USA-Wine Industry/Labor Shortage
California, USA - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of vineyard, unripe grapes
2. Various of Santiago, worker at vineyard, repairing machine
3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Santiago, vineyard employee (full name not given) (starting with shot 2/ending with shot 4):
"Now it's hard to find a job. The wine sales at this vineyard haven't been good lately, so a lot of companies have chosen not to invest in wineries any more. The epidemic situation is getting a bit better now and I hope the same will happen to the vineyard here."
4. Various of Santiago driving tractor in vineyard
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Anita Oberholster, professor of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis (partially overlaid with shot 6):
"In general, I would say that it's been extremely difficult for the wine industry. They've faced many, many, many challenges, and now a couple of new challenges right on top of each other. We are dependent on foreign workers for a lot of things that happen in agriculture. Harvest time, picking time, there are many times when there just aren't enough workers around and people are forced to turn to mechanization, getting a machine harvester to pick your fruit instead of hand harvesting, but that's obviously if you have the choice. Your vineyard needs to be set up to be able to do that. So yes, it's been very difficult even for harvest interns, to get people in the winery to help out during harvest has been very, very challenging."
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
6. Santiago driving tractor in vineyard
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
7. Various of vineyard, wine barrel
California's wine industry still faces a long road ahead in recovery after being battered by massive wildfires last year and amid a labor shortage after changed immigration policy in the United States kept a large number of immigrants out of the country.
U.S. employers added 559,000 jobs in May, rebounding from April's hiring slowdown, with the unemployment rate dropping to 5.8 percent, the Labor Department reported on Friday.
Despite the improvement in the pandemic-ravaged labor market, some 9.3 million people remained unemployed in May, well above the pre-pandemic level of 5.7 million, according to the report.
Furthering compounding the slow recovery of the job market, the U.S. has deported a large number of immigrants in recent years, and the wealth gap has not narrowed, adding to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which has resulted in tightened labor availability and made the life of immigrant workers much more difficult.
Napa Valley is a renowned Californian wine-producing region, which has not only been heavily hit by the pandemic, but also damaged by wildfires in September last year. The raging blaze destroyed the ecology of the entire area and turned many wineries to ashes.
Economics professors from Sonoma State University said that the region's economy heavily depends on immigrant workers as they do the basic but vital work including ploughing, planting and picking. But they are also the most helpless ones when the industry is in trouble.
As an immigrant, Santiago has been working in the vineyard for eight years. He and his wife need to work really hard to support a family of five amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Now it's hard to find a job. The wine sales at this vineyard haven't been good lately, so a lot of companies have chosen not to invest in wineries any more. The epidemic situation is getting a bit better now and I hope the same will happen to the vineyard here," he said.
According to the statistics from the U.S. Labor Department, more than half of California's farm workers are illegal immigrants, which means they can't get unemployment insurance, government relief for COVID-19 or other benefits.
In addition, as the cost of living rises in the region, many low-wage workers have to find a job elsewhere for their livelihoods. The labor force shortage and decline of grape production have made the recovery of the wine industry in Napa Valley more challenging.
"In general, I would say that it's been extremely difficult for the wine industry. They've faced many, many, many challenges, and now a couple of new challenges right on top of each other. We are dependent on foreign workers for a lot of things that happen in agriculture. Harvest time, picking time, there are many times when there just aren't enough workers around and people are forced to turn to mechanization, getting a machine harvester to pick your fruit instead of hand harvesting, but that's obviously if you have the choice. Your vineyard needs to be set up to be able to do that. So yes, it's been very difficult even for harvest interns, to get people in the winery to help out during harvest has been very, very challenging," said Anita Oberholster, a professor of viticulture and enology at the University of California, Davis.
USA-Wine Industry/Labor Shortage
Dateline : Recent
Location : United States
Duration : 2'05
California, USA - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of vineyard, unripe grapes
2. Various of Santiago, worker at vineyard, repairing machine
3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Santiago, vineyard employee (full name not given) (starting with shot 2/ending with shot 4):
"Now it's hard to find a job. The wine sales at this vineyard haven't been good lately, so a lot of companies have chosen not to invest in wineries any more. The epidemic situation is getting a bit better now and I hope the same will happen to the vineyard here."
4. Various of Santiago driving tractor in vineyard
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Anita Oberholster, professor of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis (partially overlaid with shot 6):
"In general, I would say that it's been extremely difficult for the wine industry. They've faced many, many, many challenges, and now a couple of new challenges right on top of each other. We are dependent on foreign workers for a lot of things that happen in agriculture. Harvest time, picking time, there are many times when there just aren't enough workers around and people are forced to turn to mechanization, getting a machine harvester to pick your fruit instead of hand harvesting, but that's obviously if you have the choice. Your vineyard needs to be set up to be able to do that. So yes, it's been very difficult even for harvest interns, to get people in the winery to help out during harvest has been very, very challenging."
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
6. Santiago driving tractor in vineyard
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
7. Various of vineyard, wine barrel
California's wine industry still faces a long road ahead in recovery after being battered by massive wildfires last year and amid a labor shortage after changed immigration policy in the United States kept a large number of immigrants out of the country.
U.S. employers added 559,000 jobs in May, rebounding from April's hiring slowdown, with the unemployment rate dropping to 5.8 percent, the Labor Department reported on Friday.
Despite the improvement in the pandemic-ravaged labor market, some 9.3 million people remained unemployed in May, well above the pre-pandemic level of 5.7 million, according to the report.
Furthering compounding the slow recovery of the job market, the U.S. has deported a large number of immigrants in recent years, and the wealth gap has not narrowed, adding to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which has resulted in tightened labor availability and made the life of immigrant workers much more difficult.
Napa Valley is a renowned Californian wine-producing region, which has not only been heavily hit by the pandemic, but also damaged by wildfires in September last year. The raging blaze destroyed the ecology of the entire area and turned many wineries to ashes.
Economics professors from Sonoma State University said that the region's economy heavily depends on immigrant workers as they do the basic but vital work including ploughing, planting and picking. But they are also the most helpless ones when the industry is in trouble.
As an immigrant, Santiago has been working in the vineyard for eight years. He and his wife need to work really hard to support a family of five amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Now it's hard to find a job. The wine sales at this vineyard haven't been good lately, so a lot of companies have chosen not to invest in wineries any more. The epidemic situation is getting a bit better now and I hope the same will happen to the vineyard here," he said.
According to the statistics from the U.S. Labor Department, more than half of California's farm workers are illegal immigrants, which means they can't get unemployment insurance, government relief for COVID-19 or other benefits.
In addition, as the cost of living rises in the region, many low-wage workers have to find a job elsewhere for their livelihoods. The labor force shortage and decline of grape production have made the recovery of the wine industry in Napa Valley more challenging.
"In general, I would say that it's been extremely difficult for the wine industry. They've faced many, many, many challenges, and now a couple of new challenges right on top of each other. We are dependent on foreign workers for a lot of things that happen in agriculture. Harvest time, picking time, there are many times when there just aren't enough workers around and people are forced to turn to mechanization, getting a machine harvester to pick your fruit instead of hand harvesting, but that's obviously if you have the choice. Your vineyard needs to be set up to be able to do that. So yes, it's been very difficult even for harvest interns, to get people in the winery to help out during harvest has been very, very challenging," said Anita Oberholster, a professor of viticulture and enology at the University of California, Davis.
ID : 8201792
Published : 2021-06-06 11:17
Last Modified : 2021-06-06 17:45:00
Source : China Central Television (CCTV)
Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland
More
