The Role and Responsibility of USDA in Agricultural Labor Policy

The Agricultural Employment Work Group (AEWG) was organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study labor issues in the nation's agriculture. A major impetus for the organization of the Work Group was the hostile and confrontational atmosphere that existed in the farm labor arena and which threatened the welfare of all those at interest: growers, farmworkers, and society. The Work Group is charged with making recommendations to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (for transmittal to other agencies as appropriate) on ways to improve the agricultural labor environment. It is a unique combination of representatives of agricultural employer and farmworker interests, agricultural labor economists and personnel specialists, and government representatives.