State Heat Illness Prevention Campaign
The United Farm Workers issued the following statement about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to launch an annual campaign to bring awareness about heat illness prevention in agriculture March 18.
SACRAMENTO – For the past four years, the United Farm Workers has worked tirelessly to prevent heat deaths among farm workers. In response to our proposed legislation, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued the first-on-the-nation heat regulations. Yet, six farm workers died in the summer of 2008 as the rules went unenforced and ignored by the employers.
The evidence points to neglect not ignorance as the cause of farm worker deaths. Furthermore, the state’s consistent reduction of fines for violations has rendered these regulations ineffective. The Governor should be proposing criminal penalties for those whose gross negligence has caused the death of innocent people. We are ready to help him win legislative approval for such criminal sanctions. When people are killed because laws are ignored, someone should go to prison. While spreading information and educating farmers and employers about the risks of depriving their workforce from basic human rights is important, it’s not enough. Gov. Schwarzenegger must exercise his power and make it clear to employers that there will be serious monetary and criminal consequences to those who fail to comply with the law.