12 noon Thursday, July 1, in Bakersfield
A year after four valley farm workers died from extreme heat, new radio ads educate laborers about rights under state rules
Holding crosses bearing the names of four farm workers who died last summer from extreme heat in the Central Valley—three of them in Kern County—farm workers, union organizers and religious activists standing outside the county coroner’s office in Bakersfield will mark the one year anniversary of those tragedies. They will also kick off a new Spanish-language radio campaign to educate outdoor workers about their rights under a state regulation aimed at preventing further deaths and illnesses. Copies of the public service announcements will be distributed.
Salud Zamudio Rodriguez died from exposure to extreme heat on July 13, 2005, after being stricken in a bell pepper field near Arvin. It was 105 degrees when the grower pushed him to work harder and faster. Three other farm workers died from the heat that month: Ramon Hernandez on the 14th in a melon field near the west Fresno County town of Huron, Agustine Gudino on the 21st in a tomato field owned by Giumarra vineyards and Constantino Cruz on the 31st after collapsing in a tomato field near Shafter. A fifth worker, Asuncion Valdivia, died from the heat on July 28, 2004, after 10 hours of picking grapes at a Giumarra vineyard in Kern County.
Those deaths helped the United Farm Workers convince Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to issue an emergency regulation last summer—made permanent in June—establishing the first state standards in the nation to prevent heat-related deaths and illnesses.
To mark one year since the tragedies, the UFW and Radio Campesina kick off a campaign on the radio network’s four Spanish-language educational stations in California informing outdoor workers about their rights under the new regulation. It guarantees all outdoor workers feeling the effects of the heat the right to take paid work breaks of at least five minutes or as long as workers require in a shaded rest area. It also mandates training for workers and management personnel on recognizing and responding to heat illness symptoms.
Who: Farm workers, family members of the deceased, UFW Regional Director Armando Elenes, members of the National Farm Worker Ministry.
What: Marking one-year anniversary of heat deaths of four valley farm workers; kicking off a Spanish-language radio campaign to educate outdoor workers about their rights under a state regulation.
When: 12 noon, Thursday, July 13, 2006.
Where: Kern County Coroner’s Office, 1832 Flower St., Bakersfield 93305.