UFW President Sends Letter to Governor Schwarzenegger:
This Summer, Make Sure Heat Regulation is Enforced
What: UFW President Arturo Rodriguez sent the attached letter (with photos) to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last week asking him to take action to ensure heat regulations are enforced this summer.
This letter is scheduled to be distributed to members of the California State Legislature at noon, today.
June 25, 2007
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Office of the Governor
Capitol Building
First Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
Two years ago, in response to deadly heat, you did what three previous Administrations did not do — enacted regulations designed to protect farm workers and others who work outside. I am deeply concerned that few agricultural employers are following the regulations. Your senior staff has assured UFW staff that you will do whatever it takes to make sure the laws on the books are the laws in the fields, so I write to appeal to you directly.
First, let me share with you some work we are doing in companies where we have a unionized workforce and partnership with employers.
• Worked with employers to make sure that the entire workforce is
aware of the preventive measures they can take to avoid heat
stress.
• Worked to ensure that all frontline management knows how to
address a heat emergency.
• Worked together to make sure there is clean drinking water and
adequate shade.
I have enclosed a postcard with a photo of a shade covering at one of them, Jackson and Perkins Roses. You can see there is ample space for several workers to take a break, should they need to as temperatures soar in these summer months.
When there have been occasions where a union employer was not abiding by the regulation, an educated workforce, using a predetermined system designed with the company, have been able to quickly resolve the issue with their employer.
Nevertheless, last summer after your regulations went into effect, three farm workers died of heat related illness. In the summer of 2006, Rodolfo Valladares, David Vraggs, and Richard Helmuth all died of heat related illnesses while working in the fields last year. You will recall that it was the death of five farm workers in the year prior to you signing the regulation that prompted your emergency regulation.
After each death, we worked with Cal-OSHA and Secretary of Labor Vicky Bradshaw. Secretary Bradshaw arranged multiple meetings with our offices to identify problem areas, encouraging critiques, asking for advice. We identified Cal-OSHA offices that were unaware of the regulations and offices that were not responsive, and areas where language was a barrier. We worked jointly on a public relations campaign. This summer, we are working on increasing the responsiveness of Cal-OSHA regional offices to complaints they receive from workers where their employer is not following the regulation.
Still, our experiences lead me to fear the huge majority of farms are not implementing the regulation.
Just two weeks ago, I was at a meeting with some 120 farm workers who worked at over a dozen different non-union companies. I asked them to raise their hand if they both knew of the regulation and worked at a company that followed the regulation. Only 4 of those attending the meeting raised their hands. And all 4 worked for the same foreman, at the same company. Other workers even at that company reported that their crews were not following the regulation.
This week, I learned that even some of the companies that are following the letter of the law are hardly following its spirit. I enclose for you an actual umbrella that at least one company is using to provide shade for an entire crew of 60-plus workers.
Already this year one farm worker, Eladio Hernandez, died on May 9th while at work. We believe heat may have played a role. We are currently working with Cal-OSHA to investigate the circumstances of Eladio’s death. I will spare you the gruesome details that his co-workers shared with us, but Eladio’s story is especially horrendous as he got sick at around 1 pm and we have received reports that the company waited for almost 2 ½ hours before calling for medical assistance.
I write to ask you that you personally engage to make sure the heat regulation is enforced. We believe that for the huge majority of the hundreds of thousands of farm workers with the tens of thousands of farms not under union contract, the laws on the books have not been the laws in the fields. We recommend that these companies model their efforts after our own work with union employers. Specifically we request that you:
1. Sign and send a letter to every grower in the state of California asking them to model their implementation of the regulation after the work the UFW and other employers you identify have done to prevent heat illness.
2. Join the UFW at a press conference with one of our partner employers to highlight proper implementation of the regulation.
3. Fully support Cal-OSHA in an effort to conduct a full criminal investigation of Eladio Hernandez’ death and prosecute to the full extent of the law.
In the 15 years prior to your being elected Governor, administrations of both parties ignored California’s promise to protect farm workers from searing heat and thirst. We have often said that government cannot enforce laws protecting farm workers. The three verified heat deaths since you signed an historic regulation are sad proof of that fact.
I believe that you and I can do better. I look forward to working with you.
Respectfully,
Arturo S. Rodriguez
President
cc: California State Legislature