MEMORANDUM

DATE:		April 6, 2004

TO:		Regional Workforce Board Directors

FROM:	Lois A. Scott, Program Manager, One-Stop and Program Support

SUBJECT:	AWI Toll-Free Farmworker Complaint Line

Florida Governor Jeb Bush has expressed his concern for the working conditions under which agricultural workers and Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers labor while planting, caring for, and harvesting agricultural products in Florida.  This concern led to the drafting of farmworker legislation designed to better regulate the activities of agricultural crewleaders, toxic materials, and other aspects that affect the agricultural labor force.

Supplementing the new legislation, one important service to assist farmworkers in resolving work related problems is the creation of the Farmworker Complaint Referral and Resolution System.  This system, developed by an interagency Crewleader Complaint Focus Group, includes a centralized referral and complaint system for public reporting of alleged violations utilizing a toll free telephone number operated by the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI).   The system also has follow-up procedures for referring the complaints to appropriate jurisdictional agencies; a resource directory; and the capability to refer complaints to other agencies.

The AWI toll-free telephone number for farmworker complaints is 1-800-633-3572.  

Regional Workforce Board and One-Stop Career Center staff may now refer farmworkers who have complaints that cannot be resolved locally to the number above.

If you have any questions, please call Gene Rhodes at (850) 921-3326.

LAS/oak

cc:	Curtis Austin			Mike Switzer			Alecia Shally
	Susan Pareigis		Barbara Griffin			A. E. Rhodes