2015 Migrant Worker Survey

This report is the result of a project designed and undertaken with the intent of gaining a better understanding of who are the migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFWs) that come to Maine each year during the peak summer agricultural season.

The project was carried out as an ad-hoc survey using a questionnaire made up of 44 questions under five sections: Family Composition; Living and Working; Type of Work Prior to Maine; Work Activity While in Maine; and Destination, Work, or Activity after Maine.

The survey itself was conducted by a summer intern working for the Bureau of Employment Services under the supervision of the State Monitor Advocate for MSFWs and sponsored by the Maine State Government Summer Internship Program of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center.

The survey questionnaire was written by the State Monitor Advocate (SMA) and a version in Spanish was created from the English by the intern. To carry out the survey the intern and the SMA visited labor camps in the broccoli growing areas of Aroostook County June 9th though June 10th. The intern returned to the Broccoli Camps later accompanying the Maine Migrant Health Program mobile clinic conducting health outreach July 6th through 7th and again July 20th and 21.

Later, after spending a few intermittent days in the office to write-up results, the surveys would be conducted in Washington County during outreach at the 2015 Blueberry Harvest Raker's Center (a temporary resource center set up in the cafeteria of Narraguaguas High School on Route 1 in Harrington Maine) and visiting labor camps belonging to the major blueberry growing companies. From July 31 through August 7th the focus area for the survey became the blueberry barrens and surrounding harvest areas Down East. From August 10th to the 14th the intern finalized the project, submitting it on her last day August 14th.

The rationale behind conducting over 50 percent of the survey during the blueberry harvest in Washington County was based on this area being where the largest concentration of MSFWs can be found at any one time in Maine. In addition most of the MSFWs in this area are very accessible because they live in housing provided by the large blueberry growing companies. Housing consists of camp 'settlements' in locations spread throughout the barrens and other locations down east. While the camps are located far from each other, travel to them is made possible by a network of dirt roads that crisscross thousands of acres of blueberry fields. As a result, the subject matter of the survey, the MSFWs, were very easy to find. If anything, the challenge was to, in a cold-call approach, ask the subjects to part-take in the survey. Another challenge was that not only are there Spanish speaking MSFWs, as well as English speakers, but there is also a growing number of Haitian workers that speak only Creole. Finding an English speaker was the only way to conduct a survey among the Haitian workers. For the most part all those approached were extremely accommodating and sat for the interview.

In all, 52 surveys were completed and the data results are tabulated in an Excel spreadsheet which was used to create pie charts that highlight percentage outcomes to question topics such as gender, age, and place of permanent home. Because the survey was ad-hoc, and the only people surveyed were those who at a specific time and place were available, the statistical outcomes are to be considered a small sampling of a larger total of MSFWs present in Maine during the 2015 broccoli and blueberry season. In Down East and mid-coast counties 1,560 workers were reported hired this summer to work the blueberry and 297 reported hired to work broccoli in Aroostook.

The data compiled is supplemented by eleven narratives or 'case briefs' which in essence bring to life the percentage numbers reflected in the charts. Each narrative is a descriptive view into their lives as MSFWs, reflecting the challenges and reasoning of traveling so far to find work. Though eleven narratives were written as time allowed, the stories told in each are similar because, for the most part, MSFWs come to Maine from southern or western states following seasonally determined agricultural planting and harvesting cycles.

The value of this ad-hoc survey is the fleshing-out of the human condition within those narratives. This allows for a qualitative balance to the otherwise expected numerical, quantitative data. Why is this important? It is important because the results of this survey, supplemented by the narratives, provide an insight to the lives of MSFWs, tell us who they are, how their social organization is also their support network, and how the desire to improve the lives of their families provides motivation to travel great distances and make sacrifices to find work. This survey provides opportunity for state agencies, legislators, newspaper reporters, and the public to know those who are MSFWs and to understand why they come to Maine. It is hoped that the information provided in the small survey will also assist in determining ways to better assist MSFWs as they seek work opportunities and services.

This report contains an introduction written by the intern, Treva deMaynadier, which outlines the project and her personal experience conducting the survey; the narratives; the charts breaking down statistical percentages; a sample of a Google map created to give place and contextualize the MSFW travels; and sample copies of the English version and the Spanish version of the questionnaire. The hard copy of the original project will be kept on file in the State Monitor's office, with the original surveys.

Jorge A. Acero
State Monitor Advocate

I have lived in Maine my entire life, but this summer I quickly realized that so much of my home state is still unknown to me. When you grow up in Maine, you hear about the wild blueberries, the pine trees, and the lobster all the time, but what no one seems to know is that behind those iconic Maine products, there are groups of hardworking individuals who come from as far away as Florida, Texas, California, and Mexico to harvest and process these products for us. There is a migrant and seasonal farmworker (MSFW) population in Maine that consists of thousands of workers every year, and like so many others, I had no idea.

Fortunately, I had the opportunity to spend this summer traveling to areas of the state I had never been before, conducting a survey with these migrant workers. This experience was made possible through the Maine State Government Summer Internship Program operating through the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center. Jorge Acero, State Monitor Advocate at the Maine Department of Labor's Bureau of Employment Services, developed the survey and supervised the project.

The survey itself consisted of two and a half pages of questions, and was conducted in both English and Spanish.  Fifty-two surveys were completed in total, fifteen at the broccoli farms of Aroostook County, and thirty-seven in the wild blueberry barrens of Washington County. A wide range of migrant workers from different cultures and backgrounds were surveyed.

I approached these workers and asked them to sit down and share with me information about their lives. They got no direct benefits from speaking with me, but for the most part they were willing, and sometimes even enthusiastic, to talk to me about what they do. The survey covers family composition, living and working location prior to Maine, type of work prior to Maine, type of work while in Maine for each family member, anticipated destination post work in Maine, etc. I asked them about where they come from, what work they do here in Maine and elsewhere in the United States, who they travel with, and more.

It took a lot of getting used to. The idea of approaching strangers, sometimes in their homes, sometimes during meals, and interrupting their day-to-day activities was intimidating for me, and it was daunting for the workers I interviewed as well. By the end of the summer it did get easier, and I wish I could continue to meet and talk to the workers who will soon arrive for apples and wreaths as the year continues.

It is my hope that the results of this survey will serve to enlighten the people of Maine about the MSFWs who work here every year. There is a great amount of stigma attached to the idea of migrant farm workers in the United States. That being said, many people do not even have a full understanding of what a migrant worker is. This project should provide a sense of what these workers do, and who they are. It will show that a migrant worker can be of any gender, age, race, or nationality. They are all individuals, and each person I spoke with had a unique experience with migrant work.

This project has five components:

1. Survey Results
2. Population Statistics
3. Survey Maps
4. Migrant Worker Narratives
5. Original Surveys

The first, Survey Results, compiles the responses of all the survey participants. The second, Population Statistics, is a sequence of pie charts, which provide a visual aid for understanding the MSFW population in Maine. They cover the age, gender, and nationality of the workers, as well as the different locations they live and work in Maine and the rest of the United States. Some of the pie charts are also accompanied by a short analysis, which serves to explain the results being shown by that chart. The third component, Survey Maps, exists as a hard copy here but also as an interactive online tool. Along with the hard copy, there is information on how to access the map online.

Unlike the previous items, the fourth component, Migrant Worker Narratives, is more qualitative than quantitative. It is a series of narratives, eleven in total, that focus on the interviews and experiences of specific migrant workers. It is difficult to look at a spreadsheet or a pie graph and truly grasp the whole story. With the addition of the narratives, my hope is that we can better understand what it means to live and work as a migrant worker. Each of the fifty-two workers interviewed had their own story to tell, and the small handful that is featured in the narratives should allow a short peak into some of those stories.

The last component of the project, Original Surveys, is the raw survey data. There are blank copies of the survey in both Spanish and English, and finally there are the original copies of the fifty-two surveys that were conducted in the field. Surveys #1-16, with the exception of #6, were collected in broccoli, and surveys #17-52 were collected in blueberries. Although surveys were conducted under varying circumstances, and some have more detail than others, the notes all hold value and provide an idea of the interview process.

I can look back over all fifty-two of the surveys and recall my conversation with each migrant worker, and I am honored to have been able to meet and talk to these hardworking individuals who bring so much to the state of Maine. This has been an eye-opening and rewarding project for me, and I couldn't have asked for a better summer internship.