The Los Angeles Times recently published the start of a major investigative report confirming illegal, abusive, and unsafe conditions for farmworkers on farms in Mexico supplying fruits and vegetables to US companies including Safeway, Subway, and Darden Restaurants (owner of restaurants like Olive Garden and the Yard House) among others.

Many of the workers on these farms are indigenous people from poor areas. Some of the abuses revealed include:

•     Despite the law requiring weekly payments, wages are often withheld until the end of a three-month contract period; workers are often held against their will until the end of contract periods or sometimes longer.
•     Housing conditions for migrant laborers often included no bedding; workers slept on concrete or cardboard often with no blankets.
•     Laborers often lack access to clean water for drinking and bathing.

Most companies have codes of conducts for suppliers, but though they use them to claim their produce comes without exploitation, the reality is these codes are not enforced. In addition, under NAFTA, both Mexico and the US have agreed to uphold basic labor conditions and rights and cooperate to ensure them. .