In Grayson County, Virginia, hundreds of migrant workers are hired to cut Christmas trees along the North Carolina border. Despite cold and rainy weather, these workers, known as “pineros,” keep working on steep slopes with sharp tools.
One worker, speaking in Spanish, shared with the Legal Aid Justice Center that the long hours and dangerous job come with no health insurance, and they are not paid Virginia’s minimum wage.
Nearby, other workers from Mexico and Central America are paid per piece to make wreaths and holiday decorations. Fast workers might earn up to $200 a day, but others make as little as $7.25 an hour.
Manuel Gago-Silcox from Legal Aid says many of these workers live in old farm buildings or trailers, often sharing one bathroom with up to 13 people. That bathroom could even be an outdoor porta-potty. In their little free time, their only escape is going shopping or doing laundry on Sundays.
Gago-Silcox hopes that lawmakers will extend the holiday spirit beyond the season, providing better legal protections, fair wages, and improved housing for the hundreds of migrant workers who come to Virginia’s pine farms each year.