The exploitation of Latino workers in many industries,
from
agriculture and meat packing to textile manufacturing and
janitorial
services, is well known. By contrast, pineros -- itinerant workers
who
form the backbone of the forest management labour force on federal
land
-- toil in obscurity.
Drawing on government papers, media accounts, and interviews
with
federal employees and Latino forest workers in Oregon's Rogue
Valley, Brinda Sarathy investigates how the federal government came
to
be one of the single largest employers of Latino labour in the
Pacific
Northwest. She documents pinero wages, working conditions, and
benefits
in comparison to those of white loggers and tree planters,
exposing exploitation that, she argues, is the product of an
ongoing
history of institutionalized racism, fragmented policy, and
intra-ethnic exploitation in the West. To overcome this legacy,
Sarathy
offers a number of proposals to improve the visibility and
working
conditions of pineros and to provide them with a stronger voice
in
immigration and forestry policy-making.
This vividly drawn account fills many gaps in our understanding
of
forest management in the Pacific Northwest, making clear that
true
environmental justice must take into account not only stewardship
of
forests, but also the treatment of the people who work in
them.
Brinda Sarathy is an assistant professor of
environmental analysis at Pitzer College in Claremont,
California.
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