Treatment of Colorado's Migrant Range Workers
January 14, 2010
To: Interested Parties
From: Chandra Russo, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition , Jennifer Lee, Colorado Legal Services
Re: State & National News Coverage of Colorado Legal Services Report on Unfair and Unequal Treatment of Colorado's Migrant Range Workers
Report, "Overworked and Underpaid: H-2A herders in Colorado"
Current clips: here
Jan. 14, 2010
New York Times/Associated Press
Immigrant Sheepherders Endure Harsh Work, Low Pay "Alone and thousands of miles from home, the immigrant sheepherder roams some of the West's most desolate and frigid landscapes, tending a flock for as little as $600 a month without a day off on the horizon. …
Rep. Daniel Kagan, a Democrat from Denver, said "sheepherders often don't speak English, don't know where they are, and depend entirely on their employers for food, water and contact with the outside world."
Jan. 13, 2010
Survey stirs debate over treatment of foreign sheepherders
By Dennis Webb
The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
"Colorado Legal Services says non-herding migrant farm workers must receive at least $9.88 an hour in Colorado. Some Colorado herders report working 91 or more hours per week, not including the time they are on call, meaning they average about $2 an hour, Colorado Legal Services says."
Jan. 14, 2009
Denver Post
Poor treatment of immigrant sheep herders alleged
"A lot of the actual shocking stuff is allowed under current law," said Jennifer Lee, a Colorado Legal Services attorney who oversaw the report. …Many of the conditions described were drastically worse than those existing for farmworkers, let alone for other types of laborers in Colorado," the report said.
" Note: AP Story also appeared on the following news sites:
Earlier Articles:
December 25, 2009
Tough way to make a living
Migrant sheepherders endure loneliness, low wages on Colo. ranches .
"Migrant sheepherders sign three-year contracts and live in “campitos” — mini trailers with no bathroom, no shower, no running water. Water is delivered to the workers in 5-gallon jugs."
Feb. 21, 2009
By Dan Frosch
New York Times
In Loneliness, Immigrants Tend the Flock
“It’s like going back in time,” said Thomas Acker, a Spanish professor at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colo., who hopes to persuade the state legislature to raise herders’ wages and to require ranchers to improve their standard of living. “That these men are required to live under these conditions for such long periods is inhumane.”
