HE is the oldest undergraduate at Galway university, but it will come as little surprise to his professors that in between lectures Martin Sheen has become embroiled in radical student politics.

The star of Apocalyse Now and The West Wing is sponsoring a campaign on behalf of “exploited” mushroom workers in Ireland. The mostly female workforce is said to be exposed to dangerous chemicals, can be paid as little as €2.50 an hour, and face harrassment or dismissal if they complain.

“As a long-time ally of migrant farm workers in the United States, I am disturbed by the callous exploitation and mistreatment of migrant farm workers labouring in the Irish mushroom-growing industry,” Sheen writes in a foreword to a new report by the Mushroom Workers’ Support Group that chronicles the experiences of a group of migrant farm workers. The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI), which is publishing the document today, is calling for tighter government controls of the industry and more labour inspections.

Sheen says that migrant farm workers are the backbone of agriculture, yet one of the most socially and economically marginalized groups. “Unscrupulous employers openly take advantage of workers’ vulnerability and isolation to avoid paying fair wages and to evade basic health and safety regulations,” the actor says.

“Every time we go to the supermarket to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables, our lives become instantly connected with the lives of those whose hands and hard labour cultivate and harvest the produce that sustains us. The more we understand and become aware of that, the more difficult it becomes to ignore the voice of those who seek to be treated with respect, dignity and fairness.”

He says the current state of affairs “must not be permitted to continue”, and that in the spirit of Cesar Chavez, founder of the United Farm Workers of America, “I am honoured to stand together in solidarity with these workers in their struggle and to add my voice to theirs”.

The MRCI is hoping that Sheen will now become a public advocate for workers. The actor is currently studying for an arts degree at the National University of Ireland, Galway, specialising in English literature, philosophy and oceanography.

Other students claim he is getting “star treatment”, including a personal tutor. He is registered under his birth name, Ramon Gerardo Antonio Estevez.

Sheen, 66, is a well-known political activist in America. He has been arrested 63 times for protesting against issues such as military actions and a toxic-waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio. Earlier this year he was said to have been approached by the Democrats in Ohio to run for the Senate, but he declined, stating: “I’m just not qualified. You’re mistaking celebrity for credibility.”

Irish mushroom firms deny that there is widespread abuse in the industry, and say they adhere to the law. But the MRCI is calling on British supermarkets, the industry’s main market, to buy Irish-grown mushrooms only if they are sure workers are paid the minimum wage.

The Mushroom Workers’ Support Group has 50 members and is based in Cavan and Monaghan. It is run by Sintija Pirite, 26, from Latvia, who worked as a picker in Cavan. “Girls are working seven days a week,” she said. “They don’t get paid overtime, Sundays or bank holidays.”

The minimum wage in agriculture is €8.12 per hour, but mushroom pickers’ pay is based on the quantity they pick. The value of a kilo of mushrooms has fallen, so pickers have to work longer to earn a basic salary. The support group says most are paid on average €5-€6 per hour.

The industry employs 3,000 people in Ireland. Most of the migrant workers are from Latvia and Lithuania, but the support group has members from Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Belorussia, Moldova, Thailand and China.

Mushroom producers argue that abuse is not widespread in the industry. Ronnie Wilson, who owns Europe’s biggest mushroom producer, Monaghan Mushrooms, which employs up to 700 people, said: “There is some exploitation, but I don’t believe it is as widespread as purported. We pay our workers the minimum wage.”

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