
Chasing the Harvest: ‘If You Want to Die, Stay at the Ranch’ - DiabloD3
https://longreads.com/2017/05/17/chasing-the-harvest-heraclio-astete/
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mnm1
"It is also the poorest paid job in the country, with some sheepherders still
earning around $750 a month; with their long hours of work, that amounts to
about a dollar an hour."

How many Americans are willing to work for this type of wage in these
conditions? My guess would be zero.

~~~
xxSparkleSxx
What is the purpose of this comment? Do you honestly think Americans should
feel bad that we won't exploit ourselves even further?

If anything the average American should be demanding more, not accepting less.

There is no morality in sacrificing for your masters. If anything it is
immoral to allow the market to swing so low by accepting a job with such a low
wage. Let the masters herd sheep, the current herders would serve society
better by not accepting such low paid work and choosing to die if better work
could not be found.

~~~
mnm1
You seriously think people will choose to die? Have you ever met other people?

~~~
xxSparkleSxx
Of course I don't think they would do that. I'm just saying people that would
choose that are likely on the moral high ground compared to those that choose
to take jobs that don't even pay a living wage.

------
nkurz
I wonder if many of the issues described aren't specific to the treatment of
immigrant workers, but something inherent to modern ranching in the American
West. "Sweetgrass" is a phenomenal 2009 documentary about American
sheepherding culture in Montana:

 _An unsentimental elegy to the American West, “Sweetgrass” follows the last
modern-day cowboys to lead their flocks of sheep up into Montana’s
breathtaking and often dangerous Absaroka-Beartooth mountains for summer
pasture. This astonishingly beautiful yet unsparing film reveals a world in
which nature and culture, animals and humans, vulnerability and violence are
all intimately meshed._

[http://sweetgrassthemovie.com](http://sweetgrassthemovie.com)

It's an unflinching movie that captures the beauty of the landscape, the
desperation of the herders, and a sense of place and belonging. It also
includes the most heartfelt swearing scene I've ever seen:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCbV58dzmBc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCbV58dzmBc).
It's probably best to start with the official trailer, though, to give some
context:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV9iah71iPQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV9iah71iPQ).

------
arjie
Would one of the people who've read this kindly share a summary?

~~~
pyre
People coming from (e.g.) Peru on H-2A visas were treated poorly in the 1980's
and the 1990's. Legislation was passed in 2001, which lead to some increases
in living conditions, and pay, but it's not really enforced by the Dept. of
Labour, so some ranches still have workers living in the same conditions as in
the 1980's and 1990's. Specific points:

* The company he worked for didn't want to pay him worker's comp. when he contracted Valley Fever, which is a direct result of his job / working conditions.

* They also wanted to just pay him a lump sum of $2k, and send him home rather than continue to pay his medical bills. They failed to mention to him that doctors in Peru don't know how to deal with Valley Fever since it's really something limited to the US. He only found this out from other Peruvians that he got in contact with.

* Companies liked to sign people up for H-2A visas as "sheepherders," but then have them do different jobs once they were here (and conveniently pocket the difference in pay between the jobs).

* The people living as sheepherders were basically modern-day "slaves." They were paid $750/month (flat fee) for a job that basically required their every waking hour (and or more) to complete. They were isolated from anyone except for their boss. Their boss would flip out and grill them if there were so much as "unknown" tire tracks in the vicinity. They weren't even allow to have a _magazine_ let alone a radio or television, because apparently that would mean that they were slacking off and not working.

~~~
gozur88
>The company he worked for didn't want to pay him worker's comp. when he
contracted Valley Fever, which is a direct result of his job / working
conditions.

That part is debateable. People in parts of central California and Arizona
sometimes come down with Valley Fever. You don't have to be a shepherd or even
have an outside job. Or have a job at all.

You can make the argument that he wouldn't have been in California and
therefore his employer should have covered the cost of his medical care, but
you can make that argument about _any_ illness he suffered after coming to
California.

