Farmworkers say they were stranded in Washington orchard

KNKX Public Radio | By The Associated Press

Published November 3, 2011 at 9:06 AM PDT

MATTAWA, Wash. — Nearly 60 farmworkers from the Tri-Cities say they were stranded at a Mattawa orchard after they refused to pick apples for less than minimum wage.

A spokesman with United Farm Workers, Gorge Valenzuela, told KEPR (http://bit.ly/toWYQn) they had to walk an hour-and-a-half Wednesday just to reach a road where they could wave at cars to ask for rides.

Orchard managers said they guarantee minimum wage and if that they had known about the problem they would have helped the workers return home.

Tags

Other News Harvest workers

The Associated Press

The Associated Press (“AP”) is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from the AP. Founded in 1846, the AP today is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering. The AP considers itself to be the backbone of the world’s information system, serving thousands of daily newspaper, radio, television, and online customers with coverage in text, photos, graphics, audio and video.

See stories by The Associated Press