since the 1930's.
Poverty was definitely an issue for the Okies as well as the present day migrant farm workers. A family of four farm workers average out to make $8,000 a year (www.ccer.org/migrant/homemig.htm). This is, for sure, part of the 3/5 of farmers below poverty line (www.ccer.org/migrant/homemig.htm). This situation hasn't changed much since the 1930's Okies situation. The Okies hardly had enough money to put food on the table. They would get paid as low as 2 ½ cents per fruit bucket. If you compare these rates considering the change of the value of a dollar, there isn't much of a difference. This great poverty in both situations was very similar.
Migrant farm workers' working conditions also haven't changed since the 1930's. In the 1903's the Okies had to deal with extreme backaches, hot weather, minimal breaks, and pesticide poisoning. These conditions are almost identical to the working condition of the current day migrant farm workers. The farmers are exposed to the intense heat and sun in the summer while performing strenuous repetitive physical tasks. Wile out there doing this unreasonable work, they don't have much access to clean water to drink nor have adequate sanitary facilities. These workers have the 2nd most dangerous occupation in the United States, because of the high risk of pesticide poisoning. The condition stated sound quite similar to the ones that the Okies had to face in their every day work (www.PCUN.com). Once again, this shows that working conditions for desperate farm workers was not changed since the 1930's.
