Western Colorado Dairy Worker's Challenges
Interviewee
Colorado agricultural workers (Anonymous)Interviewer
Angeles MendezOccupation
Dairy WorkerColorado County & Region
West; Montrose CountyOriginal Language
SpanishTranscription
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Promotora: Okey, hoy es septiembre 29 del 2021. Tengo un trabajador aquí. Vamos a hablar acerca de lo que le pasó a esta persona. ¿Dígame qué es lo que le pasó?
Trabajador: Pues lo que me pasó fue de que me accidenté, en... Bueno tuve un accidente con una vaca y ues acudí a la... a mis superiores y este, pues en realidad, no me hicieron caso al principio, no podía caminar yo, ni de hecho para ir a checar a... para... (ininteligible) dos horas de salida (ininteligible) y pues tuve que marcarles, ya que estaba en la casa y, y apenas así, me llevaron al doctor. Y pues como le digo, no, no me han dicho nada de que… de que si me van a pagar esos días, fueron como 20 días. No me han dicho nada si me van a pagar esos días o no. No sé.
Promotora: Y aparte de que lo llevaron al doctor y... ¿no le han pagado por estos 20 días?
Trabajador: Sí.
Promotora: Okey, pero aparte de que le pagan, le cobran renta, ¿verdad?
Trabajador; Si, me cobran renta.
Promotora: Okey, ¿Le han descontado de la gasolina o algo así ?
Trabajador: No.
Promotora: ¿No?, ¿le cobran por algo más aparte de la renta?
Trabajador: No...
Promotora: No, solo la renta.
Trabajador: Si, solo la renta, pues (ininteligible) pues eso es normal, me imagino.
Promotora: Okey, bueno gracias por decirme y contarme.
Trabajador: Pues lo que me pasó fue de que me accidenté, en... Bueno tuve un accidente con una vaca y ues acudí a la... a mis superiores y este, pues en realidad, no me hicieron caso al principio, no podía caminar yo, ni de hecho para ir a checar a... para... (ininteligible) dos horas de salida (ininteligible) y pues tuve que marcarles, ya que estaba en la casa y, y apenas así, me llevaron al doctor. Y pues como le digo, no, no me han dicho nada de que… de que si me van a pagar esos días, fueron como 20 días. No me han dicho nada si me van a pagar esos días o no. No sé.
Promotora: Y aparte de que lo llevaron al doctor y... ¿no le han pagado por estos 20 días?
Trabajador: Sí.
Promotora: Okey, pero aparte de que le pagan, le cobran renta, ¿verdad?
Trabajador; Si, me cobran renta.
Promotora: Okey, ¿Le han descontado de la gasolina o algo así ?
Trabajador: No.
Promotora: ¿No?, ¿le cobran por algo más aparte de la renta?
Trabajador: No...
Promotora: No, solo la renta.
Trabajador: Si, solo la renta, pues (ininteligible) pues eso es normal, me imagino.
Promotora: Okey, bueno gracias por decirme y contarme.
Translation Language (if available)
EnglishTranslation
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Promoter: Okay, today is September 29, 2021. I have a worker here. We are going to talk about what happened to this person. Tell me what happened to you?
Worker: Well, what happened to me was that I had an accident, in.... Well, I had an accident with a cow and then I went to the... to my superiors and, in fact, they did not pay attention to me at the beginning, I could not walk, not even to go to check up on... to... (unintelligible) two hours out (unintelligible) and so I had to dial them, since I was at home and, and just like that, they took me to the doctor. And well, as I said, no, they have not told me anything about... if they are going to pay me for those days, it was about 20 days. They haven't told me if they are going to pay me for those days or not. I don't know.
Promotora: And besides the fact that they took him to the doctor and.... haven't you been paid for these 20 days?
Worker: Yes.
Promoter: Okay, but besides paying you, they charge you rent, right?
Worker: Yes, they charge me rent.
Promoter: Okay, have they discounted your gas or anything like that?
Worker: No.
Promoter: No, do they charge you for anything else besides rent?
Worker: No...
Promoter: No, just the rent.
Worker: Yes, just the rent, well (unintelligible) that is normal, I guess.
Promoter: Okay, well thank you for telling me and telling me.
Worker: Well, what happened to me was that I had an accident, in.... Well, I had an accident with a cow and then I went to the... to my superiors and, in fact, they did not pay attention to me at the beginning, I could not walk, not even to go to check up on... to... (unintelligible) two hours out (unintelligible) and so I had to dial them, since I was at home and, and just like that, they took me to the doctor. And well, as I said, no, they have not told me anything about... if they are going to pay me for those days, it was about 20 days. They haven't told me if they are going to pay me for those days or not. I don't know.
Promotora: And besides the fact that they took him to the doctor and.... haven't you been paid for these 20 days?
Worker: Yes.
Promoter: Okay, but besides paying you, they charge you rent, right?
Worker: Yes, they charge me rent.
Promoter: Okay, have they discounted your gas or anything like that?
Worker: No.
Promoter: No, do they charge you for anything else besides rent?
Worker: No...
Promoter: No, just the rent.
Worker: Yes, just the rent, well (unintelligible) that is normal, I guess.
Promoter: Okay, well thank you for telling me and telling me.
Interviewer's Notes
Interviewer's note:So this gentleman stated he comes here to work in the Dairy along with 10 more guys. However, they come with TN visas and their boss tell them to what to say at the boarder. But when they come here they do H2A work. One just got hurt by a cow and they wanted to send them to Mexico because they knew they could get in trouble.
They ignored him and finally took him to Urgent care but they kept asking him to go back to work. On top of that they charge the guys 500$ rent on small house rooms
Title
Western Colorado Dairy Worker's Challenges
Description
This story is about how some Dairy workers are doing H2A with TN visas and how their boss is abusing power and mistreating them.
Creator
Angeles Mendez
Date
2021-09-29
Contributor
Kassandra Neiss
Coverage
Western Colorado Dairy Worker's Challenges
Citation
Angeles Mendez, Western Colorado Dairy Worker's Challenges 2021-09-29. Esencial Colorado, accessed September 10, 2024, https://esencialcolorado.org/items/show/38