Created: 12/19/2005 10:46:23 PM 
By Grayson Kamm First Coast News
PALATKA, FL -- State Senator Tony Hill is getting more involved in what's being called a case of modern day slavery on the First Coast.
Investigators believe migrant farmworkers are being trapped, and now there's a new push to help them.
John McBride spent Monday working in about a half-dozen First Coast labor camps.
He wasn't farming -- he was fining -- catching people who violate farmworkers' rights.
"Farm labor people are very important to the economy of the state of Florida, and they're also often our poorest and neediest citizens," says McBride, who works for the state's Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
"We have an obligation to look after them, and make sure they're taken care of, and treated fairly," he says.
Much of his time went to handing out and posting new booklets, cards, and posters.
They were drawn up by a group headed by State Senator Tony Hill, and unveiled to the general public at a town hall meeting Monday night in Palatka.
They're printed in three languages: English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole -- and they outline the rights migrants share with every other Florida worker -- but may not know about.
"It's important, really, for them to know their rights. Without knowing their rights, how will they be able to defend themselves? You can defend yourself only if you know your rights," says former farmworker Luckner Millien.
This summer, James Bryant and Gilbert Laboude were arrested at the Evans Labor Camp in Palatka.
They are accused of recruiting migrant workers and promising only food, housing, drugs, and alcohol as payment.
And after the state raided that labor camp, the message of farmworkers' rights does seem to be getting out to both workers and the folks who run the farms.
McBride and the rest of his state team say Monday, they saw a lot more farmers following the law, and fewer still choosing to break it.
"We're noticing a trend that's very encouraging in this area, which is, people are coming into compliance. And as they come into compliance, they are more likely to report people who are not, so that they're competing on a level playing field," McBride says.
Because of the drive to compete, farm operators are turning each other in.
But there are still people who ignore these laws.
Monday, McBride's state team found problems with First Coast farms that could cost their owners $12,000 in fines.
The toll-free number farmworkers can use to ask questions or register complaints is (800) 633-3572.1
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