大象传媒

Every month, around 50 dairy farmworkers filter into a church basement in western New York after a grueling day of work. They order dinner from a local Mexican or Puerto Rican restaurant and settle in to discuss how to organize for their rights to a dignified life and workplace under increasingly strained conditions. Under the Trump administration, the largely聽聽is facing an聽. At the same time, the group is bracing for outbreaks of avian flu on New York dairy farms, and working to educate their coworkers on how to stay as safe as possible from the virus.

The rapidly circulating avian flu has yet to be detected in New York鈥檚 dairy herds, but these farmworkers鈥攎embers of聽, a group dedicated to fighting for the rights of dairy workers and their communities鈥攄on鈥檛 want to take any chances.

Already detected in New York鈥檚 wild birds, a range of wild mammals, and multiple poultry farms, the virus could soon hit the state鈥檚 dairy industry鈥擭ew York鈥檚 largest agricultural sector, spanning almost聽. While the virus is still considered low-risk to the general public, it poses a聽聽who directly feed, medicate, and milk the cows from dawn to dusk.

So far,聽聽of the U.S. outbreak of the virus have been in poultry or dairy farmworkers, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Yet members of Alianza Agr铆cola say that farmworkers in their group have not received education or training in their workplaces about how to protect themselves from the virus. This has prompted them to take matters into their own hands. Over the past few months, the group has educated hundreds of other farmworkers on how to prepare for avian flu, including by traveling directly to dairy farms and providing education at their meetings.

鈥淣one of the employers have given us any information about this,鈥� Luis Jim茅nez, a dairy farmworker and the president Alianza Agr铆cola, tells Sentient. 鈥淎ll of the information I have [on avian flu]鈥攁nd that we鈥檝e been able to share with other workers鈥攊s because we鈥檝e been able to inform ourselves from other institutions.鈥�

The CDC has issued interim聽聽to protect farmworkers and other people working with animals from avian flu, recommending that employers train workers on how to identify the virus and other infection-control practices. Yet this guidance is voluntary, without any means of enforcing or even widely distributing it鈥攃reating a significant gap in worker protections, in New York and across the country.

Even in states where the H5N1 virus is already circulating in dairy herds, advocates have observed that dairy farmworkers lack basic training and information on the virus.

鈥淎 lot of workers have told us that they weren鈥檛 told anything, which actually really stresses people out. When cows were getting sick, they weren鈥檛 told why,鈥� said Bethany Alcauter, who directs research and public health programs for the National Center for Farmworker Health. 鈥淢any workers were really concerned that they were doing something to make the cow sick, and it caused a fair amount of distress,鈥� she added.

Providing Education to 500 New York Farmworkers

If the virus were to strike New York鈥檚 dairy farms, these farmworkers鈥攍ow-wage,聽without health insurance鈥攚ould be on the front lines. Beyond protecting other farmworkers from H5N1, Alianza Agr铆cola鈥檚 outreach helps prevent the spread of the virus to聽 and the rising risk of its聽聽if it were to mutate to become transmissible between humans.

鈥淔armworkers, of course, are the most vulnerable to the disease because they鈥檙e the ones working with the animals,鈥� said Delcianna Winders, the director of Animal and Law Policy Institute at Vermont Law School. 鈥淏ut then, of course, they don鈥檛 live in isolated bubbles. They live in larger communities, and so when they go out into those communities, they鈥檙e at the highest risk of spreading the virus to other members of the community.鈥�

Jim茅nez says that they鈥檝e worked with the New York Department of Health, the聽,聽and other institutions outside of the state to ensure that their educational materials on the quickly evolving virus are accurate and up to date. This has involved printing and distributing a brochure (in聽听补苍诲听), 鈥淗5N1 Guidance for Farmworkers,鈥� to about 500 dairy workers so far, according to Jim茅nez.

The brochure explains how the virus can spread through milk, feces, and other body fluids of the infected animals and provides guidance on how farmworkers can reduce exposure to the virus.

While Jim茅nez has encountered some farmworkers who have never heard of avian flu, the majority of workers are familiar with it. More frequently, he encounters farmworkers who are confused about the public health risks of the virus, while not realizing that they are聽聽of contracting the virus.

鈥淸Other farmworkers] always tell us that they believe you can鈥檛 get infected so easily, or that it鈥檚 like any normal flu. So we tell them that, 鈥楴o, it鈥檚 different symptoms, and it鈥檚 very easy to get infected if you work with infected animals,鈥濃�� says Jim茅nez.

The brochure also includes information on how to identify symptoms of the virus in humans with clear visual graphics, though it also notes that . Finally, the brochure provides farmworkers with QR codes and links on how they can get tested for the virus through  and receive health services through New York鈥檚 statewide .

At every meeting, Jim茅nez says they pass out the brochures. 鈥淲e tell them, 鈥楧on鈥檛 forget, we have brochures to be informed about what is happening and what avian flu is,鈥欌�� he says. They also host meetings dedicated to discussing the virus, sometimes with speakers like Mary Jo Dudley, the Director of the Cornell Farmworker Program, who spoke with the group about how to prepare. They鈥檙e currently working with Dudley and the New York Department of Health to put out a graphic video with further guidance for farmworkers on the virus.

Dudley says she fielded questions from farmworkers about how they would be able to know if the virus is spreading through cattle鈥攓uestions that are critical not only to the safety of farmworkers but also to the broader prevention of the virus.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of questions about how would we detect it if the cows have it? How is it spread?鈥� Dudley tells Sentient. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 spread through milk. So milk includes splatter. Splatter gets into manure. So there鈥檚 all these different levels. How do you protect people at each level?鈥� As H5N1 continues to spread, the answers to these questions are also evolving鈥攑articularly as some scientists are concerned the virus聽

Keeping Farmworker Communities Safe

In addition to the looming threat of avian flu, the recent聽,聽or Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, since Trump returned to the White House has heightened fears and anxieties among farmworkers.

In recent weeks, Dudley says that she has observed both ICE and local enforcement parked directly outside health clinics where New York farmworkers would seek care if exhibiting symptoms of the virus. 鈥淭hat creates pause,鈥� says Dudley. 鈥淎re you going to try to go into that health center, you know?鈥�

Dudley has also heard concerns from farmworkers about the prospect of government personnel entering farms should there be an outbreak. 鈥淚f there is an event with avian flu, then the first step is that inspectors will come to inspect the herd,鈥� she says. Yet in this environment of heightened immigration enforcement, Dudley says, farmworkers are more suspicious of strangers and government officials who come to their workplaces.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of government vigilance,鈥� says Dudley. 鈥淲hen you see somebody who you interpret to be a representative of the government, you can鈥檛 differentiate between what they鈥檙e there for,鈥� which can create fear and confusion.

Dudley recommends that dairy operators put a sign in front of the farm entrance that reads, 鈥淣o Visitors Allowed for Biosecurity Reasons,鈥� along with a number that any invited visitors can call if they need to inspect or conduct business on the farm. (The biosecurity issue isn鈥檛 a cover;  can increase the risk of tracking in avian flu.)

Jim茅nez says they鈥檝e provided virtual and in-person trainings to the local community in western New York on how to respond to ICE raids. 鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e in this difficult situation with the new administration, so we鈥檙e asking allies to be alert,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f the police call ICE, I think that the allies can help by聽聽supporting the families, or聽聽saying that the workers are part of the community and they are just working and being good neighbors.鈥�

In the meantime, Jim茅nez plans to keep working hard at his job at an large-scale dairy farm where his role is tending to the calves. 鈥淭he weapon that we use as workers is doing good and responsible work,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e are always going to have that as a tool for organizing.鈥� Alianza Agr铆cola has won what seemed like an impossible fight before, successfully pushing New York to allow undocumented immigrants to聽.

While the fights ahead may be even larger, Jim茅nez has never been one to give into fear: He plans to keep organizing with other farmworkers to prepare for both the risks of immigration enforcement and the avian flu hitting New York dairy farms. The future may be deeply uncertain, but Alianza Agr铆cola is informed and ready.

This story was originally published by .