On August 31, 2006 we were picking grapes at the company [Giumarra] when an hour into our day we noticed a lot of dust , like if it was dirt on the leaves and the vines were also white and then we noticed a terrible odor like sulfur. The workers informed the boss Inocencio Cardenas what was going on and he did not listen to us so we also informed the Assistant Boss , Montero Herrera and he told us it was a blower machine kicking up all the dust but that it was not sulfur so to keep working.
After about twenty minutes, our boss Inocencia Cardenas returned and told us to first pack the fruit then to exit the row;some of us complained that our health was more important but he did not listen. He made of feel less than and gave more importance to the fruit than our health.
When we were done packing, we exited and got away from where they were fumigating. They left to see what was going on and it turned out that they were spraying but by then some people were vomiting, others were feeling dizzy or with headaches.
All of us wokers were at the end of the row when another supervisor of Giumarra arrived, Selen. He took us to a school off Davis and Wheelridge to await an ambulance.
While we waited for the ambulance, someTV reporters also arrived but they prohibited us from speaking o them, telling us we had nothing to talk about and especially not to them.
Also, someone with the insurance, Mario, arrived asking questions about how I felt and giving me some papers to read and sign.
Joe Giumarra, owner of the company also arrived but only to speak to the crew boss.
All this had to happen before emergency services were called. First the firefighter arrived and then the ambulance and they hosed us all down and some of us were taken to Kern Medical Center because we felt very sick and also because I was pregnant.
My brother in law Rosario Martinez was also taken to the same hospital as me. Trinidad, Brenda Medrano and Gloria Estrada were taken to a different hospital.
They later said the reason I was sick was because I was pregnant. But that isn’t true; I saw the others vomiting and feeling ill. And if this wasn’t the case, then why did the firefighters hose the entire crew with a disinfectant?
The next day out of necessity, I returned to work but they would not allow me to until I had a doctors note saying I was ok to return to work.
I had to find a clinic where they could see me and assure me that myhelath and that of my unborn daughters was not in any danger. This was very frustrating to me since I was working to better myself, my family, not to get sick or suffer an accident such as occurred and you don’t know what to do and to make it worse, Giumarra Vineyards where this occurred did not care about out health. In this case the most important thing was to pack the fruit first, leave everything nice and neat and lastly our health.