Farmworker are still dying of heatstroke in California

[Lionel Mandrake]

Farmworker advocates say adherence to state rules to prevent heat illness remains sporadic at best.

By Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times
September 14, 2011

<begin quote>

Reporting from Buttonwillow, Calif. -- At noon, when the morning breeze had faded and the temperature hit 95, a union representative walked into the sweltering field to check on dozens of farmworkers harvesting peppers. A middle-aged worker with a T-shirt placed under his cap to absorb sweat approached, whispering: "No hay sombra" (there is no shade). Only after the union man appeared did two foremen pull canopies out of their trucks and call the workers in for a break. "There's a law for this," the field hand said. "I've heard it on the news. They have to have water. They have to have shade."

Six years after California became the first state to adopt rules requiring regular shade, water and rest for outdoor workers, adherence remains sporadic at best. Enforcement of the rules governing the state's 35,000 farms and other outdoor operations is sketchy, and many workers don't fully understand the protections they are entitled to.

State officials had been debating instituting heat standards for 15 years before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005 enacted an emergency measure after half a dozen workers collapsed and died. Since 2006, California has confirmed nine deaths of agriculture and landscape workers due to heat-related illness. This year, workplace-safety officials have said they are investigating three possible heat-related deaths of agricultural workers.

Authorities have said they are doing all they can, citing a significant increase in the number of inspections and a publicity campaign using radio, billboards and other media to tell workers about how to prevent heatstroke. Signs in English and Spanish went up in California: "Si quiere durar, No olvide descansar" (if you want to last, don't forget to rest).

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Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-farmworkers-heat-20110914,0,4078266.story

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. With the growers' eyes firmly on the bottom line (i.e. profits)

The humble field worker comes in dead last. (pun intended.)

Why is it so damn difficult to care about the conditions people work under?

But since it's so obvious that the growers cannot be bothered to take care of their employees, then the state must ramp up enforcement.

I am appalled.

Recommended.

[Lionel Mandrake]

4. To answer your question ...

You asked: "Why is it so damn difficult to care about the conditions people work under?"

I think it's partly the money, but that's not the whole story.

There's an "us" vs. "them" mentality which seems to be part of human nature. However we define "us", whether by language, religion, skin color, or something else, we end up caring more about people like "us". It is easier to be callous toward "them". I think this goes back to the time when apes were becoming human, as depicted, e.g., in the first part of the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968).

[Shagbark Hickory]

2. 'If we complain, if we ask for that extra break, if we say anything, tomorrow we are no longer...

employed'

This is precisely why I have a problem with the exploitation of undocumented laborers.
The fear factor.

[Lionel Mandrake]

3. Even if an employee is a citizen or has a green card,

the same rule applies. But it's worse for undocumented laborers, who face possible deportation as well as unemployment. Employers know this and use it to their advantage.

[midnight]

5. The backslide on workers rights puts farm workers at even

more risk for having common decency overlooked... We are going to have to do better than slogans...

[Odin2005]

6. This is what happens when you demand your veggies to be as cheap as possible.