United Farm Workers launches national Take Our Jobs campaign

United Farm Workers has launched a national Take Our Jobs campaign challenging U.S. citizens and legal residents to replace undocumented farm workers. UFW president Arturo Rodriguez said the agricultural industry would need at least half a million citizens or legal residents to survive.

In a letter to U.S. lawmakers, UFW offers farm workers who are ready to train citizens and legal residents who wish to replace them in the field. UFW would use its knowledge and staff to help connect the unemployed with farm employers.

Campaign organizers plan to take the program to members of Congress and the general public through a national broadcast appearance on the Colbert Show on July 8 in an effort to generate public interest in the plan. The effort focuses on the immigrant labor issue and the need for reforms. UFW said if the reforms aren’t implemented the U.S. agricultural industry could be crippled, which could lead to more jobs moving off shore.

 “We support farm workers regardless of their legal status or nationality,” Rodriguez said. “Farm workers do the work that most Americans are not willing to do. Our current labor force is comprised of professional farm workers who possess essential skills needed to maintain the viability of the agricultural industry. But our nation’s struggling economy has fueled an increasingly ugly debate on immigration policy and many Americans believe that undocumented farm workers are taking jobs from our citizens and legal residents.

Rodriguez said lawmakers need to solve the immigrant labor issue or more of America’s food production will move to other countries.