FAMILY OF PREGNANT TEEN TRAGICALLY TAKEN BY HEAT MARCHES FOR DAY WITH SACRAMENTO-BOUND PILGRIMS

Anatomy of an Outrage: The Needless Death of
Grape Worker Maria Isavel Vasquez Jimenez

By Edgar Sanchez
Special to the UFW

STOCKTON, CA --  Doroteo Jimenez was angry and devastated.

His 17-year-old niece had just died in a Lodi hospital, two days after collapsing from the heat while toiling with little water or shade in a Farmington vineyard.  The temperature that May 14, 2008, reached the mid-90’s – but it was probably higher among the vines where Maria Isavel Vasquez Jimenez fainted.

Believing that his niece had been disrespected by her bosses, both in life and in death, Jimenez reached out to the United Farm Workers the day she died, to ensure that there would be no cover-up of her suffering.  He wanted the world to know the details.  And he wanted justice for Maria Isavel.

That was then, this is now.

This past Monday, Jimenez appeared at ease as he and other farm workers marched through Stockton to the San Joaquin County Superior Court.   For most of the group, it was day seven of a 13-day, 200-mile pilgrimage from Madera to Sacramento to press for laws that would protect farm workers from abuse and exploitation; for Jimenez it was his only day on the march, his way of supporting the union that helped bring national attention to Maria Isavel’s tragedy.

“So many people have shared our pain with us,” Jimenez, 47, said in an interview before returning to his Lodi home.   He was glad that the media “published” Maria Isavel’s story, even though, as he put it, “Justice hasn’t been done.”

Just as she was denied justice in the fields, so was she denied justice in the courts, Jimenez believes.

It was a theme he had sounded an hour earlier, when the marchers paused outside the Stockton Courthouse to pay homage to Maria Isavel, who was pregnant when she died. This was the same courthouse where her bosses, initially charged with involuntary manslaughter in her death, accepted a plea deal that allowed them to escape prison time.

“It was a pleasure to walk with you,” a smiling Jimenez told the crowd of nearly 100 gathered under the shade of leafy trees.  About half the listeners were marchers walking the entire 200-mile route; the rest were supporters who had walked part or all of the day’s trek from Manteca.

“There have been many tragedies that haven’t been resolved,” Jimenez said, standing beside his wife Juana and their son Jose, 5, who also marched on Monday, along with other family members.  “Many persons take advantage of our people.”

“The other time,” Jimenez continued, “we lost in this courthouse.  It was disgusting for us.  No jail (for  the defendants).  But in time, the laws will be reinforced.”

The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office stands by its handling of the case, Robert Himelblau, spokesman for the office,  said the day the marchers arrived in Stockton.

“From the facts of the case and the state of the law, this was the most appropriate disposition,” Himelblau said, adding he “would understand” that farm workers still complain that, in their opinion, justice was not served.

But, he added, “The criminal issue has been resolved.”

Maria  Isavel was one of at least 16 California farm workers to suffer heat-related deaths since 2005.  Cal-OSHA, the state work safety agency, is investigating at least two more farm worker deaths this year, possibly from the heat.

Trying To Touch One Heart

Also speaking outside the courthouse was Armando Elenes, the UFW official who took Jimenez’ dramatic phone call that May 16, when Maria Isavel died.

Jimenez’ exact words that day were “This matter cannot remain like this,” Elenes recalled,  referring to the uncle’s belief that those responsible for his niece’s death had to be tried for murder.

Doroteo Jimenez fought for justice – just like the pilgrims in the ongoing “Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Now” march, said Elenes, a leader of the trek.

“With this march, we’re trying to touch one heart -- Governor Jerry Brown’s,” Elenes said,  “so that he will say,  ‘We need changes now.’ ”

The marchers hope to persuade Brown to sign the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act next time it reaches his desk.  On June 28, Brown vetoed this legislation, which would have made it easier for farm workers to unionize, as a step to better pay and enhanced on-the-job safety.



A companion bill that would allow California’s 400,000 farm workers to collect overtime after eight hours a day, or 40 hours a week, must also be signed by Brown when he receives it, the marchers say.   In addition, the marchers say, Brown must protect farm workers from the cancer-causing pesticide methyliodide.

“We all know that at this moment, the ranchers are not respecting the workers,” UFW President Arturo Rodriguez  told the courthouse rally.  “Tell Governor Brown that he most do something positive, something just for farm workers.  That’s why we’re bound for Sacramento.”

The sunburned Rodriguez is walking all 200 miles to the State Capitol, where thousands of people are expected for a final farm-labor rally at noon Sunday, during Labor Day Weekend.

A Moment of Silence

Before leaving the court steps, the marchers observed a moment of silence for Maria Isavel.   Their heads bowed,  many with eyes closed, they  reflected on the friendly, hard-working teen whose life ended so sadly.

“During the 20 seconds of silence, I thought about all the unjust things in life,” said Alfredo Zamora, 53, who is marching all 13 days with permission from his unionized employer, California Mushroom Farms of Ventura County.

Controlling his emotions, he added slowly:  “A young lady  losing her life … for lack of water and shade … while working under the sun.  If you want to know the truth, my tears almost came out.”

Why is Zamora marching?  He wants to see more farm workers unionized, so that they can receive the same benefits he does, such as paid vacations and a medical plan for his family, along with the employers’ respect.

   

UFW Investigated Tragedy

On the day that Maria Isavel died, Elenes was the UFW’S Delano-based director of organizing.

“I don’t know how Doroteo got my cellular  number, but he told me that his niece had just passed away,” Elenes said recently.  “He said her bosses and the authorities had not treated her with respect,  had not done her justice, and he wanted justice for her.  Doroteo was asking for help.  He wanted to ensure that people would know what had happened.”

About two weeks after the tragedy, about 50 walkers set out from Lodi to Sacramento for a pilgrimage in Maria Isavel’s memory.  This march, organized by the UFW,  drew attention to her needless death, in the hope of preventing others like it.  The UFW also issued press releases about Maria Isavel, held rallies calling for farm-labor safety and asked concerned legislators to develop new laws to help save farm workers’ lives.

After his May 16, 2008 talk with Jimenez, Elenes immediately assigned one of his organizers, Oscar Mejia, to drive to Lodi to meet with the uncle.  Mejia was headed there when UFW President Rodriguez instructed Elenes to drive there as well.

Within hours, Elenes,  Mejia  and Doroteo Jimenez met in a Lodi McDonald’s.  Elenes and Mejia subsequently interviewed at least five witnesses.

Elenes, now a national vice president of the UFW,  provided details for a speech that UFW President Rodriguez gave at Maria Isavel’services on May 28, 2008 in Lodi.   Many of those details are in this summary, which Elenes has memorized and sometimes recites at farm worker rallies:

Maria Isavel had arrived as an undocumented immigrant from Oaxaca, Mexico in Feb., 2008. She settled in Lodi.  She wanted to work so she could send money to her mother, a widow in Mexico.

At 6 a.m., on May 14, 2008, Maria Isavel began her third day at the Farmington vineyard owned by West Coast Grape Farming Inc.   She was pruning vines for Merced Farm Labor Contractors.  Her fiancé, Florentino Bautista , was part of her crew; her uncle was working in a distant section of the vast property.

Water-filled thermoses would be placed for workers along the edges of their work areas.  But the thermoses were not normally delivered to Maria Isavel’s crew until about 10:30 a.m.   Put another way, her crew was usually without water most of the morning.

Since the vineyards were new, they were only a few feet tall; there was no protection from the sun.

At 3:40 p.m., Maria Isavel suddenly felt dizzy.  She was walking but holding onto vineyard posts, unsteady on her feet.  Her fiancé, Florentino,  approached her, catching her body as she fainted.  He held her as she lay on the oven-hot ground.

No Need to Worry, A Dismissive Foreman Claimed

Instead of calling an ambulance – a Fire Department station was within two miles -- a foreman stared at the couple.  He told Florentino:  “Don’t worry.  This happens all the time.  If you apply some rubbing alcohol to her with a piece of cloth, she will recover.”

The foreman and Florentino carried the unconscious Maria Isavel to a van that transported the laborers to and from work for $7 per person a day.    

The van, which had no air conditioning and had sat all day in the sun, didn’t move for another 20 minutes, until seven other laborers, including Florentino, boarded it at the end of the work day.  

Finally the van headed to a store less than two miles away.

After buying some rubbing alcohol, the workers applied it to Maria Isavel’s neck.  She remained unresponsive.

Using his cell phone, the van’s driver dialed the foreman.  “Maria Isavel looks very ill,” the driver told him.  “We’re taking her to a clinic.”

The foreman replied,  “That’s fine.  But put Florentino on the line.”

When Florentino picked up the cellular, the foreman told him:  “Look, you know  she’s a minor.  And you know  she has no papers.  This is going to cause us a big problem.  So when you get to the clinic, don’t say she was working for a contractor.  Say that she became sick because she was jogging to get exercise. “

Florentino was spooked.  But he told the foreman he would do as asked.

The van arrived at a Lodi clinic about 5:15 p.m. – more than 90 minutes after she was stricken.  A nurse said Maria Isavel was too sick to be admitted.  A  clinic employee dialed 911.

An ambulance transported Maria Isavel to Lodi Memorial Hospital about a block away.  Her  temperature upon arrival was above 108 degrees.  Her body had essentially broiled internally.

By 7 p.m., Maria Isavel had been placed on life support.  She died two days later, a victim of accidental, work-related heatstroke, the San Joaquin County Coroner concluded.

Maria De Los Angeles Colunga, owner of Merced Farm Labor Contractors, and her brother, Elias Armenta, pleaded guilty to reduced charges of failing to follow  safety regulations.  Both were sentenced to community service and probation.  She was also fined $370, while her brother was fined $1,000.

The fast-talking foreman,  Raul Martinez, fled to Mexico to avoid prosecution.  He remains at large.

Edgar Sanchez is a former reporter for The Palm Beach Post and The Sacramento Bee.