On the campaign trail, Joe Biden proposed giving farmworkers overtime and sick-pay. Many workers come from Mexico and Central America on visas. The president-elect would allow these workers to earn legal status to remain in the U.S.
Gerardo Reyes Chavez is with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which represents about 30,000 farmworkers in Florida. He says farm labor is just as important as doctors or first responders.
鈥淲e should be treated as essential workers fully...because that is only fair. If we feed the nation, we also need to be able to have that kind of backup," he said.
鈥淣ine out of ten tomatoes that people consume in northern states, especially now in the winter, come from us. That alone should be enough reason to make sure that this community is not risking more than what they have to.鈥�
Biden has picked to be his Secretary of Agriculture, a role Vilsack previously held in the Obama administration.
While he worked to improve working conditions on farms, critics accused Vilsack of being too close to large agribusiness companies.
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