To protect underage farmworkers, California expands oversight of field conditions

This article was produced by Capital Main in partnership with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York and was supported by the California Wellness Care Foundation and the Fund for Investigative Journalism It is published here with permission California administrators revealed they are launching new enforcement actions to protect underage farmworkers including enhanced coordination among two state agencies charged with inspecting work conditions in the fields The actions follow an review by Capital Main produced in partnership with the Los Angeles Times and McGraw Center for Business Journalism which ascertained that the state is failing to protect underage farmworkers who labor in harsh and dangerous circumstances Thousands of children and teenagers work in California fields to provide Americans with fresh fruit and vegetables While laborers as young as can legally work in agriculture several described being exposed to toxic pesticides dangerous heat and other hazards The new enforcement efforts will be overseen by the state Labor and Workforce Growth Agency which directs key agencies charged with regulating child labor and worksite safety laws agents noted Read the inquiry Read part one of Capital Main s study into the medical and safety of child farmworkers in California Lea en espa ol Read part two Child farmworkers exposed to toxic pesticides amid lax enforcement Lea en espa ol The state s Bureau of Field Enforcement which regulates child labor and wage and hour laws is emerging plans to conduct joint operations with an existing agricultural enforcement task force assigned to the Division of Occupational Safety and Robustness known as Cal OSHA authorities explained Inspectors from the two agencies typically perform field operations separately and enforce different laws Working together will enable the state to increase its presence in the fields and its threshold to identify violations according to Crystal Young deputy secretary of communications for the Labor and Workforce Growth Agency The agency is also overseeing an effort to share content among enforcement teams from departments such as the Agricultural Labor Relations Board Department of Industrial Relations and Employment Evolution Department Sharing information Young mentioned will further bolster our ability to identify likely violations for probe In a written comment she declared that state functionaries have been actively enforcing child labor rules across all industries assessing violations that resulted in millions of dollars in penalties from through But records obtained under the California Constituents Records Act for that period show that only a small number of child labor enforcement actions involved the agricultural industry Just citations were issued for child labor violations to the thousands of agricultural employers across California the records show The fines totaled but the state collected only Cal OSHA enforcement records show that the agency failed to investigate largest part complaints about alleged violations of California s outdoor heat law and reports of outdoor heat injuries as well as an overall drop in citations issued to agricultural employers for all infractions The heat law requires employers to provide safety training as well as cool water and shade when temperatures exceed degrees Worker advocates lauded the plans for increased enforcement as strategies in the right direction But they added that any long-term solutions need to address issues such as low wages and poverty both of which drive minors to work in the fields to help their families pay rent and put food on the table Being able to sponsorship farmworker families through a living wage you know is one of the strategies that we can really address this issue reported Erica Diaz-Cervantes a former underage strawberry picker who is now a senior initiative advocate for the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Financial system With higher wages children won t have to feel this responsibility to help their family financially by working in the fields she added Other efforts are underway nationally and in California to address issues involving underage farmworkers U S Rep Raul Ruiz D-Palm Desert in the last few days reintroduced act that would change the federal minimum age for farmworkers from to for the bulk farm jobs as well as strengthen enforcement and improve nationwide information collection on injuries and fatalities California requires minors to be years old to work in bulk instances but allows children as young as to labor up to hours a week in agriculture when school is not in session Assemblymember Damon Connolly D-San Rafael commented in a report that he ordered an audit earlier this year to review issues such as inconsistent enforcement in California s pesticide regulation process which is split between local and state agencies The just now published research analyzed more than state pesticide enforcement records from through early and identified piecemeal regulation at the county level The records indicated that businesses operating in multiple counties were not fined for hundreds of pesticide violations countless of them involving worker safety More than two dozen underage farmworkers and their parents reported in interviews that they worked in fields that smelled of chemicals and described feeling sick and dizzy or suffering from skin irritations The workers and their parents are from families with mixed-immigration status and Capital Main used only their first names The audit expected to be completed next year will help us determine whether the need is for additional guidance statutory and regulatory changes or more vigorous enforcement of existing laws explained Connolly who chairs the Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Connolly and Assemblymember Liz Ortega D-San Leandro stated that the Department of Pesticide Regulation which oversees pesticide safety statewide should develop educational materials for underage workers to inform them about pesticides and how to statement problems Such information has been created for high school students to inform them of general worker rights That s one tool that we can use in agriculture to keep these children safe declared Ortega who chairs the Labor and Employment Committee and has held hearings on workplace safety in the fields A spokesperson for the Department of Pesticide Regulation explained the agency has pesticide safety information in multiple languages on its website for all farmworkers but has not created materials for minors Specific of the information is posted in multiple of the fields Underage farmworkers noted that such information is badly needed A large number of of us don t know what pesticides are how they can harm our vitality or what we re supposed to do to safely work around them disclosed Lorena who has been harvesting strawberries since she was years old in the Santa Maria Valley She described being exposed to chemicals that caused her eyes to burn and her skin to break out in rashes Having all that information in one simple flyer she disclosed could make it much easier for us to be able to recognize the dangers and know how to protect ourselves Robert J Lopez is an independent journalist and fellow with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism Capital Main is an award-winning nonprofit publication that reports from California on the the bulk pressing economic environmental and social issues of our time including economic inequality circumstances change strength care threats to democracy hate and extremism and immigration Copyright Capital Main