National Farm Worker Ministry an interfaith organization supporting farm workers as they organize for justice member organizations include nearly 40 national, state and local religious bodies
Young woman dies of heat stroke in the fields
farm workers walk to Sacramento
Bishop Stephen Blaire of the Catholic Diocese of Stockton, sending off workers and family of Maria Vasquez on day 3 of the pilgrimage. Photo: Armando Elenes
May, 2008 -- Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez had worked only three days pruning grape vines in Farmington, CA when she complained of dizziness and collapsed on May 14. She was 17 years old and two months pregnant. She began working that day at 6 a.m. in heat that reached 100 degrees. The workers were given only one waterbreak, at 10:30 a.m. Maria collapsed at 3:30 p.m. Vasquez Jimenez's boyfriend says that when she became unconscious two supervisors attempted to help by placing a wet handkerchief on her forehead, and didn't call for emergency care.
Farm workers and family honored her life by walking a four day pilgrimage organized by the UFW from Lodi to the state capitol in Sacramento. "First, we want to honor Maria Isabel and at the same time seek justice in what transpired," said Arturo S. Rodriguez, union president. "Second, as an organization, we need to do this because we feel we haven't done enough." The UFW sponsored heat regulations that became law in California in 2006 require employers with outdoor employees to provide training on heat-related illnesses, shaded resting areas, four cups of drinking water per person per hour and paid rest breaks of at least five minutes as needed. Employers must also have an emergency plan in place. Those regulations do not appear to have been enforced at Maria's workplace. "Maria's death should have been prevented," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement released on May 21.
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CURRENT CAMPAIGN: Krug Mondavi Boycott - Victory! In June, 2006,United Farm Workers (UFW) members at Charles Krug-Mondavi called for a nationwide boycott of their company's products. In April, 2008 they won their jobs back and a new contract!
NEWS:
Dolores Huerta addresses Orange County Interfaith Committee to Aid Farmworker's 43rd Annual Celebration - February, 2008
More than 1,400 workers at D'Arrigo Bros now have a contract and enjoy some basic employment privileges most workers take for granted. [Details of victory]
While California has passed numerous laws protecting farm workers, enforcement in the fields is still poor. This summer alone the United Farm Workers documented hundreds of violations, including the denial of bathrooms, clean water, shade or heat breaks. Through years of experience with farm workers, NFWM shares the unions’ belief that labor agreements provide the best mechanism to ensure enforcement of regulations. But even where workers have the right to vote for a union, they are often faced with threats from the company of housing eviction, job loss or deportation if they do so.
UFW members rally in Sacramento, CASeptember 7, 2007 - photo by Jocelyn Sherman, UFW
The Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act (SB 180) was was authored by Senator Midgen to provide a more fair process for workers to seek union representation, giving them a choice on how to vote – either through a majority sign-up process or election. The bill was passed by both the CA Senate & Assembly, but as of this writing it is still awaiting the Governor's signature.
NFWM’s Dan Parziale helped prepare for the nearly 1,000 farm workers from throughout the state who traveled to Sacramento on September 5th to urge the Governor to sign the bill. Dan also helped organize vigils and speaking engagements for some of the workers who stayed in Sacramento throughout the week.
D’Arrigo’s union farm workers have gone 30 years without a contract - Monterey Herald, June 1, 2007 It's been 30 years since workers at D'Arrigo, which now harvests 25,000 acres of row crops in two states, voted to join the UFW. But in all those years, they have never had a contract, and UFW supporters have long tried to pressure the company into signing one. On May 10, both sides sat at the table to draft a contract, and if the process continues according the law, they should come out with a labor agreement by October, 2007. Or an independent arbitrator could impose one. Read full article.
In the Coachella Valley, hundreds of trailer parks house desperately poor Latino workers amid burning trash, mud, contaminated water - Los Angeles Times, March 26, 2007 Cesar Rafael, 17, and several other students at Desert Mirage High School in Thermal made ashort video about their world, "The Contaminated Valley." "I wanted people to see another side of life," he said. "Everything is poisonous here, even the water is poisonous. And nobody really cares about it. We are invisible." Thick smoke from mountains of burning trash drifts through broken windows. People — sometimes 30 or more — are crammed into trailers with no heat, no air-conditioning, undrinkable water, flickering power and plumbing that breaks down for weeks or months at a time. Riverside County officials say there are between 100 and 200 illegal trailer parks in the valley, but the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition says the number could be as high as 500. Despite the conditions, park owners say they are providing a vital service in an area where housing prices have soared.
AgJOBS reintroduced in US Senate; Senator Feinstein now a sponsor On January 10, 2007, Senators Feinstein, Kennedy and Craig introduced AgJOBS, the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act of 2007. Senator Feinstein had opposed the bill for several years, though it has enjoyed bipartisan majority support and been endorsed by agribusiness organizations, Latino community leaders, civil rights organizations, religious groups and farmworkers themselves. This is substantially the same as the version passed last year by the Senate and would give hundreds of thousands of farm workers and their families a path to legal residency in the U.S.
Citrus freeze in California leaves farm workers without jobs A severe freeze that destroyed most of the California citrus crop in early 2007 also damaged strawberries, avocados and possibly other crops. News reports talk about the negative effects of this disaster on growers. Governor Schwarzenegger has called for a state of emergency and Sen. Feinstein is working to get the federal government to declare a national emergency, as she did after the 1998-1999 freeze. While growers can apply for relief under emergency declarations and many have insurance to cover some of their losses, there is little or no aid for the estimated 20,000 farm workers who pick the crops and their families.
CALIFORNIA FARMWORKER CONDITIONS: For information on farm worker conditions nationwide click here.
Grapes of Wrath, Revisited San Francisco Chronicle, December 19, 2004. An excellent article on farm workers in the California wine industry.
Fields of Poison 2002: California Farmworkers and Pesticides -September, 2002. A report by PANNA, UFW, et al. compiles information on reported farmworker pesticide poisonings and enforcement of pesticide worker health and safety laws throughout California.
