Vigil to protest plea deal in death of teen farm worker brings farm workers, Oaxacan community together in Greenfield
Greenfield, Calif.— Hundreds of people, many of them farm workers from Oaxaca, will join a vigil in Greenfield on Tuesday to demonstrate against a proposed plea bargain deal for criminal defendants responsible for the 2008 heat death in San Joaquin County of 17-year old pregnant farm worker Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, who was also a Oaxacan immigrant. The vigil will be held at the park next to the Greenfield Library at 5 p.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 the following day, Wednesday, March 9, in Stockton Superior Court.
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: Farm workers, United Farm Workers leaders, the Oaxacan community and supporters.
WHAT: Hundreds in a vigil to protest a plea-bargain for criminal defendants who caused the death in 2008 of a 17-year old female farm worker.
WHEN: Tuesday, March 8, 2011 starting at 5 p.m.
WHERE: Greenfield Library (small park outside), 315 El Camino Real, Greenfield 93927.
1980s Cal-OSHA, the state work safety agency, is directed to issue heat regulations to prevent heat illness deaths in the fields after several farm workers die from heat-related causes.
2005 Following a drive by the United Farm Workers, Gov. Schwarzenegger signs the first heat regulation in the nation after five farm workers die from the heat in less than a year.
2006 Merced Farm Labor Contractors, which harvests for a subsidiary of Franzia Wines, is fined by Cal-OSHA for violating the heat regulations. The company never pays it. Cal-OSHA never tries to collect the fine or follows up to ensure compliance with heat rules.
May 14, 2008 Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, 17, collapses after laboring more than nine hours without accessible shade or water. She dies two days later. Management never calls 911 and tells Maria Isabel’s fiancé to lie about the events.
May 28, 2008 Gov. Schwarzenegger attends Maria Isabel funeral in Lodi and vows to protect farm workers from heat death and illnesses.
June-August 2008 Five more farm workers die from heat illness in California.
May 30-June 4, 2008 A “March for Fallen Farm Workers” with Maria Isabel’s family is led by the UFW from Lodi to the state Capitol in Sacramento.
June 13, 2008 Cal-OSHA revokes Merced Farm Labor Contractors’ business license. The Franzia Wines subsidiary hires a new farm labor contractor to employ the same work force.
June, 2008 Maria Isabel’s uncle, Doroteo Jimenez, who worked for the same contracting firm earlier used by Franzia’s subsidiary, visits the Capitol to meet with the Governor’s Office. The new contractor for the Franzia subsidiary fires Jimenez for participating in the meeting.
July 4, 2008 Merced Farm Labor Contractors’ business license is temporarily reinstated.
September 2008 Four months after Maria Isabel died, Assistant San Joaquin County District
Attorney Fleming is assigned the case.
2009 The UFW, Public Counsel, the ACLU and the law firm of Munger, Tolles, and Olson sue the state for failing to enforce its own heat regulations.
January 2011 The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s office announces a plea deal without jail time for the criminal defendants from the now-defunct labor contracting firm who caused Maria Isabel’s death. Maria Isabel’s family is not informed of the proposed plea bargain. Superior Court Judge Michael Garrigan schedules a hearing on the plea deal for March 9, 2011.