By Mariko Yamada

During the summer of 2005, my older daughter worked for the executive 0fficer of the California Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Twelve outdoor workers died that summer — six of whom were farmworkers. She would always ask me, “Why isn’t anyone doing anything about this?”

In 2005, the state had no regulations governing outdoor work in high heat conditions. Following that slew of deaths, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued emergency regulations. These became permanent in 2006.

Since then, employers of outdoor workers — including those in construction, utilities, transportation and agricultural industries — have engaged in better heat illness prevention and response. Unfortunately, fatalities are still occurring, and penalties have been light.

Recent opinion pieces have focused on two of my votes, one for farmworker overtime pay and another for stronger heat illness protections. My commitment to agriculture is being questioned and my votes characterized as “partisan.”

From my very first budget vote on the Assembly floor in 2008, when I was the lone Democratic “no” vote on the permanent elimination of the Williamson Act subvention fund, I have put myself on the line for agriculture. I have taken on the renewable energy industry when it skirted federal law and put agricultural pilots at risk and organized Assembly Democrats in opposing 2012 Farm Bill cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

In 2010, I voted for SB 1121 (Florez) a bill that would have granted overtime pay to farmworkers after an eight-hour day (currently, California farmworkers are eligible for overtime pay after a 10-hour work day through a wage order). Since 1938, domestic workers and farmworkers have been exempt from overtime pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Coincidentally, these workers have been historically African-American and Latino.

Farmworker overtime pay opponents argue that farm work is unique and different from other work because it is seasonal and dependent on weather conditions. Razor-thin profit margins would require farmers to cut hours and lay off farmworkers if they faced an increase in labor costs. With the most liberal agricultural wage order in the country, any change would put California farmers at a global disadvantage.

I recognize the concerns of farm owners. Agriculture is one of our most important businesses, and one that cannot leave the state. But I believed in 2010 as I do now that farmworkers perform some of the most difficult work in our society, and that California should be leading the way for improving wages and benefits for those without whom food and drink would disappear from our grocery stores, restaurants, bars and kitchen tables.

This year, AB 2346 (Butler), The Farmworker Safety Act of 2012, is generating understandable controversy. The bill codifies existing CalOSHA heat illness regulations, specifies access to water and shade, and allows an additional private-right-of-action against violators with increased civil penalties.

The latter provision responds to the “slap on the wrist” given the farm labor contractors who employed Maria Isavel Vasquez Jimenez, the 17-year-old pregnant farmworker who in 2008 died from heat illness while working in San Joaquin County. Her internal body temperature upon death was 108 degrees. As a result of a 2011 plea bargain, a judge sentenced the contractors to community service and probation. I believe farmworkers deserve better.

Since voting for AB 2346, I have worked with the author’s office and those who have come forward with constructive dialogue to address the “one-size-fits-all” approach to water and shade provisions, and to develop common-sense amendments to the bill. Over the past few weeks, I have facilitated meetings with the author’s office and local farmers, and answered calls, emails and letters on the subject. This legislation is providing an avenue for in-depth discussions on this issue, and I welcome further input as we move forward.

For the past four years, I have been privileged to represent the 8th Assembly District, with the serious responsibility of casting thousands of votes affecting every aspect of California life. I have served as a member of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, where I have taken hundreds of votes to protect one of our state’s most important industries.

Farmers in the 8th Assembly District have been leaders in compliance and innovation and deserve to be commended. But I also have a duty to my farmworker constituents as well as farmworkers across the state of California. Bringing them into the 21st century with regard to overtime considerations and codifying basic water and shade regulations are two votes out of thousands for which I am willing to take the heat.

A final note: AB 2676 (Calderon) was amended recently to apply the same water and shade standards for animals to farmworkers. Both bills currently await August Senate hearings.

— Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, represents California’s 8th Assembly District, which includes Davis, Winters, Woodland, West Sacramento, Dixon, Vacaville, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Suisun City and Benicia.

Comments

comments