From SacBee.com, The Sacramento Bee, Associated Press, 11 Jan 2012. OAKLAND, Calif. – California workplace regulators have fined a labor contracting company $74,125 in the death of a farmworker last summer. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal-OSHA, said Wednesday that it issued the citation and penalty to Holtville-based C. Clunn Consulting after the death … Continue reading
From LakeNewsOnline.com, Rance Burger, 28 Dec 2011. Lake of the Ozarks, MO — Proposed changes to farm labor laws may change the landscape of education in rural communities across the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, and beyond. The U.S. Department of Labor will consider implementing new rules for youth farm labor in 2012, rules that Missouri … Continue reading
From The Grower.com, Fritz Roka, Cesar Asuaje, and Carlene Thissen, 28 Dec 2011. Editor’s note: This is the Immokalee Report, a monthly column written by researchers at the University of Florida’s Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee. This column appeared in the November-December 2011 issue of Citrus + Vegetable Magazine. A new University of Florida/Institute of Food and … Continue reading
From PCCNaturalMarkets.com, Joel Preston Smith, Jan 2012. January 2012 — Last July, when 16-year-old Nicholas Chavez collapsed in 106° F heat while picking bell peppers in Bakersfield, Calif., it was hardly national news. The story wasn’t covered by CNN, the Associated Press or Fox News. Chavez was just one more pair of hands in the … Continue reading
From InTheseTimes.com, Mike Elk, 19 Dec 2011. When it’s humid during the summer, corn in storage will often get so caked together that it won’t fall to the bottom of silos. When this happens, silo operators will sometimes hire teenagers to come in for a day and jump around on the corn in order to … Continue reading
From HawaiiReporter, “After Oahu Farm Workers Fall Ill, State Inspectors Look Into Workers’ Safety, Food Security” by by Jim Dooley and Malia Zimmerman, 16 Dec 2011. The Hawaii state Department of Agriculture will inspect a Kahuku farm where undocumented workers from Laos said they were sickened by exposure to toxic pesticides. “Our enforcement field inspector has … Continue reading
From FresnoBee.com, Mark Grossi, The Fresno Bee, 15 Dec 2011. A dozen Kettleman City residents protested at the Valley air board meeting Thursday, saying officials didn’t give the town a real chance to talk about a permit renewal for the largest toxic-waste landfill west of the Mississippi. The farmworker town of 1,500 has been battling … Continue reading
From OHSOnline.com, 12 Dec 2011. A variety of occupations such as agricultural workers, groundskeepers, pet groomers, and fumigators are at risk for exposure to pesticides including fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, fumigants, and sanitizers. Among the estimated two million agricultural workers in the United States, physicians diagnose 10,000 to 20,000 pesticide poisonings each year. The National … Continue reading
From YumaSun.com, Cesar Neyoy, Bajo el Sol, 10 Dec 2011. SAN LUIS, Ariz. — Mexicans seeking agricultural jobs in the Yuma area and elsewhere in the United States under the H-2A guest worker program often fall victim to unscrupulous job recruiters, according to the head of a nonprofit that wants to curtail the abuses. The … Continue reading
From PalmBeachPost.com, John Lantigua, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, 6 Dec 2011. Jeannie Economos of the Farmworker Association of Florida recalls a woman who walked into her office recently. “Her face was swollen and her eyes were almost shut,” says Economos, who is based in the Central Florida farm town of Apopka. “She works in … Continue reading
