CONTENTS Page 813 46 316 Perez, Sylvester, migrant worker, Weslaco labor camp, Weslaco, Tex----- Guerra, Raoul, migrant worker, Weslaco labor camp, Weslaco, Tex--- Unidentified migrant worker from Weslaco labor camp, Weslaco, Tex. (interpreted by Miss Cornita Cantros, bookkeeper, Weslaco labor camp, Real, Miss Petra, migrant worker, Weslaco labor camp, Weslaco, Tex.--- Guerra, Raoul, migrant worker, Weslaco labor camp, Weslaco, Tex Perez, Sylvester, migrant worker, Weslaco labor camp, Weslaco, Tex... Real, Miss Petra, migrant worker, Weslaco labor camp, Weslaco, Tex....... Unidentified migrant worker from Weslaco labor camp, Weslaco, Tex. (interpreted by Miss Cornita Cantros, bookkeeper, Weslaco labor camp, 4 PROBLEMS OF MIGRANT WORKERS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1969 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE, WESLACO LABOR CAMP, Weslaco, Tex. The committee met at 9 a.m. at the Weslaco Labor Camp, Senator Ralph W. Yarborough, chairman, presiding. Present: Senators Yarborough and Mondale. Committee staff members present: Robert O. Harris, staff director; Tyrus G. Fain, research director; Boren Chertkov, counsel. The CHAIRMAN. The Committee on Labor and Public Welfare of the U.S. Senate will come to order. Our first witness is Mr. Sylvester Perez. You may proceed. STATEMENT OF SYLVESTER PEREZ, MIGRANT WORKER, WESLACO LABOR CAMP, WESLACO, TEX. Mr. PEREZ. My name is Sylvester Perez. I have lived here since 1959. The situation I want to bring to your attention is the restrooms. We don't have clean restrooms; and on Saturdays and Sundays it's very hard to get into a clean restroom. The CHAIRMAN. Are there people lined up waiting to get into the restrooms on Saturdays and Sundays? Mr. PEREZ. No, sir. The restrooms are dirty because they are not cleaned on Saturdays and Sundays. The CHAIRMAN. You have people to clean the restrooms on weekdays but no help on Saturdays and Sundays-is that correct? Mr. PEREZ. That's right. The CHAIRMAN. Who cleans the restrooms on weekdays? Are employees of the camp hired to do that? Mr. PEREZ. Well, they have a man to do that job-only one man. Sometimes on Monday morning it takes 4 or 5 hours for him to get to the last restroom; and some people have to wait until 9 or 10 o'clock to get into the restrooms. The CHAIRMAN. How many rest facilities do they have in the entire camp? Mr. PEREZ. Three. The CHAIRMAN. You mean three buildings. What is the total number of toilet facilities for men and the total number for women? Mr. PEREZ. I think there are eight in each building for men. That makes 24 and half of them don't work. The CHAIRMAN. You're saying there are 24 facilities for men and half of them don't work? Same number for women? Mr. PEREZ. That's right. The CHAIRMAN. Now is there anyone in a supervisory position in the camp whose duty it is to see that those facilities work? What kind of management or supervision do you have in the camp? Mr. PEREZ. Well, they have a man here that takes care of the leaky roofs and the lights and all that, but I don't think they spend any money to fix the pipes in most of the restrooms, because water leaks everywhere in the restrooms. The CHAIRMAN. Is there just one man to fix the lights and things? Is he the same man who takes the rent checks? Mr. PEREZ. No. We go up to the office to pay the rent. He's just the boss here and takes care of about three men that work here all the time. The boss is the one who takes complaints from the people who live here. If someone needs a window or something, we go and tell him. He's also the man who has two or three others working for him. The CHAIRMAN. He has two or three regular laborers in the camp who work for him all the time? Do they work a full day every day, so that there's always someone here during normal working hours? Mr. PEREZ. Yes sir. The CHAIRMAN. Does the boss have an office where you can always find him? Mr. PEREZ. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. In addition to the man who fixes the lights, is there a carpenter, an electrician, someone who knows how to fix various things around the camp? Mr. PEREZ. Well, he has a man mowing the grass and one patching the roof and another fixing windows, glasses, and screens. The CHAIRMAN. Does he have anyone who knows how to fix those toilet facilities? Mr. PEREZ. I don't think so. The CHAIRMAN. Have you complained to the boss about this? Mr. PEREZ. No; not about the restrooms. The CHAIRMAN. Have you any kind of committee representing the people that rent the facilities here? Have you, the tenants, elected any kind of committee to take this thing up with the managementnot just one by one, but the entire camp? Mr. PEREZ. No; we haven't. The CHAIRMAN. You've been here since 1959? Mr. PEREZ. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. How many permanent residents are there, like you, who stay here all the time? Mr. PEREZ. Oh, I don't know, not very many. Most of the north side of the camp is empty when the majority of the people travel up north. The CHAIRMAN. Do you work in agriculture or do you do other types of work? Mr. PEREZ. I'm a laborer. The CHAIRMAN. Can you give us an approximate number of the people who stay here all year? Mr. PEREZ. Maybe about 15 or 20. The CHAIRMAN. Has anybody else been here as long as you have— since 1959? |