Claremont, Calif. (January 19, 2012) — Pitzer College Assistant Professor of Environmental Analysis Brinda Sarathy has authored a new book, Pineros: Latino Labor and the Changing Face of Forestry in the Pacific Northwest, published by University of British Columbia Press.
While the exploitation of Latino workers in many industries is well known, “pineros,” Latino forest workers, toil largely in obscurity. In Pineros, Sarathy investigates how the US federal government came to be one of the country’s largest employers of immigrant labor and documents pinero wages and working conditions in comparison to those of native-born forest laborers. Pinero exploitation, Sarathy argues, is the product of an ongoing history of institutionalized racism, fragmented policy, and intra-ethnic exploitation 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.
Pineros: Latino Labor and the Changing Face of Forestry in the Pacific Northwest will be available through major book retailers on January 25.
