Experiences of the Migrant Farmworkers during the Syndemic Due to COVID-19 in Spain

Manuel Rubio González, María del Mar Jiménez-Lasserrotte (), María Idoia Ugarte-Gurrutxaga, Karim El Marbouhe El Faqyr, José Granero-Molina, Cayetano Fernández-Sola and Fernando Jesús Plaza del Pino
Additional contact information
Manuel Rubio González: Centre for Migration Studies and Intercultural Relations, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
María del Mar Jiménez-Lasserrotte: Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
María Idoia Ugarte-Gurrutxaga: Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Occupactional Therapy, University of Castilla La Mancha, 45071 Toledo, Spain
Karim El Marbouhe El Faqyr: Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
José Granero-Molina: Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Cayetano Fernández-Sola: Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Fernando Jesús Plaza del Pino: Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain

Social Sciences, 2023, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: The present article addresses the COVID-19 syndemic, that is, the interaction of SARS-CoV-2 with other diseases that interact and are determined by patterns of social inequality. The living and working conditions of migrant farmworkers increases the transmission of COVID-19. Descriptions of the experiences of migrant farmworkers provided by the professionals from different organizations that tend to them allowed the authors to discover the syndical nature of COVID-19. This study is based on qualitative descriptive research. Seventeen workers from different organizations participated in the study, through in-depth interviews between January and June 2022. A thematic analysis was performed to analyze the qualitative data. Two main themes emerged: Non-compliance with the collective labor agreement, and non-compliance with workplace health and safety standards. The results suggest that the adverse living and working conditions of the migrant farmworkers increased their risk of COVID-19 infection, due to the lack of compliance with the health measures decreed. The vulnerability experienced by migrant farmworkers increased work conflicts and prompted their mobilization to fight for their rights.

Keywords: COVID-19; migrant farmworkers; qualitative research; social and labor inequalities; Spain; syndemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/5/273/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/5/273/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:12:y:2023:i:5:p:273-:d:1138654

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().