May 8, 2000: 11:15 a.m. news conference; 1 p.m. hearing Monday
UFW Pres. Rodriguez, 200 farm workers lobby Monday at Capitol for minimum disability benefits
Gov. Davis and the Legislature should act soon "to end one of the most shameful abuses of farm workers today" by increasing their "meager" workers’ compensation benefits and restoring the minimum temporary disability benefit eliminated seven years ago.
That’s the message 200 California farm workers led by United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez are taking to the state Capitol on Monday during a news conference and testimony before a legislative committee backing SB 996, by state Sen. Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton).
Frequently the debate over workers’ compensation reform is "made to look like another perennial battle between competing special interests: attorneys, employers and insurance companies," Rodriguez says. "It’s not," he insists.
"We look into the faces of these people every day–men and women struggling to sustain themselves and their families on the most meager of workers’ compensation benefits," the UFW president observes. Payments for temporarily disabled workers often amount to $50 or $60 per week. "The United Farm Workers calls on lawmakers and the governor to end one of the most shameful abuses of farm workers today by acting quickly to increase benefits‹and to restore the minimum temporary disability benefit."
About 150 farm workers from the Central Valley and Central Coast‹and as far away as the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs‹will join Rodriguez at the news conference and hearing on SB 996.
Who: UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, 200 farm workers, state Sen. Hilda L. Solis (D-El Monte) and state AFL-CIO President Tom Rankin.
What: Testifying before the Senate Conference Committee on SB 996–Workers’ Compensation, urging an increase in "meager" workers’ compensation benefits, especially for farm workers and other low-wage laborers, and restoration of the temporary disability benefit ended in 1993.
When: News conference 11:15 a.m., hearing 1 p.m., Monday, May 8, 2000.
Where: State Capitol Room 4203.
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