Pineros
Latino Labour and the Changing Face of Forestry in the Pacific Northwest
A critical investigation of the causes and consequences of the
Latinization of forest labour on public lands in the US Pacific
Northwest.
Description
Although the exploitation of Latino workers in many industries is
well known, pineros – Latino forest workers –
toil largely in obscurity. Brinda Sarathy investigates how the US
federal government came to be one of the country’s largest
employers of Latino labour, and documents pinero wages and working
conditions in comparison to those of white forest labourers. Pinero
exploitation, Sarathy argues, is the product of an ongoing history of
institutionalized racism in the West. Overcoming this legacy depends on
improving the visibility and working conditions of pineros and
providing them with a stronger voice in immigration and forestry
policy-making.