UFW Heat Bills of 2012: AB 2346 (Butler) & AB 2676 (Calderon)
Gov. Brown denies farm workers the tools to protect themselves from heat-related death
On Sunday, Gov. Jerry Brown rejected The Humane Treatment for Farm Workers Act – authored by Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D-Whittier) – that would make it a misdemeanor crime, punishable by jail time and fines, to not provide appropriate water or shade to workers laboring under high heat conditions. The governor also vetoed AB 2346 – The Farm Worker Safety Act – by Assemblywoman Betsy Butler (D-Los Angeles). It would have allowed workers to enforce the state’s heat regulations by suing employers who repeatedly violate the law. The United Farm Workers strongly supported both bills. UFW President Arturo Rodriguez issued the following statement:
"The UFW is appalled at the governor's decision to deny farm workers the basic legal tools to protect themselves from employers who intentionally put their lives at risk by refusing to provide them with adequate water and shade despite the dangerously high temperatures. By vetoing AB 2676, the governor continues the policy of giving animals more protections than those currently offered to farm workers.
Since California issued regulations in 2005 to keep farm workers from dying of extreme heat, preventable farm worker deaths have continued. State regulators are investigating two possible heat-related farm worker deaths that occurred this summer. There are over 81,500 farms and more than 450,000 farm workers working under a corrupt farm labor contractor system. It's time the government admits that without adequate enforcement, regulations are ineffective. We are weighing our legal and other options to determine how we better provide the protections farm workers deserve as human beings."
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The California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF) Response to the Governor's Veto
AB 2346: "The California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF) strongly urged the Gorvernor to sign UFW's AB 2346. All workers, and especially exploited workers like farm workers, deserve a right to sue to stop dangerous workplace practices, especially when there are repeat violations. The workers know that enforcement resources are scare. Why shouldn't they have a right to sue when the Government's not there to protect them?"
AB 2676 "The California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF) believes that UFW's AB 2676 should have been signed. Emplorers who deny human beings shade and water while working under high heat conditions should face meaningful criminal consequences, and current law--which is weaker than AB 2676--obviously isn't any deterrent."
The Farm Worker Safety Act of 2012 AB 2346 (Butler) Background
AB 2346 seeks to reduce heat-related deaths among farm workers in California.
At least 16 farm workers have died since the state issued an emergency regulation related to heat illness in 2005. Cal/OSHA is investigating two more possible farm worker heat illness deaths this summer. Since all these deaths were preventable, it is clear the regulation and state enforcement are ineffective by themselves.
In most of the 16 cases where a farm worker has died, the employer deprived the farm workers of adequate water and shade multiple times. These bad actors prey on the state’s inability to enforce the law. This bill will create more meaningful disincentives for repeat offenders who deprive farm workers of water and shade.
From its own 2009 files, Cal/OSHA has failed to issue citations in more than 120 instances in which its inspections determined that serious problems exist. In that same year, Cal/OSHA repeatedly withdrew citations and reduced fines, even for violations so egregious that the agency temporarily shut down the employer’s operations. And, for more than three-dozen heat-related complaints in 2009, Cal/OSHA did not conduct any inspections at all.
Last summer, in 2011, the UFW filed more than 75 serious heat illness complaints with Cal/OSHA. Cal/OSHA issued heat citations for only three of those complaints. And, for at least 2/3 of those complaints – more than 50 – Cal/OSHA did not even complete the inspection.
AB 2346 assures that agricultural employers provide water and shade to their employees.
AB 2346 gives farm workers the ability to take a repeat offender to court. It is a fiscally responsible response to the state's fiscally impossible enforcement obligations. It is a deterrent that need never be used.
Unfortunately, heat-related deaths are a reminder that agriculture is one of the few industries in this state and country where a person can be worked to death. Without AB 2346, protecting farm workers only through the regulatory process is simply a good intention.
Humane Treatment for Farm Workers Act AB 2676 (Calderon) Background
AB 2676 seeks to reduce heat-related deaths among farm workers in California as a result of intent and action taken by the most egregious employers.
AB 2676 is minimal protection when compared to the penal code sections authorizing punishment as a misdemeanor or felony for every person who fails to provide any animal with proper food, drink, shelter or protection from the weather.
At least 16 farm workers have died since the state issued an emergency regulation related to heat illness in 2005. Cal/OSHA is investigating two more possible farm worker heat illness deaths this summer. Since all of these deaths were preventable, it is clear the regulation and its enforcement are ineffective.
AB 2676 assures that farm workers will receive water and shade as required by law. As farm workers continue to die of heat illness, the UFW demands, at a minimum, similar protections for farm workers as animals in this state.
The UFW and the Humane Society of the United States support AB 2676, The Humane Treatment of Farm Workers Act, which would advance our shared values of compassion, humane treatment, and freedom from suffering, which includes intended death.
