Margarito Martinez believes he was fired from Ruby Ridge for supporting the union and fighting for his rights. "When workers and supporters tried to reach out to the bank to intervene in this matter [illegal actions by the company], they turned us down, saying they did not want to be involved."

     
   Rosa Escalona is a Chilean farm worker who harvests and packs some of the fruit going to Nature’s Partner. She believes the chemicals used to make the fruit more marketable are also making her sick.

   She describes the following:

"When the time comes to apply the pesticides they do not allow us to leave the room. They apply many liquids, some are specific, like to enhance the color of the fruit, without regards to the fact that there are many young women who someday may have little children and may suffer risks due to the chemicals. The same fruit that is produced is not normal; for example to the cherries they try to give it a redder color and one time they put something too strong that we were choking."

The first thing they tell you when you arrive at the company is that you can’t complain… they say is that "if you fall from the ladder this year you are of no use to me to thin the vine. You are nothing because if you limp, then what use are you? You will climb the vine, it will hurt, then you will get down. If before you made 100 vines, now you will only make 60 vines and will be of no use to me."

Another thing is when final paychecks are issued, we are left being owed money. We’re not paid for all of our work. We’re told the accountant will look into it, but nothing ever happens, they just keep our money.

Rafael Vega has worked for various labor contractors for about 20 years, so he knows what he's talking about when he notes the ways that contractors cheat workers.  "This contractor paid us in cash and one day me and my coworker asked her to pay us with a check so that we could report to social security, and she became upset and fired us all, the entire crew."

Narcizo Peralta has worked for a labor contractor in the citrus orchards for nine years.  When asked about his employer, he begins a liltany of abuses that bother him deeply.  "...I work in the citrus and they do not provide water for us.  We have to take our own water. They do not provide us with equipment nor do they pay us the minimum wage.  When someone gets hurt on the job, the crew boss cusses us out."

"I know my legal rights are being violated by this contractor, but I do not complain because my other coworkers do not complain and I am afraid to speak up for myself."

"I do not file a claim against my boss for fear of retaliation.  I'm afraid he will no longer give me work."

"I have not complained because I have my family to support and I'm afraid to lose my job."

I would work all day without taking a break or going for water because I was afraid of getting fired.
--Erika Contreras, farm labor contractor worker

We have to pitch in money to have clean drinking water.
--Juan Martinez Vasquez, pea worker

The foreman drinks the water we bring ourselves.
--Francisco Villasaña, cotton worker

He treats us worse than animals...We don’t have fresh water.
--Juan Negrete, cotton worker

The company did not provide shade for us to use.  
--Juanita Mendoza, grape worker

When someone wants to drink water, the boss gets mad.  
--Imelda Valdivia, grape worker

One foreman carries a gun on his side to scare the workers.
-- Alejandro Gil, cotton worker

They would never take us water. We had to take our own water.
--Gaspar Silva, vegetable worker

Sometimes full days would go by and they would never bring the bathrooms.
---Pedro Zapien, vegetable worker

They place the water on top of a box or on a tailgate of a pickup truck and when a worker goes to drink water, the heat is unbearable.
--Eva Zenteno, grape worker

Being without water is dangerous. We are not camels that can be working without water.
-- Jairo Salin Salosairo Luquez, grape worker

Teodoro Gutierrez noticed dirt in what was supposed to be his crew’s drinking water.  He decided to let his foreman know to change it. Instead of providing workers with clean, drinking water, the foreman threw the dirty water out and left the crew thirsty for the remainder of the hot work day.  “The foreman, they always cheat us,” he said.

Photo: Jocelyn Sherman