Migrants win lawsuit against company
In June of 2005, Francisco Coronado walked into the Oasis Café — the restaurant he called his “office” — in downtown Brownsville and put together a workforce of 27 men to pick corn for Pioneer Hi-Bred International, near Worthington, Indiana.
He told the men they would make upwards of $3,000 for less than three weeks of labor, and that they could count on large end-of-season bonuses. But Coronado delivered on neither of these promises. Instead, he paid his workers meager wages and provided substandard living conditions.
Last week, more than 18 months after returning from Indiana, 27 of Coronado’s recruits won an $81,000 lawsuit over the withheld wages and transportation and housing conditions.
The workers, represented by attorneys at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, argued that these were violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
“We were working from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.,” said Manuel Martinez, 66, “and five of us were forced to sleep in a room with only two beds. It was very difficult to sleep.”
For the last 20 years, Martinez has looked for potential employers in and around the Oasis Café. He has worked fields in Texas, Florida and the Midwest. But he had never been taken advantage of as badly as by Coronado and Iowa-based Pioneer Hi-Bred International. The company is owned by DuPont, a Fortune 500 company.
“If we had known about the outcome,” said Jose Herrera, another of Coronado’s recruits, “we never would have gone.”
The operation’s transgressions started before the crew even arrived in Indiana. Coronado instructed several of the men to drive their co-workers from Brownsville to Worthington in company vans, even though the men didn’t have proper licenses.
“It’s hard to find work,” said Rafael Galaviz, “so we went with him under his conditions.”
But when Galaviz received his check at the end of the season, he was shocked.
“Is this it?” he asked Coronado. Galaviz’s hands were callused from the work. He could still feel dust particles in his throat.
“Yes,” said Coronado.
“Well, I’m going to demand more,” Galaviz responded, “and you’re going to lose out.”
Coronado dismissed him.
Galaviz never leaves for work without the contact information of TRLA, a Weslaco-based nonprofit organization that provides free civil legal services to low-income and disadvantaged clients.
The firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of the 27 workers in June 2006.
“Employers of migrant workers have a legal obligation to disclose complete and accurate information about the job they are offering at the time of recruitment,” said TRLA attorney Jennifer Smith. “Such information is essential to workers who face the difficult decision of whether or not to leave home and commence an arduous and often expensive journey across the country.”
Now that the suit has been settled, Galaviz feels redeemed. Before Christmas, he and his former coworkers will receive $2,500.
“My family in Matamoros has been waiting for this money,” said Jose Herrera, “and now they’ll get it.”
