11 am. Thursday, August 12, in Fresno
UFW, attorneys for crash victim families say state and U.S. laws fail to protect farm workers; lawsuit being filed over Monday’s accident
The failure of state and federal laws to protect farm workers results in needless deaths and injuries such as the crash Monday near Fresno of a farm labor van that killed 13 and injured two tomato laborers. That message will be delivered by attorneys for the families of the 15 crash victims and the co-founder of the United Farm Workers during a news conference Thursday at the office of the Mexican Consulate in Fresno.
The event will also be used to announce the filing of a civil lawsuit on behalf of the families of the 13 deceased workers and two survivors.
Participants will score the "deadly mix" of heavy traffic on rural roads, tired drivers working too many hours, overloaded farm labor vans not equipped with seat belts and truck trailers that cannot be seen in the dark. They will also note that farm labor vehicles are exempted from key safety requirements and many other laws for farm workers that are on the books do not get enforced.
Another factor that will be cited is agribusiness’ use of farm labor contractors to evade laws protecting workers. The law must require growers to take responsibility for the fate of workers whose labor sustains the industry, they will declare.
The Consulate of Mexico will detail actions it has taken to benefit relatives of the victims and monitor legal developments.
Who: Mexican Consul in charge of the Fresno Consulate Lourdes Chavez; attorneys Frederico C. Sayre, Robert F. Perez and Fernando F. Chavez (Cesar Chavez’s oldest son) who represent the families of the 15 crash victims; and UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta.
What: News conference criticizing the failure of state and federal laws to protect farm workers and announcing the filing of a lawsuit on behalf of the crash victim families.
When: 11 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 12, 1999.
Where: Consulate of Mexico, 830 Van Ness (between Kern and Inyo), Fresno.
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