From dawn until dusk, hundreds of migrant workers are employed to cut Christmas trees in Grayson County, along the North Carolina border. Cold, rainy weather does not keep the so-called pineros from a job done on steep slopes, using sharp tools.
(worker speaking in Spanish) This worker told the Legal Aid Justice Center that the hours are long, and the job can be dangerous, but they have no health insurance and are not eligible for Virginia’s minimum wage.
In a warehouse nearby, other workers from Mexico and Central America are paid to craft wreaths and other holiday decorations – paid by the piece. Those who work quickly might make $200 a day, but others will earn no more than $7.25 an hour.
Legal aid’s Manuel Gago-Silcox says they live in "old farm buildings.
or trailers where they share a bathroom with 13 people.”
And, by law, that bathroom can be an outdoor porta-potty. In what little free time they have, there may be nothing to do.
“The only distraction that the people have is going on Sunday to do shopping and laundry,” Gago-Silcox says.
So he’s hoping the Christmas spirit might last through the next legislative session, when lawmakers will have a chance to provide legal protection, a decent wage and better housing to hundreds of migrants who visit pine farms in Virginia each year.
For more information go to https://www.justice4all.org/christmastree/
