Knight landing – Although it wasn’t noon, the temperature had moved into triple-digit numbers, feeling hotter for dozens of farm workers hiding in the watermelon plants in the curves of the Sacramento River in the northern California capital. Wearing long-sleeved shirts, pants and face coverings to protect the skin from the sun and the tiny spikes of the watermelon vines, they bent over and over, and worked hard to pull flowers from each plant.
Their boss, Jose Chavez, said he tried to be alert to the dangers of fever, make sure there was a lot of drinking water in the fields, and that workers could rest in the shadows and knock it off early on fluffy days. He said it was after he had learned the tough road after summoning ambulances in the past summer as workers were entangled with strokes.
“We learned it from it,” he said. “It’s not fun when you start bringing people to the hospital.”
However, the lesson has not been connected to many employers, with California incorporating a landmark thermal safety law where farm workers across the state can still get sick and sometimes die from preventable fevers. Advocates and some lawmakers say that toothless law enforcement systems should be blamed.
Workers harvesting tomatoes on woodland on Friday are shining above the sun.
State Sen. Dave Cortese (D-san Jose) said the law “is not doing what it intends to do because of the lack of law enforcement.” Measures are veto Gov. Gavin Newsom. “This should be keeping the legislators in place at night. People are dying.”
Last month, California Auditor Explodes California Department of Occupational Health and Safetyfound that, among other problems, inspectors at the agency failed to take appropriate action when workers suffered from fever disease at work. The audit also found that the agency was understaffed and many of its procedures were outdated.
Additionally, a review of several recent calorie deaths on California Farms found that CAL/OSHA had few fines or penalties even if workers died. For example, in May 2023, a worker who harvested corn near Brauley landed behind his colleagues and then complained of stomach pain and began to twitch. He was taken to the hospital and died of stroke, organ failure and “potential medical problems.” Records show that Cal/OSHA was not punished and the investigation was closed.
A farmer cleans the brush from the farm irrigation passage in the woodland.
A farmer repaired the tractor in a field recently harvested in woodland on Friday.
Officials “recognize the findings and recommendations of state auditors” and are working on improving, Cal/OSHA’s deputy director of communications Daniel Lopez said in a statement. The statement also said Cal/OSHA recently set up an agricultural law enforcement task force to improve working conditions for farm workers.
Law enforcement errors are at a time when farm workers, many of whom lack legal status and fear of deportation, are already hesitating to complain about working conditions, fearing employers will retaliate by reporting to immigration authorities. It is estimated that more than half of California’s approximately 350,000 farm workers have no records.
This week, as the hottest temperatures in summer fell, just as the harvest season peaked, when the Trump administration carried out immigration raids across California, some said farm workers were at greater risk.
“Over and over, we have seen farm workers have no legal thermal safety protection,” said Teresa Romero, president of the United Farm Workers Alliance. The state’s disease prevention enforcement system “does not work”.
View of farmworker drone harvesting tomatoes in woodland on Friday.
California landmark thermal law Being placed In August 2005, it was with the government at that time. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his standing with the family of farm worker Constatino Cruz, who died of heatstroke.
Cruz was the fourth farm worker to die in that brutal summer 20 years ago, among which Hot Death also claimed to have selected Bell Chili peppers, Melon Picker in Fresno County and grape pickers in Kern County in Arvin. When the temperature is above 100 degrees, all of this is laboring in the fields.
These rules are the first in the country to provide fresh water to outdoor workers, enter the shadows when temperatures rise and emit cooling when workers ask for it. Employers are also asked to develop fever prevention plans and train supervisors to recognize signs of stroke and seek medical help.
But the law is far from a magic pill. In 2009, the American Civil Liberties Union and United Farm Union sued CAL/OSHA, saying the regulations were too weak and that the agency’s enforcement was “seriously inadequate”.
The lawsuit says 11 farm workers have died since the law came into effect.
Three years later, public lawyers at the nonprofit law firm filed another lawsuit alleging that the state failed to enforce the issues while farm workers continued to die.
Farm workers maintain pumpkin plants growing on a farm in woodland on Friday.
In 2015, the state settled both lawsuits, agreeing to focus on thermal safety violations and making complaints more accessible.
Since the law was enacted, climate change has hit the state with more frequent and intense heat waves, and has seldom eased even at night. In recent years, implementation issues have continued.
one 2022 Research The UC Merced Community and Labor Center, University of California’s Labor Center found that many migrant workers are still working without protection. Of the 1,200 workers surveyed, 43% reported that their employers did not provide fever prevention programs, and 15% said they were not trained to prevent disease.
last year, Investigation in period A CAL/OSHA inspections were found to have dropped by 30% from 2017 to 2023, and the number of violations fell by more than 40%.
Councilwoman Liz Ortega (D-san Leandro) said last year that many California farms have “dangerous and illegal” working conditions. “It’s an understatement to say I’m angry,” she said. “I don’t want to hear more excuses. It’s an excuse, year after year.”
This year, Congresswoman Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) introduced another proposed law similar to the Newson veto that last year, making it easier for migrant workers to get compensation from workers. The bill faces opposition to farm interests, which was approved by parliament but was held at the end of the legislative session.
Farm staff adjusted the machinery while harvesting tomatoes in woodland on Friday.
With California’s heat wave settled in California this week, workers in the nearby watermelon fields said they started working earlier (6 a.m.) and left earlier to maintain the hot lead.
When the sun shoots down, kettles are stationed every few yards, while tarp is stationed around a row of crops.
Boss Chavez said he has not seen any workers under heat stress recently. “Not this year, thank God,” he said.
This article is part of the Times Equity Reporting Plan,,,,, Depend on James Irving FoundationExplore the challenges faced by low-income workers and their efforts to solve them California’s economic divide.
