Page 14 - Sonoma County Gazette MARCH 2020

FARMWORKERS cont’d from page 1
members and the educational achievement of farmworker children. A 2015 study by the Central Coast Alliance United for A Sustainable Economy found that 60 percent of the 300 Ventura County farmworkers
lack access to affordable housing, and confront dangerous health and safety conditions on the job.
interviewed had experienced one form of wage theft in the previous year, and 23 percent had two or more thefts. Various types of wage theft include: pay for fewer hours than worked; less than time and a half pay for overtime; did not receive two legally mandated 10-minute breaks and a 30-minute lunch break; had to perform work tasks before clocking-in or after clocking out.
A just, equitable and, sustainable recovery from the 2017 and 2019 wildfires must include new public policy and grower initiatives to improve the economic security and public health of farmworkers.
Nine out of 10 Sonoma County farmworkers are employed in the wine industry.
Farmworker Health and Safety
Farm labor analyst Don Villarejo examined the U.S. Department of Agriculture 2017 Census and calculated the average hourly wage for a county farmworker employed directly by a
farm operator for at least 150 days was $15.43 an hour; the weighted annual average income of all farmworkers who were used by growers and farm labor contractors was $21,920–these figures are likely slightly higher today due to recent increases in the minimum wage and new overtime requirements for farmworkers.
In addition to low wages, high rates of wage theft, and lack of access to affordable housing, farm labor is one of the nation’s most dangerous occupations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the
The Department of Labor National
Agricultural Survey reports that few
California farmworkers are employed
full-time in agriculture: on average, they
work just 36 weeks annually. UC Davis
economist Phillip Martin calculated that
in 2015 the average California farmworker,
employed primarily in agriculture, earned only $20,500 annually. Three out of four California farmworkers had only one employer and, just 15 percent crossed the border or migrated between California agricultural regions.
Of the numerous health and safety risks facing Sonoma County vineyard field workers, the most common are muscle-and-skeletal conditions—such as chronic back and neck strains and biomechanical injuries from bending, repetitive motion, the prolonged holding of awkward postures, and heavy lifting. The county Health Department study points out that “cost or lack of health insurance were the
Farmworkers and their families are working poor, belonging to one-third of the county workforce that cannot make ends meet. According to the California Budget and Policy Project, in 2017, two Sonoma County parents working full- time had to each earn $23.00 an hour or approximately $81,000 a year to support two children and pay for necessities—food, transportation, childcare, rental housing, and medical care. This conservative estimate came before the dramatic 35 percent spike of median rents in the county following the 2017 Tubbs Fire.
main barriers to receiving needed medical care and medications.” If a worker lacks health insurance and cannot seek immediate medical attention, muscular- skeletal injuries may be aggravated and recovery delayed.
Precarious Farmworker Working and Living Conditions
California and Sonoma County farmworkers—and often their families—
are routinely exposed to a toxic pesticidal soup. California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) estimates that more than 27 million pounds of pesticides were applied to conventionally grown wine grapes across the state in 2016, including the 2.2 million pounds applied to Sonoma County vineyards.
• In 2018 Sonoma County growers and farm labor contractors employed approximately 11,060 vineyard workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. An overlooked 2015 Sonoma County Department of Health Services report (from interviews with nearly 300 county farmworkers) provides insights into the working conditions and health of county farmworkers:
In the early 1990s, the EPA estimated that between 10,000 and 20,000 U.S. farmworkers were annually injured or became ill from on-the-job exposure to pesticides; the number of unreported cases is likely much higher. Farmworkers suffer more chemical-related illnesses than any other workforce sector. Both the airborne drift from sprayed pesticides, and residues on vines and soil, directly affect farmworkers. The Union of Concerned Scientists reports that growers often do not post an adequate notice when fields are sprayed, neglect to enforce ‘no entry’ periods after pesticide applications, and fail to provide protective gear and pesticide safety training.
• Nine in ten vineyard workers surveyed were male, under the age of 40, born in Mexico and year-round county residents; 29 percent single; 24 percent married and living with a partner; 43 percent married and living with a partner and children.
• Just 30 percent of the farmworkers had health insurance provided by their employer, the state, or spouse’s plan; less than 10 percent of farmworkers received employer-provided medical benefits.
Also, the National Center for Farmworker Health estimates that the lack
of bathroom and cleanup facilities at work put entire families at risk because farmworkers bring pesticides into their homes on contaminated clothes, shoes, tools, and skin. Aerial pesticide drift from the fields also can impact adjacent farmworker residential communities.
• Ten percent of the county’s farmworkers reported an injury or illness on the job, due to repetitive motion tasks, constant lifting, and bending, pesticide poisoning, or prolonged exposure to heat and sunlight; 13 percent lacked consistent access to shelter and shade from the heat.
A 2012 study by the Council on Environmental Health documents high rates of asthma, childhood cancer, and abnormal neural development among rural farmworkers’ children. Sonoma County has the third-highest child cancer rates in California.
• Most Sonoma County vineyard workers lived in unsubsidized rental housing or apartments; 30 percent received some housing financial assistance from their employer including, 14 percent who lived in grower- provided worksite housing.
The herbicide Roundup, one of the most controversial synthetic pesticides, is a weed killer containing glyphosate—a chemical that the World Health Organization classified as a probable carcinogen in 2015. Scientific research has linked Roundup to such chronic health problems as infertility and
• Housing is unaffordable for the vast majority of farmworkers, and they pay 30-60 percent of gross monthly income in rent; two-thirds of farmworkers lived in overcrowded housing due to the high cost of rental housing. Overcrowding directly impacts the physical and mental health of family
FARMWORKERS cont’d on page 15
2017 farmworker fatality rate was far higher than police officers and construction workers, and nearly twice the rate of firefighters. Farmworker disability rates were three times greater than in the general population. According to the county Department of Health, 44 percent of local farmworkers self-reported their health as poor or fair – three times that of the whole population.
Accidents involving heavy equipment and transportation to and from work also are quite common. Exposures to heat, pesticides, and wildfire smoke—all now intensified by the climate crisis—are significant health hazards for vineyard workers.
Farmworkers and Pesticide Exposure
14 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 3/20