Pineros by Brinda Sarathy, Paperback | Indigo Chapters

The exploitation of Latino workers in many industries, fromagriculture and meat packing to textile manufacturing and janitorialservices, is well known. By contrast, pineros - itinerant workers whoform the backbone of the forest management labour force on federal land- toil in obscurity. Drawing on government papers, media accounts, and interviews withfederal employees and Latino forest workers in Oregon’s RogueValley, Brinda Sarathy investigates how the federal government came tobe one of the single largest employers of Latino labour in the PacificNorthwest. She documents pinero wages, working conditions, and benefitsin comparison to those of white loggers and tree planters, exposing exploitation that, she argues, is the product of an ongoinghistory of institutionalized racism, fragmented policy, andintra-ethnic exploitation in the West. To overcome this legacy, Sarathyoffers a number of proposals to improve the visibility and workingconditions of pineros and to provide them with a stronger voice inimmigration and forestry policy-making. This vividly drawn account fills many gaps in our understanding offorest management in the Pacific Northwest, making clear that trueenvironmental justice must take into account not only stewardship offorests, but also the treatment of the people who work in them. | Pineros by Brinda Sarathy, Paperback | Indigo Chapters