UFW, clergy and community gather for vigil and on-line petition in death of 17-year-old farm worker girl
Los Angeles, Calif.— United Farm Workers, clergy and community members will gather on Tuesday for a vigil and to email their opposition, with the help of laptop computers, to a proposed plea bargain deal for criminal defendants responsible for the 2008 heat death in San Joaquin County of 17-year old farm worker Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez. The vigil and on-line petition will be held at Los Angeles County Federation of Labor building at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 8.
The plea bargain would let the defendants—Maria De Los Angeles Colunga, owner of the now defunct Merced Farm Labor Contractors, and her brother, Elias Armenta — escape any jail time in exchange for probation and community service, and could set the precedent that farm workers’ lives do not matter, vigil organizers say. A sentencing hearing is set for Wednesday, March 9, in San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton.
On May 14, 2008, Maria Isabel collapsed after working in the blazing sun for nine hours without accessible water or shade at a Farmington-area vineyard. Instead of summoning medical aid, Merced Farm Labor Contractors told the girl’s fiancé and father of her unborn child to take her to a clinic in Lodi. By then, her core temperature was 108 degrees on a day the state work safety agency issued a heat-danger warning to employers. She died two days later. The contracting firm was fined earlier for similar violations of the state heat regulation. UFW members are organizing other events and vigils throughout California, Oregon and Washington state.
WHO: Irv Hershenbaum, UFW, Jewish Labor Committee – Western Region, Rev. Farley, Rabbi Steven Jacobs, Fr. Gilbert Cruz, Sacred Heart, Altadena , UFW supporters and community.
WHAT: A vigil to demonstrate against a plea-bargain for criminal defendants who caused the death in 2008 of a 17-year old female farm worker and an opportunity to e-mail a letter to San Joaquin County District Attorney James Willet.
WHEN: Tuesday, March 8, 2011 starting at 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.,
WHERE: Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, 2130 W. James M. Wood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90006