By R. Allen Wight
El Futuro Es Nuestro, or “It’s Our Future (IOF),” organizes H2-A and immigrant farmworkers in North Carolina and advocates on their behalf.
The organization initially materialized out of grassroots demands for better leadership in the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), but last month It’s Our Future declared formal separation from FLOC.
In 2021, FLOC members had called for democratization and a renewed commitment to enforcing the union’s collective bargaining agreement with the North Carolina Growers’ Association (NCGA). There were many concerns about the union’s leadership, including its support for wage freezes, nepotism, and election fraud. To learn more, readers can find It’s Our Future’s Declaration of Formal Separation from FLOC on their website, elfuturoesnuestro.org
The IOF organization is farmworker-led and robust in its approach, confronting the exploitation of workers while building relationships, engaging in policy and health campaigns, and taking on projects that will improve conditions and lay a blueprint for a better future. Their website describes in detail their work, needs, and campaigns.
One ongoing campaign seeks to end forced meal plans, which trap workers in relying upon an expensive meal provision that offers too little, poor quality food—all while prohibiting them from using kitchens on site to supplement their diet.
El Futuro Es Nuestro also works in public advocacy, fighting the corruption of the H2-A program and calling out current right-wing bids to replace immigrant labor with imported H2-A contracts. They have raised awareness around heat stress as well, which continues to cause the deaths of farmworkers who cannot take breaks for fear of being fired.
One prevalent issue is the extent to which legal housing falls short of being humane, just housing.
Agricultural employers force H2-A and immigrant workers into very low quality housing situations. And when a worker is fired for taking a break or speaking up about terrible conditions, they become unhoused.
To tackle this problem, It’s Our Future kicked off their new land and housing project in early May with a successful demolition day.
This project aims to build equitable temporary housing for workers and create a model that demonstrates for employers what the bare minimum of equitable, quality housing in a labor camp should entail. Having already acquired two acres of land for this project, IOF will also establish a co-op and start growing food.
So many workers are growers in Mexico, but the agro industry doesn’t care to use their techniques and experience. In addition to squandered skill, there is the mental difficulty that the farmworkers experience during the five-week wait for harvest.
The co-op can address all of these issues by providing a place for community support and rest as well as a different kind of work and ownership. The housing project on its own needs to raise 200,000 dollars.
This is genuinely a visionary project, and it deserves our attention, energy, and donations. Housing and food for someone who needs it is housing and food for all; our fates are connected.
El Futuro Es Nuestro needs solidarity in the Triangle; they need helping hands, fundraisers, awareness, and public conversations.
There are so many ways to contribute meaningfully! You can start by donating on their website. Beyond monetary contributions, sign up for the IOF monthly e-newsletter to stay in the know.
This summer, IOF will publish dates for land clean up and preparation; you can organize your church or local community to volunteer on those days, or just come lend a hand on your own. Another big need is drivers. Many workers need rides to IOF meetings or other appointments.
There will also be monthly solidarity visits during which community members can meet farmworkers in the fields and talk with them; these happen during harvest, which lasts May through November.
If you’re unable to engage with any of these opportunities, you can also think about organizing a community awareness event. No matter how small, making these conversations happen helps to sustain the important work. El Futuro Es Nuestro is on Facebook under that name, and readers can follow @ncfriendsoffarmworkers on Instagram as well.
R. Allen Wight is a contributing editor at Triangle Free Press.