Catherwood LibraryILR School

An ongoing strike by migrant farmers on a Kentucky tobacco farm enters the third week, as workers continue to protest wages below those guaranteed under the H2-A Visa program. The strike is part of a larger movement to organize H2-A workers in the South and Midwest. While seasonal workers in Kentucky are guaranteed a minimum wage of $10.92 an hour by law, the workers report receiving only $8.00 an hour and working without basic safety measures like using gloves to pick tobacco. The Farm Labor Organizing Committee has been pushing to organize migrant farmers for several years and reports that this is the first year they are in Kentucky—a sign that the movement is growing.