Rural California. Francisco and his wife, Jovita, are an undocumented couple who were. eport. Building Solutions for Farm Worker Housing

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1 Rural California eport Newsletter of the California Institute for Rural Studies FALL 1998 VOLUME 9, NO. 4 Did you Know? Agriculture is America s most dangerous Industry. According to the National Safety Council, the incidence of occupational fatalities in 1993 for U.S. agriculture was 35 per 100,000 workers, as compared to 5 per 100,000 for all private industry. This rate includes farmers, unpaid family members and hired farm workers. California accounts for 26 percent of all reported disabling occupational injuries among hired farm workers. Pages 8 and 9 of this issue highlight recent examples of the occupational hazards faced by those laboring to produce our food. IN THIS ISSUE... CONGRESS RUSHES NEW BRACERO PROGRAM Where s the evidence that this is the answer for rural California?...2 ON GOOD LAND book review...4 STATISTICAL REVIEW OF CALIFORNIA S ORGANIC AGRICULTURE book review...5 WORK AT YOUR OWN RISK Pesticide exposures and a tractor accident highlight continued problems with occupational injuries and illnesses...8 THE UFW WINS A FEW AND LOSES A BIG ONE The uphill battle to organize strawberry workers 10 NEW CIRS PUBLICATIONS Building Solutions for Farm Worker Housing by Shaw Perrin, Julisa Ruiz and Daniel Williams Francisco and his wife, Jovita, are an undocumented couple who were living in a 1975 Ford station wagon in Madera. A neighbor from back home in Oaxaca, Mexico charged them $15 a day to park in front of his house and use his water spigot. Before coming to Madera, the couple had lived for a few days in a cave in the hills of north San Diego County. Francisco rose at three-thirty to harvest tomatoes and Jovita was pregnant. 1 That was in Eight-years later, reports continue to abound of hired farm workers living in shabbily constructed shacks, in cars and along rivers. A recent New York Times article, for example, follows 18-year-old Juan Alarcon, who lives with his brother in a hut made of plastic and cardboard near Oceanside. 2 Together the brothers earn about $50 a day harvesting cucumbers and peppers. In July CIRS staff escorted Sacramento Bee columnist John Jacobs to two farm worker camps in Sutter County. In one camp, consisting of dilapidated trailers and one room cottages, six men share a single room and one bathroom. For this, they pay about $300 a month and $100 for electricity. They all work as tractor drivers and tomato irrigators, earning about $6.75 an hour. At the other camp, an old motel of about ten rooms, five farm workers pay $400 a month in rent for one room, in addition to a $400 deposit and about $100 for utilities each month. While offering shelter that many hired farm workers do not have, these rooms have very few functional amenities and are in need of multiple repairs. Large holes under the sinks provide easy access for rats, mice and cockroaches. The minikitchens are truly mini, occupying about 15 square feet. The walls of the even tinier bathrooms are covered in mold. It s clear that finding decent affordable housing continues to be a struggle for hired farm workers, who on average earn just above the minimum wage and for whom there simply are not enough decent and affordable housing units. Private and Public Camps No one has ever enumerated how many hired farm workers lack adequate housing, but most estimates indicate the problem is widespread. The best nationwide study of the problem, quoted recently in the New York Times article and in other newspapers, is seventeen years old. This 1980 study, by the Farmers Home (see HOUSING page 6) CIRS, P.O. BOX 2143, DAVIS, CA VOICE (530) FAX (530)

2 Rural California eport Newsletter of the California Institute for Rural Studies FALL 1998 VOLUME 9, NO. 4 Editor: Shaw Perrin Contributing Writers: Amber López, Shaw Perrin, Julisa Ruiz, Daniel Williams Rural California Report is a quarterly publication of the California Institute for Rural Studies (CIRS). For over twenty years CIRS has conducted research and outreach aimed at improving lives, conditions and economies of rural areas. The mission of CIRS is to work toward a society that is socially just, economically sustainable and ecologically balanced. To achieve this goal, we conduct policy research that takes an integrated approach to issues affecting rural communities, rural economies and rural environments, with a primary focus on agricultural labor markets. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Professor Isao Fujimoto, President Joel H. Levinson, Esq., Treasurer David Aroner Robert Bonsall, Esq. Jane P. Doyle Mike Johnston Elizabeth J. Martin Professor Juan Vicente Palerm Valeriano Saucedo, Esq. Professor Hub Segur Professor Carol Shennan Susan Temple Joe Topping Professor Miriam Wells STAFF Don Villarejo, Executive Director Carol Crabill, Associate Director Hanh Le, Network Administrator Amber López, Public Policy Coordinator Shaw Perrin, Publications, Research Assoc. Julisa Ruiz, Research Assistant Daniel Williams, Research Assistant Merissa Wright, Research Associate Phone (530) Fax (530) L E T T E R S / Rural California Report welcomes letters from its readers. Address correspondence to: California Institute for Rural Studies RCR/Letters to the Editor P.O. Box 2143 Davis, CA cirsmail@cirsinc.org Congress Rushes New Bracero Program The rapid pace at which guest worker legislation is now moving through the Senate has left some lawmakers cautious about a new Bracero program that could bring as many as 500,000 foreign, nonimmigrant agricultural workers into the country. The new Bracero program in Congress is shades of the original Bracero program begun in the 1940s to boost labor supplies during WWII, but the new version offers fewer worker protections. What is the impact on American workers? asks California Senator Barbara Boxer. We don t know. Something like this ought not be rushed... Boxer s concern stems from the passage of a new version of the existing H-2A program by the Senate in late July. The legislation is now being debated in a House-Senate Conference Committee, where significant changes are being made. Agricultural guest worker legislation was introduced as a response to claims by growers associations such as the Western Growers Association and Nisei Farmers League, that there is a labor shortage. This has been a major point of contention with economists and labor advocates who say there is no labor shortage. If we were experiencing a labor shortage and wages aren t going up, then there has to be something very weird going on, says Phil Martin, an agricultural economist at UC Davis. Instead, average weekly earnings for farm workers have decreased in real terms by 5.9% during the period Commentary! by Amber López Opponents of the proposed Bracero program say the agricultural industry is not offering attractive working conditions. If growers and labor contractors want to attract more workers, especially when California s economy offers better-paying employment opportunities to low-skilled workers in other industries, then they must play by market rules and pay more. If the growers can t find the workers, (then) pay better wages, provide better working conditions, says Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.). The uncivilized conditions of the farm workers are a national disgrace. This [proposed Bracero program] is a huge step backwards. The California Department of Food and Agriculture is concerned with the lack of real information. We don t have any numbers. That s what the hardest part about this is, says spokeswoman Alfreda Sebasto. The few studies that have been done do not fare favorably for proponents of guest worker legislation. A recent U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) survey of 66 growers and 23 labor contractors in the grape industry found that half of the labor contractors and 20 percent of the growers were paying less than minimum wage. A report from the General Accounting Office (December 1997) found no significant agricultural labor shortage and that guest worker programs expand rural poverty...and are incompatible with the values of democratic societies worldwide. A sudden widespread farm labor shortage requiring the importation of large numbers of foreign workers is unlikely (see GUEST WORKER on page 3) 2

3 (GUEST WORKER from page 2) to occur in the near future... A recent survey by CIRS found a similar situation among California s agricultural processing plants, which would also be permitted to hire guest workers. Seventy-five of 79 plant personnel offices interviewed indicated they had no labor shortage. We have no shortage. We ran an ad and had 200 applicants, says David Cardoni at S. Martinelli & Co. in Watsonville. Prof. Juan Vicente Palerm, Director of University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States, says that the passage of the proposed new Bracero program would inhibit a serious answer to the needs of agricultural employers in the future. This has been a unilateral effort taking place to a great extent behind closed doors. The government of Mexico needs to be brought to the table, as do the farm working communities in both the United States and Mexico. Instead, legislation failed to go through committee review in Congress and was rapidly passed as a Senate floor amendment to the CSJ (Commerce, State, Justice) Appropriations bill and is now in conference committee. Through the last several months the legislation has undergone rapid changes. With little discussion, amendments have been added and deleted. These changes demonstrate the need for a thorough examination of the issues in committee and open forums. Yet the discussions taking place have been little more than quick votes on the floor with legislators voting on proposals they have not even seen. Conferees staffs, negotiating behind closed doors, recently emerged with a weakened draft eliminating worker protection provisions. The draft eliminates a provision requiring employers to provide housing, presidential authority to enforce labor standards and the opportunity for those guest workers who worked for at least six months in each of four consecutive years to apply for permanent resident visas. This represents the anti-immigrant mind-set that fundamentally contradicts the reality of the agricultural industry. About 70 percent of all agricultural laborers are foreign-born, about 40 percent are undocumented and vulnerable to exploitation. Many argue that the non-immigrant status given through H-2A visas would serve to curb exploitation and end the tragic deaths of men, women and children crossing the border. To them I would say, yes, something must be done. But before we jump, look The uncivilized conditions of the farm workers are a national disgrace. This [proposed bracero program] is a huge step backwards. Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn. carefully at this and other guest worker programs, as well as what has been done in the past. Beginning in the 1940 s the Bracero program brought hundreds of thousands of guest workers to the U.S. On paper the program required employers to provide housing and transportation and a set wage. Poor enforcement of the program left some Braceros paying for housing, transportation and meals out of their meager wages. Many were left penniless. The program was poorly enforced, allowing unscrupulous employers to use it to their advantage. Jesus Soto, an ex-bracero, came to the United States in In an interview conducted by CIRS staff, he recalled one experience in Merced, 1946, working for 70 cents an hour. He was illegally charged $1 a day for transportation, and $5 a week for a bed and blankets, which by law should have been provided by the employer. On top of that, 10 percent of his wages were withheld. They told him he could get it back in Mexico, but he never saw the money. Mr. Soto commented on the proposed new Bracero program, I still believe they will be exploited like we were. I wrote a letter to the Consul of Mexico complaining about the situation in Merced. They sent someone to check it out, and I was fired...if growers want more employees they should pay more. We need to treat people like human beings, not slaves. On December 31, 1964, the Bracero program was terminated by an act of Congress. The Braceros constituted a captive labor force...unnatural in our free competitive economy, said Robert Goodwin, Administrator for the Bureau of Employment Security, Department of Labor, in an address to the National Farm Labor Conference on February 10, Rural agricultural communities are concerned that the proposed programs will decrease U.S. farm worker wages and increase unemployment in areas already suffering from unemployment as high as 34%. The cities of Mendota, Orange Cove and Huron, three of the poorest cities in California, passed resolutions in opposition to guest worker programs. Small business owners worry that they will lose business and may have (see GUEST WORKER on page 11) 3

4 On Good Land: The Autobiography of an Urban Farm, Michael Ableman, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1998, 124 pages, $ In 1980, Michael Ableman started farming twelve acres near the town of Goleta, along Highway 101 just outside of Santa Barbara. Last year, Ableman and the other twenty employees of this farm grew 100 varieties of organic fruits and vegetables, and raised free-range chickens and Nubian goats. The farm grossed $350,000 in sales that year, much of it through the on-farm produce stand. Michael Ableman has never owned this twelve acres he calls Fairview Gardens. In the eighteen years he s cultivated this small plot, it has been gradually surrounded by look-alike tract housing, driveways and swimming pools. A school stands on the farm s west side. In 1993, the owner of the land, eager to provide for her heirs, moved to down-zone the land to residential with the potential to develop fiftyeight houses. She intended to put the twelve acres on the market for $750,000. In response, Ableman organized a group of local activists and investors to buy the land and place it in a public trust. That trust stipulates the land must remain an organic farm under management of the Center for Urban Agriculture, a nonprofit organization that sponsors agricultural education through workshops, classes and community events. This unusual strategy for preserving farmland rests on an insistence that a farm is more than just a place to grow food it s also a place for local communities to gather, learn and share meals. Each year thousands of school children and visitors from around the world visit the farm. Ableman hopes Fairview Gardens has helped to put the culture back in agriculture by providing that the farm is a place not Resources & Reviews by Shaw Perrin only where food is produced, but where food is prepared and eaten together, a gathering place for community where music, public discourse, classes, and workshops can take place. On Good Land is the story of this twelve acres. The reader follows Ableman through a series of victories and failures as he intensifies and diversifies his farm operation. We see Ableman as he experiments with growing specialty crops like mandarin oranges, baby artichokes and white asparagus. We find out not to disc where irrigation pipe is laid, get advice on mulching ( Go heavy but maintain a buffer zone between mulch and trees and plants ), are warned to keep turkeys away from Kiddie pools (they tend to drown themselves), and learn that while greenhouse thrips like avocados, lacewigs like greenhouse thrips. We also meet characters like Steve, one of the few gringos who could hold his own in the fields. Ableman has a lot to say about farming organically. When asked that inevitable question what do you do about pests? Ableman usually replies, we don t have many pests. He says when his crops are planted at the right time, properly nurtured, and grown from good seed and in good soil, they are rarely susceptible to insects or disease. Ableman is critical of some currently accepted organic practices. He recommends staying away from many of the organic pesticides and fertilizers now available. These botanical poisons sabadilla, neem, and rotenone, to name a few are less toxic than parathion, but come from the same mentality of solving problems with a miracle cure rather than by addressing the source of the problem. Ableman is also critical of the widespread use of blood meal and bone meal by organic farmers, arguing that these fertilizers are the by-products of the worst of the livestock industry where animals are jammed together in squalor. Ableman hopes Fairview Gardens will one day move beyond organic and explore what truly sustainable agriculture can be. Anticipating water shortages in years to come, he suggests looking to Hopi and African farmers, who know how to grow food with little water. He also insists that sustainable agriculture not be confined to issues of soil, air and water: We must also look at how well it sustains the people who do the work. It is a struggle to provide good wages, quality housing, health benefits, and a sense of ownership from a business that earns its annual budget by the pound. (see ON GOOD LAND on page 11) 4

5 Statistical Review of California s Organic Agriculture, , Laura Tourte and Karen Klonsky, UC Davis Agricultural Issues Center, July 1998, 97 pages. Although organic agriculture is as old as agriculture itself, modern organic agriculture is still in its infancy. No good data was kept on organic agriculture prior to the 1990 enactment of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA), the full implementation of which is still being debated in the form of the proposed National Organic Standards. One of the few good sources for data on California s organic agriculture is this statistical review, prepared by Laura Tourte and Karen Klonsky of the UC Davis Cooperative Extension. To market products as organic, growers and handlers must be registered with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). If they wish, they may also be certified by one of nine private certifying agencies. Registration is mandatory, certification voluntary. Tourte and Klonsky analyze data on both registered and certified organic farms. All large-scale organic farms (those grossing over $500,000 annually) are certified, while many small-scale farms are not. This is likely because smallscale producers either do not view certification as beneficial, or are unwilling or unable to pay certification fees. In 1995, just 517 of the 1,372 registered organic farms were also certified. Tourte and Klonsky note that some small-scale organic producers are neither certified nor registered, but rely instead on mutual trust developed with their clientele. Furthermore, they estimate that of all agricultural products grown organically in the state, just 30 to 40 percent are actually sold as organic. Certified, large-scale farms dominate organic production in California. Certified organic farms account for more than 80 percent of all organic acreage and almost 90 Certified, large-scale farms dominate organic production in California, accounting for more than 80 percent of all organic acreage and almost 90 percent of total registered sales. percent of total registered sales. Over 50 percent of total sales is represented by just 2 percent of producers, who grossed over $500,000 each. Another 3 percent of growers, who grossed between $250,000 and $500,000 annually, captured one-sixth of total sales. Two-thirds of farms grossed under $10,000 annually. By far the most valuable organic commodities are fruit, nut and vegetable crops, accounting for $85.5 million of the $95 million in total organic sales during Interestingly, sales of fruit and nut crops remained steady at about $30 million annually in the period, , while sales of vegetable crops jumped from $37 to $54.5 million. This 46 percent increase in sales is particularly remarkable in light of the fact that vegetable crop acreage increased only 4 percent in that same period. Tourte and Klonsky suggest this is due to shifts in products grown, considerable gains in production and market efficiency and/or increased consumer demand. Field crops and livestock are still very small segments of organic agriculture in California, together accounting for about 4 percent of total registered sales. This is in stark contrast to non-organic agriculture in California, in which dairy products generate more sales than any other commodity. This indicates a great potential market for organic dairy products. At present, there are no federal or state regulations governing the production of organic meats, also indicating great potential for the marketing of such products. Total registered organic sales increased at a steady pace in the period, , posting an overall gain of 26 percent. Since this gain was accomplished with just 7 percent more acreage, Tourte and Klonsky suggest an industry with improved production efficiency, enhanced consumer demand or both. Still, organic agriculture is a very small part of California agriculture, accounting for less than one-half of one percent of the total cash income from the marketing of agricultural products. This statistical review, then, reveals a small industry with a big future dominated by big growers. v 5

6 (HOUSING from page 1) Administration, calculated an unmet demand of 756,196 housing units for farm workers nationwide. Here in California, a 1995 study by the UC Center for Cooperatives, An Assessment of Migrant and Farm Worker s Need for Housing, calculated a shortage of 250,000 housing units for farm workers statewide. This figure is based on subtracting the estimated number of hired farm workers from the estimated number of housing units, both public and private, available to them. Using a similar method, Gary Johnston, of the UC Cooperative Extension estimates 300,000 to 400,000 or 40 to 60 percent of California farm workers are homeless or lack adequate housing for some significant period of the year. What is widely agreed upon is that many growers no longer provide onfarm housing for workers, as was common a generation ago. Stricter housing regulations, such as those prescribed by the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Employee Housing Act, have induced many growers to forego the extra cost and hassle of providing these private camps for their seasonal employees. The 1995 study by the UC Center for Cooperatives showed that the number of employer provided housing camps dropped from 1,424 in 1982 to about 900 in Some estimate that in the 1950 s and 1960 s that number was as high as 5,000. Meanwhile, the number of housing units available to migrant farm worker families through the state s Migrant Centers has also dropped from 2,172 in 1975 to 1,964 in 1998, according to the Office of Migrant Services. There are 26 Migrant Centers, with only 24 open for the 1998 season. Space is limited in these centers and, by state law, the centers are allowed to be open just half the year. The centers are open only to families, including single parents. But the typical hired farm worker today is a young male, undocumented and unaccompanied. As fewer growers are providing housing, and public camps only allow families, many hired farm workers are presented with the options described above: living with five or six others in an overpriced, rundown motel room or trailer run by real estate entrepreneurs, or homelessness. A somewhat recent development in housing for hired farm workers is the growing involvement of Farm Labor Contractors (FLCs). Just as the responsibility to provide transportation for workers (often for a cost) has transferred from growers to FLCs, so too has the responsibility to provide housing. A proposed camp in Lodi Jose Rios received his Farm Labor Contractors license in He grew up working the fields with his father, a Bracero who came to California from Mexico in the 1950 s. Today Rios employs 800 full-time farm workers through his Acampo-based J.J. Rios Farm Services Inc. About 50 percent of work done by his employees is in developing new wine-grape vineyards. In May, Rios unveiled plans to build a 400-bed camp for his workers on 80 acres along Harney Lane, southwest of Lodi. Rios got a loan from Bank of America to build the $4 to $5 million camp and persuaded the USDA to insure the loan. The camp was to function as a kind of small town, complete with soccer fields, baseball diamonds, barbecue areas, a deli, a market, Western Union, postal center, check cashing services, church services, and a cafeteria. Through organized soccer and baseball leagues, Rios hoped to inspire pride and camaraderie among crews. Initially the camp was to be open only to unaccompanied men, but Rios later expanded that to included unaccompanied women. Each person was to have a private room with a closet, bed, and desk. Rios says he planned to charge workers about $6.00 a day to live in the camp. With the full support of area growers, the plan was approved by the San Joaquin County Planning Commission in late May. Soon after, however, area residents began opposing the plan. A large sign reading No to 400 Man Labor Camp was erected on the corner of Harney and Tully Lanes. Neighbors organized and hired attorney Mike Hakeem to represent them. Their main concern was the fact that the camp was likely to be all male. They also were concerned about increased traffic and crime. On July 15, after nearly 9 hours of testimony and heated debate, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 not to allow construction of the camp. Rios has one year to propose an alternative plan to the Board of Supervisors. He has not yet indicated whether he will do so. A small camp in Arbuckle Javier Tirado also grew up working as a hired farm worker, at one time living in a chicken shack in Petaluma. Tirado is now a beekeeper, owns 38 acres of almonds and works as a foreman at a cannery in Arbuckle. He has put four kids through college. Seeing a familiar need for decent housing for single male workers in his area, Tirado initiated a project to build 12 housing units for 24 men on his almond orchard. Pat Harrison, an architect at the UC Davis Environmental Design Department, designed the plans for the units, which will be energy efficient, made of durable, low-cost materials, and comply with both federal and state regulations. The housing units will have coin operated washers and dry- 6

7 ers, the profits from which will be used to improve common areas in the housing camp. The camp will include a community center, where workers can participate in ESL classes, worker safety training and use as a common gathering place. Tirado also plans to involve the residents in community events in nearby Arbuckle, thereby integrating hired farm workers into the community. He has also established a profitsharing plan with the eight men who help maintain his beekeeping business repeating a process that allowed him years ago to start his own business. Tirado says a happy worker produces more than a sad worker. To pay for construction, Tirado was awarded a state grant called The Farm Worker Housing Program Demonstration Funding Grant. With this $250,000, some of his own money and a loan from Bank of America, Tirado plans to begin construction soon on this project which, he says, will bring more dignity to farm workers in Colusa County. To qualify for the state funding, Tirado had to devise a code of conduct for his future residents, including no women visitors in private areas and noise curfews. Tirado and Harrison plan to begin construction the first of the year and hope to have the units ready by spring. A comparison of this camp with the one proposed in Lodi reveals two distinct approaches to single sex hired farm worker housing. In the Lodi case, local residents made clear their opposition to a large, mostly all male camp that would have functioned in effect as a community separate from the surrounding communities. In the Arbuckle case, Tirado has sought to Farmworker Housing Conditions in Colusa County, June 1998 Trailor near Arbuckle. 3 adults, 6 children in small trailor and roofed structure. Electricity, but no water. Photo by Javier Tirado. Motel in Williams. 4 men are signed up, but 8 in this one room. Families with children also stay here occasionally. $500/month. Photo by Javier Tirado. integrate a small camp into the fabric of the existing community. As the struggle to provide housing for farm workers continues, these cases may serve as guides for what will and will not work in the future. 1 Medical Anthropologist Bonnie Bade met Francisco and Jovita while researching her 1990 publication, Migrant Farm Worker Needs Assessment, University of California Cooperative Extension. 2 Steven Greenhouse, Migrant s homeless harvest, reprinted from the New York Times in the Sacramento Bee, June 7, v 7

8 Work at Your Own Risk: Summer Accidents Magnify Dangers of the Agricultural Workplace by Daniel Williams In many regards, California sets the standard for United States Agriculture. From its quality produce to its industry regulations, California law typically meets or exceeds federal criteria. Important examples include the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, which covers field sanitation and the use of short-handled tools, the Workers Compensation Insurance System and its seventy-five year history of mandatory coverage of virtually all hired farm workers, and the Farm Labor Contractor Law, which regulates the licensing of all farm labor contractors. With the presence of these strong statutes and their respective enforcement agencies, California would appear to have an effective mechanism for monitoring the safety of its agricultural workplaces. Yet, in spite of this seemingly well orchestrated system which has also involved inter-agency cooperation through efforts such as the Targeted Industries Partnership Program (TIPP) occupational related injuries and illness and workplace safety violations continue to occur at staggering rates. Data obtained by CIRS from the Workers Compensation Insurance Bureau for California (WCIRB) and the 1992 Census of Agriculture rank farm work as one of the state s most dangerous occupations. According to the WCIRB of California, from 1985 to 1994, there were 385,411 paid claims to hired farm workers for job-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths, an average of more than 38,500 cases a year. Of that total, 133,802 involved disabling injuries or illnesses while 501 were for occupational fatalities. Likewise, findings from the 1992 Census of Agriculture show that California farmers and unpaid family members are no less vulnerable to the hazards of the agricultural workplace. In 1992, they experienced 705 farm work related disabling injuries and 15 occupational fatalities. This past summer has been no exception. Whether due to a rushed season brought about by El Niño or a Rini Templeton continuation of past patterns, both farmers and hired farm workers have suffered severe accidents. The three most well known include: the tragic death of California Assembly Representative Mike Machado s 25- year-old son in a tractor accident; the acute poisoning of 32 hired farm workers by the highly toxic carbamate, Furadan, at Cantua Farms in Fresno County; and the acute exposure of five hired farm workers to an equally poisonous carbamate, Lannate, at Three Rocks Trust Farm, also in Fresno County. The death of Christopher Machado happened in the early evening of August 18, near his family s farm in Linden. While traveling along a county road, the rear wheel of Machado s John Deere tractor slid off the road, and the entire tractor turned over in the creek pinning him under two feet of water. Around 5:30 P.M., a motorist stopped and immediately called 911 after discovering Machado beneath the overturned tractor. Despite emergency efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene. In the Furadan case, an alleged miscommunication between Cantua operator, Bill Schuh, and labor contractor, Eliseo Montejano, resulted in a crew of 32 workers entering a cotton field just two hours after it had been treated with the extremely dangerous aphicide and two other less toxic chemicals, Zephyr and Pix. According to Schuh, Montejano never told him that his crew still had work to do in the field slated for spraying. The workers, unaware that the field had been treated, spent approximately three hours weeding with hoes in the presence of a pesticide with an EPA mandate that forbids entry into a treated field until 48 hours after application. After finishing their tasks, the crew stopped to eat. It was at this point that the workers began to feel extremely ill, experiencing blurry vision, projectile vomiting, and severe diarrhea. Initially, the labor contractor and his foreman assumed that some of workers were suffering from either excessive alcohol consumption the night before or from a bad meal. When the entire group succumbed to the effects of the Furadan, however, the contractor (see ACCIDENTS page 9) 8

9 (ACCIDENTS from page 8) realized that pesticides were involved and immediately rushed 27 of the workers to the Sablan Medical Clinic in Firebaugh. There, Dr. Oscar Sablan quickly established a quarantine, cordoned off the contaminated vehicles, and reported the poisoning to county health officials. After decontaminating the 27, seven of whom were extremely ill, Sablan sent them to area hospitals for further observation. Four of the other five workers went home, showered, and changed clothes prior to coming to the clinic. One went directly to a Fresno area hospital, where he was forced to return to the Sablan clinic the following day because he allegedly lacked a Workers Compensation referral from his employer. The Lannate exposure, eleven days later, also involved an alleged miscommunication, this time between the applicator, farmer, and labor contractor. Apparently, Three Rocks Trust Farm had agreed with Gilbert Aviation to have the pesticide application done on Saturday August 8. Gilbert Aviation, however, allegedly sprayed the field on August 9 at 11:10 A.M without telling the farm operator. The labor contractor, Robert J. Nash and Sons, allegedly unaware of the change in schedule sent a five member crew into the field the following afternoon, approximately 29 hours later, to harvest alfalfa. Reentry after applying Lannate is restricted for 48 hours, yet the five farm workers allegedly spent a couple of hours cutting the hay with swathers before finding out that they had been exposed. The presence of irrigation pipes in the field forced the workers to leave their vehicles on repeated occasions to change broken blades and move irrigation equipment, which, in turn, likely increased their contact with Lannate. In spite of experiencing some pesticide-related symptoms, the workers did not learn of their exposure until the finished their work when the farm s irrigation foreman arrived and informed them that the field had been sprayed the day before. Only one of the workers sought medical attention. He also went to the Sablan Clinic where Dr. Sablan treated him for exposure. Since that time, Sablan has seen the worker for followup visits to monitor his recovery. Nearly two months later, a number of the poisoned workers are still suffering from the pesticide exposures, according to Dr. Sablan. The worker exposed to Lannate, despite bouts with abnormal fatigue, muscular weakness, and sudden mood swings, has managed a full recovery. Nevertheless, the incident Many of the workers, including a thirteen yearold boy, continue to experience health problems such as new allergies, headaches, nausea and muscular weakness. has persuaded him to leave the agricultural industry. As for the Furadan case, many of the workers, including a thirteen year-old boy, continue to experience health problems such as new allergies, headaches, nausea, and an unusual itching inside of their bodies. Some of those exposed to Furadan have attempted to return to their job, but their slow recoveries have forced them to miss many days of work. Besides the loss of human life, lost work time, and medical expenses, these incidents, specifically the Furadan and Lannate cases, have uncovered some flaws in California s agricultural regulations. Currently under investigation by the Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner s Office, a key concern in both of these chemical poisonings involves notification and field posting. Under state law, the applicator must notify the farm operator before any pesticide can be applied, including unrestricted chemicals. The applicator must also inform the operator of the work s completion within 24 hours. The farm owner or operator, before the chemical is applied, must inform any of his or her employees who may be on or within ¼ of a mile of the field during the application or during the restricted entry period. Here, employees refers to direct-hire workers, labor contractors, other pesticide control advisors, and the employees of labor contractors. Such notice must be easy to understand, and must include the location and description of the treated area, the restricted entry interval, and instructions not to enter the field until the interval has ended. Furadan and Lannate are exactly the same with respect to these requirements, yet they differ substantially with respect to the mandated forms of notification. Although Furadan and Lannate are restricted use pesticides and listed as class-one toxins, only the former requires marking off treated areas with signs and giving employees oral notification. This regulation also varies (see ACCIDENTS page 11) 9

10 The UFW Wins a Few and Loses a Big One by Shaw Perrin It proved to be a mixed summer for the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO (UFW), as they continue organizing in an industry in which just two percent of all workers are union-represented. At summer s end, the UFW established its first foothold in Mendocino County, when workers at the 580-acre Anderson Vineyards Inc. voted in favor of UFW representation. Booneville-based Anderson Vineyards Inc., which grows grapes for the French Champagnemaker Roederer Estate Winery, employs about 80 hired farm workers at peak season. Just 45 of these workers were eligible to vote in the election since the other 35, all pickers, had been hired after the end of the pay period prior to the election. The UFW says it has negotiated with Anderson Vineyards to raise wages from $6.25 an hour to about $11.00 an hour. In response, some Mendocino county growers say in the future they will turn to more mechanization. They can unionize and organize all they want, but that s just going to cause more mechanization, Bill Crawford, president of the Mendocino Winegrowers Alliance and owner of Hopland-based McDowell Valley Vineyards, told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Another recent Northern California victory indicates the growing presence of the UFW in this region. In late July, workers at the north coast s largest vegetable grower, Sebastapoolbased Balletto Farms, voted 69-0 to join the UFW. The secret-ballot election was swiftly followed by the signing of a contract that promises a 50-cent hourly pay raise next January 1 st. This is the first UFW contract in Sonoma County in 25 years. Further south, however, in the state s premiere strawberry-growing region, the UFW continues its threeyear battle to organize workers in the $600 million strawberry industry. On July 23 rd workers at the Coastal Berry Co. in Watsonville voted to accept representation by an anti-ufw group calling itself the Coastal Berry Farm Workers Committee. The UFW, which did not participate in the election, had filed a motion with the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) to stop the election, citing minor incidents of intimidation and violence against pro- UFW workers on July 1 st. But ALRB Regional Director Fred Capuyan denied that motion. If the ALRB certifies the election, the UFW must wait at least one year before holding another election. The Coastal Berry Co. farms 1,500 aces near Watsonville and employs some 1,500 workers at peak season. Back in June, it looked as though everything was in place for a UFW victory. St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. had sold the strawberry company to union friendly investor David Gladstone a deal, according to Marc Lifsher of the Wall Street Journal, nudged along by highpowered Democrats, including Vice- President Gore and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt. 1 Details of this deal are still unclear, but in June the Western Growers Association (WGA) filed a lawsuit against both Monsanto and the UFW on grounds that they entered a secret agreement whereby the UFW would control Coastal Berry Co. This is an odd situation. A powerful group of growers (WGA) is suing one of the largest biotech companies, Monsanto Co., and the UFW for allegedly conspiring to organize a group of workers they can t seem to organize. The situation is further complicated by Coastal Berry s middle management: foremen Augustin and Joel Lobato, Enrique Leal, and Roberto Chavez, are firmly anti-ufw and appear to have the support of a majority of the workers. The UFW has signed one strawberry contract, with the state s largest organic strawberry producer, Swanton Berry Farms. With the support of high ranking politicians, movie and rock stars, Safeway, NAACP, NOW, Sierra Club, and with $90,000 a month from the AFL-CIO, we can be sure the UFW will continue its fight to unionize strawberry workers. 1 How Monsanto and Democrats Failed in Their Efforts to Aid UFW, Wall Street Journal, August 5, v RCR over ? Would you like to receive the Rural California Report via ? If so, please send us a message with your address at cirsmail@cirsinc.org 10

11 (ACCIDENTS from page 9) (ON GOOD LAND from page 4) depending on the crop. In some instances, property operators can avoid the duel notification if they assure that no employee will enter or walk within a ¼ of a mile during the application or during the restricted entry period. At Cantua Farms, the accident allegedly occurred because the farmer assumed that he had properly informed the labor contractor of the pesticide application. The exposure might have been avoided had the grower followed the specific regulations for using Furadan with cotton, which require both field posting and oral notification without exception. In addition, the grower should have been well aware of these requirements, since he applied for a special emergency permit in order to use the Furadan. In the Lannate case, the farm operator was not subject to same strenuous rules. He could either post the field or notify the labor contractor orally of the scheduled application. Had the label required both field posting and oral notification, it is possible that this accident could have been avoided. But, because the Lannate label does not specify the need for posting, there was no safety net in place to counteract the error in communication. Furthermore, it has been reported that the labor contractor in this case was unlicensed. The results of these pending investigations will say a great deal about agricultural worker protection in California. They may also raise additional questions about the effectiveness of the state s agricultural laws and enforcement bodies. An example is farm operators or land owners not being required to identify their labor contractors when obtaining a permit for restricted materials like Furadan and Lannate. Other concerns involve who should bear the responsibility of pesticide notification; the hiring by growers of unlicensed contractors; and poor cooperation between agencies such as the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration and county agricultural commissioners in pursuing investigations. v (GUEST WORKER from page 3) to fire employees or, worse, close down. City officials fear losing sales tax revenue and trying to provide services for more people with fewer resources. But will Congress listen? Farm workers have not been afforded the right to speak to Congress about their fate. Farm working communities are calling for living wages, adequate housing and the opportunity for a better life. The importance of immigrant communities to California s economy should not be ignored, nor should the multi-billion dollar agricultural industry. This should be a bilateral effort by Mexico and the U.S., engaging all stakeholders in effective discussion for a sustainable solution. If the Senate and House approve the Conference report, President Clinton must determine whether to sign the bill in to law, or to veto it. Clinton s administration made it clear to the Senate before their vote in July that they were opposed to this legislation. What will he do now? Amber López is our new Public Policy Coordinator. Amber spent her formative years in the Central Valley City of Newman, and is a graduate of the University of the Pacific s School of International Studies. v On Good Land illustrates many of the conflicts that can arise when a farm is surrounded on all sides by suburban development. One neighbor, an ex-nfl tight-end, filed a complaint with the county health department about the smell of the farm s compost pile. Ableman received an order to cease and desist composting, the penalty for non-compliance being jail. A similar order was issued after neighbors complained that the farm s roosters made too much noise in the mornings. Throughout the years the farm has received numerous complaints from on-lookers who mistake cover crops for weeds. Theft and vandalism are also minuses of farming in the middle of a suburb. On the whole, though, Ableman stresses positive aspects of the ruralurban interchange: the local community provides a direct market for the farm, and the farm provides open space and a place to learn and gather for the local community. This autobiography of an urban farm is a good read and provides an excellent model for integrating agriculture into suburban development a model worth repeating throughout California, where, according to a recent report from the Department of Conservation, 1 the equivalent acreage of four Fairview Gardens is paved over everyday. 1 Famland Conservation Report , State Department of Conservation, Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program, June v 11

12 NEW PUBLICATIONS AT CIRS Information and Pesticide Management: A Study of the Impact of Information Availability and Pesticide Use in California Almond and Walnut Production, Charles V. Moore and Don Villarejo, 1998, 36 p., $ This new report compares pesticide use by two cohort groups of almond and walnut growers in the Central Valley one group advised by independent pest control advisors, and one group advised by chemical company advisors. Are Voluntary Pesticide Use Reduction Programs Effective?, Don Villarejo and Charles V. Moore, 1998, 42 p., $ Total pesticide use in U.S. agriculture has continued to increase in recent years. This new report examines the effectiveness of programs designed to reduce pesticide use among California almond and walnut growers. Getting to Know the Central Valley, Isao Fujimoto with the assistance of Marilu Carter, 1998, 40 p., $ This new booklet is a great introduction to California s Central Valley. It examines the front and backstage of the Valley s communities, people, environment, and economy. The first in a series of four booklets called Building Civic Participation in the Central Valley. Finding Invisible Farm Workers: The Parlier Survey, Jennifer Sherman et al., 1997, 45 p., $ This report analyzes the findings of the 1992 Parlier Health and Enumeration Survey, comparing results to the 1990 Census of Population and other surveys. It is found that a significant number of Parlier s residents are left out of the Census due to the nature of their housing, which lacks the postal addresses used as the Census sampling frame. For a complete list of available publications, please contact CIRS. YES, ENTER MY ORDER FOR: Report No. Price Tax (7.25% in CA) Shipping and handling ($4 for first report, $1 each addition) TOTAL YES, I WANT TO HELP: Please make me a member of CIRS (circle one): $250 Lifetime $25 One Year, OR 2 years for $100 Sustaining $40 20% off regular price MEMBER BENEFITS: Subscription to Rural California Report (5 years for Sustaining) Lifetime and Sustaining Members receive one free CIRS publication of choice 20% discount on CIRS custom data bases 50% discount on CIRS library index more than 2,500 items on disk, text file, 3.5 or 5.25 disk (regularly $20, only $10 for members) Instead of membership, I d like to contribute $ Memberships and contributions are tax-deductible. NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP Please make check payable to CIRS P.O. Box 2143 Davis, CA THANK YOU. YOUR SUPPORT MAKES A DIFFERENCE! THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE FOR RURAL STUDIES P.O. Box 2143 Davis, CA Address Correction Requested Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 126 Davis, CA 95617