Bakersfield Californian 

UFW members highlight laws inspired by 4 worker deaths

Leaders of the United Farm Workers union had two reasons for the press conference they held outside the Kern County Coroner's office Thursday.

One was to remember Salud Zamudio Rodriguez, Ramon Hernandez, Agustine Gudino and Constantino Cruz -- four farm workers who died in 2005 from heat exposure while working in Kern County and Fresno County fields. Thursday was the one-year anniversary of Rodriguez's death in a bell pepper field in Arvin.

The second reason was to highlight new laws protecting workers whose jobs take them into the sun from heat and dehydration -- laws inspired by the four dead workers.

Under the new laws, made permanent on June 15, workers must be provided with:

* One quart of water an hour

* Shade structures or umbrellas

* The chance to take a five-minute paid break in the shade when suffering from the sun.

The new rules also require supervisors to know the warning signs for heat illness and how to treat it.

"A lot of this was caused by inaction, by not knowing what to do," said UFW spokesman Armando Elenes.

He said the union is working with state officials, and also using radio advertisements, fliers and meetings to educate farm workers about their new rights.