Governor Jerry Brown only has until Sunday, September 30, to sign or veto two United Farm Workers-sponsored bills aimed at preventing more farm worker deaths and illnesses from exposure to extreme heat. Temperatures in the Sacramento Valley during September have been unusually hot. Remember, it was at a vineyard near Stockton in 2008, that Maria Isavel Vasquez Jimenez, 17 and pregnant, collapsed and later died after working most of the day in 100-plus-degree heat. Her employer was found liable for ignoring state regulations because Maria Isavel was denied easy access to water and timely emergency medical care. State heat death prevention rules are poorly enforced. Many growers and farm labor contractors ignore them–such as the employer responsible for Maria Isavel’s needless death.
A few days ago, Governor Brown signed what the press termed historic legislation guaranteeing everyone in California "a human right" to safe, clean and accessible drinking water. But we don’t know whether he will sign AB 2346, which would let farm workers enforce state rules themselves by suing agricultural employers who repeatedly fail to comply with mandatory requirements for shade and drinking water. We also don’t know whether he will sign AB 2676, which says employers must treat farm workers at least as well as animals by providing shade and water or face the same criminal penalties the law imposes when animals are denied these necessities, including possible jail time and fines.
Agricultural employers are lobbying intensely against AB 2346 and AB 2676. Won’t you please urge the governor to do the right thing because the lives of farm workers are valuable too. You can help by going now to http://action.ufw.org/heatsafety.
Arturo S. Rodriguez, president
United Farm Workers of America