"Petition calls for Lowville farm to safeguard rights of migrant workers", 28 Oct 2015

An advocacy group for migrant workers is trying to collect 1,000 signatures on a petition in support of two employees who lost their jobs in September after standing up for their rights at Marks Farms...Rebecca I. Fuentes, coordinator of [Workers’ Center of Central New York, Syracuse] said the petition was started after the men — Crispin Hernandez, 19, and Saul Pinto, 35 — lost their jobs in retaliation for the action they took to stand up for their right to visit with the group. She said protections afforded to immigrant workers by the state Department of Labor allow them to see visitors at farm labor camps...Owners of Marks Farms, which has about 70 employees, have contended the move to lay off workers was not tied to the workers’ actions...The petition calls for Marks Farms to “stop all use of violence and verbal abuse” against employees, to respect rights of employees to receive visitors in their homes and to “stop retaliation” against workers who are trying to improve conditions on the farm...“We want to make sure they understand what they’re doing is intimidation, and we’re giving them the benefit of the doubt that they can change.” [said Ms. Fuentes]