The UFW has been instrumental in passing laws, securing protections for farm workers, and advocating for immigration reform, but there is still much work to be done, and fast, due to the severity of the climate crisis. Year after year, increased temperatures and natural disasters have proven fatal for farm workers – even in California, where we have some of the strictest labor laws. So why are advocates pushing for a national response, especially if California’s laws would remain stronger?
The Director of Strategic Campaigns for United Farm Workers, Elizabeth Strater, joins Angela Chavez, communications director at Courage California, to discuss their campaign urging Occupational Safety and Health Administration, commonly known as OSHA, to implement National Emergency Heat Regulations.
With You, fashioned in Courage, We Can create a California that represents and serves us all.
Connect with us: @CourageCA #CourageLooksGoodOnYou
Support: couragecalifornia.org/donate
The UFW has been instrumental in passing laws, securing protections for farm workers, and advocating for immigration reform, but there is still much work to be done, and fast, due to the severity of the climate crisis. Year after year, increased temperatures and natural disasters have proven fatal for farm workers – even in California, where we have some of the strictest labor laws. So why are advocates pushing for a national response, especially if California’s laws would remain stronger?
The Director of Strategic Campaigns for United Farm Workers, Elizabeth Strater, joins Angela Chavez, communications director at Courage California, to discuss their campaign urging Occupational Safety and Health Administration, commonly known as OSHA, to implement National Emergency Heat Regulations.
With You, fashioned in Courage, We Can create a California that represents and serves us all.
Connect with us: @CourageCA #CourageLooksGoodOnYou
Support: couragecalifornia.org/donate
[00:00:00] Angela: In the annual Best States to Work Index published in September 2022, California tied for second place as one of the best places to work. This ranking is based on our wage policies, worker protections, and labor organizing. In fact, our state received high marks in supporting labor organizing.
United Farm Workers, US Labor Union was founded in 1962. It is the largest farm workers union in our nation and is a major organizer in our state due to California's vast agricultural industry. In its 60 years, the UFW has been instrumental in passing laws, securing protections for farmworkers, and advocating for immigration reform, but there is still much work to be done.
I'm excited to have with me today Elizabeth Stratter, the Director of Strategic Campaigns for the UFW, to discuss California's worker protections for farmworkers, their [00:01:00] effectiveness, and the realities in our fields. Welcome to the show, Elizabeth.
[00:01:04] Elizabeth: Thanks for having me.
[00:01:05] Angela: So I want to start with just an overall kind of overview of farmworkers in California.
Farmworkers are the backbone of California's economy, our communities, and our broader social justice movement. What are the conditions like for our farm workers now?
[00:01:22] Elizabeth: So, as you point out, the California farmworker movement has, has really been a driving force for you know, for labor organizing in, in California for many years, back since the sixties. it, it's still remarkably difficult work. Farmworkers are still excluded from many of the labor protections.
That other workers take for granted. That sort of dates back to the federal exclusion of farmworkers from the National Labor Relations Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. These are really basic protections that apply to things like the right to form a union child labor [00:02:00] laws, minimum wage laws, overtime laws.
In California, we've made a lot of gains, you know, over the years, including the creation of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which is sort of a, an NLRB for farm workers only which is sort of a separate system, which provides, some, some rights in terms of organizing for farm workers that other, you know, farm workers in other states may not have.
That said, it's still a system that has a lot of challenges. And at the end of the day, one of the biggest, you know, concerns for farm workers when it comes to their working conditions is that they're very easily exploitable because they live in not just geographic isolation, they live in social isolation.
They're much more likely to be undocumented. They're much more likely to not speak English. They are much more likely to come from You know, another country. So these are folks that have tremendous vulnerability to be [00:03:00] exploited. So, you know, on one hand, they're excluded from a lot of basic protections.
And then on the other hand, they're also the protections that they do have. They're, they're much less likely to speak up facing deprecation among other things. So these are folks that they don't have a relationship of trust with state or federal agencies. So you know, you do still see a tremendous challenge in terms of improving the, the working and living conditions of farmworkers, even in California.
[00:03:30] Angela: Right, so I want to focus on an issue that has come up a lot lately. We've all experienced the wonderful heatwave, regardless of where you live in the country, the heatwave. have been unavoidable. And in that, there has been deaths. In the fields and states all throughout the nation, including here in California.
So as a result, UFW has been asking OSHA to implement emergency [00:04:00] heat regulations, and I'm wondering what type of regulations are currently in place in regards to farmworkers and heat?
And what is the campaign asking for specifically in here, here in California?
[00:04:13] Elizabeth: heat rules. And so rules are the, when I talk about rulemaking or rules these are the guidelines that are legally binding that define exactly what an employer is obligated by law to provide in terms of a safe and healthy work site. So at the federal level, there are no heat protection standards.
There are no heat rules. There isn't anything specific that an employer has to do in order to keep its workers from being sickened or killed by heat. And, you know, we have some motion there at the federal level. Some of the biggest gains that United Farm Workers has made in terms of heat protections has been at the state level. Because we do have you know, it is easier to move in some [00:05:00] states than in others. Uh, Starting in 2005 we passed some pretty comprehensive heat standards here in California. Those have been tightened since then.
We've worked very hard on ensuring enforcement and compliance on those heat rules. We have just about a month ago a similar rule came into effect in Washington State. Last year we had success in Oregon as well, but we can, this isn't something that you can move state by state.
and get to where you need to be. Because you know, California, Washington they're one of only 22 states that even have a state OSHA agency, and that's a state level agency that has OSHA's federal authorization to create health and safety plans that are as strong or stronger than the federal rules.
So if you don't have a state agency. You can't create state rules, so we're never going to get coast to coast coverage, even if we were successful in every single state. And further to that, in Arizona, for example, they do have a state OSHA plan, [00:06:00] technically but it is a challenged enough agency that even as, you know, recently as February of this year, OSHA's authorization to manage their own plan because it, it isn't as functional as it needs to be to protect workers.
So, you know, that's a place where we're, you know, we have very lean resources, especially when it comes to staff. There's three million farm workers in the United States. We've got about as many staff as like an airport Applebee's. So it's, you know, it's a tremendous lift to get something done. And so when we set our minds to do something and put everything that we have into it, we're going to aim for the things that we think we can achieve.
We don't think we're going to achieve the biggest gains possible in Arizona. So now we're looking, you know, for example, and at the end of the day, what we do need is a federal law. We need a federal rule to create a bare minimum. And when I talk about bare minimum, we've based our initial rulemaking in California on what the U.
S. military determined to be [00:07:00] necessary to keep soldiers alive in combat settings. So we're not talking about like comfort and luxury. We're talking about things like access to drinking water that's cooler than their body. We're talking about access to shade. We're talking about the ability to rest when the temperatures are high.
You can't hydrate your way out of heat illness because if you continue to do strenuous work you have exertional energy inside your body that's raising your body temperature. So even a California farm worker right now. Farm workers are often migrant they move from state to state with the seasons, and if it's already difficult for a farm worker to educate themselves on what their rights are at any given point, if they have to re educate themselves every time they cross state lines you know, that creates an additional burden.
you know, having a federal rule, even if it was not stronger than California's rule would make California [00:08:00] farmworkers safer because you'd have the resources, the education, the enforcement that comes with one federal standard. So last year, the Biden administration directed OSHA to enter into what we call advanced notice of public rulemaking, which basically gives everyone in the country a heads up, particularly employers.
That they are entering into creating a new rule. which is great. That was great. It's something we've been looking for, for decades. And working hard for and, you know, really, really you know, a key focus for our union. And that being said the, on average, creating a new OSHA rule takes about nine years.
It's a very laborious process. Sometimes it's faster, sometimes it's longer. I know, nine years. And when you think, you know, the level of urgency that we feel seeing these extreme heat waves pop up in places that are not used to them or even more dangerous, you know, 106 [00:09:00] degrees in a place that's usually 106 degrees is dangerous.
106 degrees in a place that is typically no warmer than 80 is extremely dangerous. The biggest risk factor of any farm worker is not their age, it's not their medical conditions. The biggest risk by, you know, to heat by any worker is their lack of acclimatization. Acclimatized means that worker is used to the work, they're used to how their body responds to it, and they're used to the conditions.
you know, a farm worker whose first day as a farm worker is not acclimatized. But a farm worker who's been a farm worker for 20 years, but all of a sudden it's 106 degrees. That worker is not acclimatized either. And these are the biggest risk factors that you see with heat illness and heat fatalities.
In fact, those fatalities, they occur at lower temperatures in areas that are not used to the heat. So you can see the, you know, the sort of chaotic heat waves that we're seeing as a result of climate change are, you know, [00:10:00] they're driving extreme urgency for us. So, when you think about nine years, And you think about how severe this issue is and how people are losing their lives.
Like it, it creates just a level of desperation.
[00:10:12] Angela: So just to clarify, this campaign is a national campaign to pass regulations at the federal level.
[00:10:21] Elizabeth: That's right.
[00:10:22] Angela: and you say it takes nine years. So where are we at in this timeline? is this campaign a new fight? Are we. Seeing the start of it
[00:10:32] Elizabeth: So we're about a, you know, we're about a year into the process at this point and we do see the political will. To move this along as efficiently as possible. I do see that there are a lot of very specific stringent steps that have to be taken in the rulemaking process. In order for the, the rule in the end to to hold up in court basically, and one of those things uh, that is very key is they, they have to [00:11:00] spend a reasonable amount of time taking comments from the public, taking comments from employers, taking comments from advocates, taking comments from workers, from medical professionals.
And you know, especially around the consultation of small businesses. So a small business owner is like such an important stakeholder in this conversation because of the way that the laws are written. So that small business owner step.
We're in the process of that now. It's very key. Once that step has been made, there is the ability to move more quickly. That being said, I don't right now see signs that are encouraging me to think that we're going to have this rule, a permanent rule in place by next summer. So then there is also an emergency temporary standards process.
And that is when there is an urgent risk to workers. And the agency can then issue an emergency temporary standard, an ETS which [00:12:00] certainly is an extraordinary step. The difficulty is right now in the United States, there is a very robust pushback from employers against any regulatory process.
And it has gotten, you know, somewhat toxic and for it even to stand up short term is, is, is a tremendous lift. And to be realistic, the you know, in this country having it in place for even a period of time can be very helpful. But realistically speaking, the last emergency temporary standard that basically survived to this day that was passed in the United States, the most recent ETS, I think was in 1976.
around benzene. So, the issuing of an ETS is not necessarily going to be robust enough to hold up against that. There are then legislative you know, remedies being explored. Senator Padilla. Has been very vocal and very [00:13:00] active on the Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act.
And this basically would provide a legislative path to relief in creating an interim you know, an interim set of requirements. Until the rulemaking, the permanent rulemaking process is finished. So these are, you know, these are a couple of options that we see. I do really desperately want that permanent heat rule. That permanent heat rule is the gold standard for us, that permanent heat rule that is robust, that will hold up and, you know, hopefully we see a meaningful level of you know, of a protective standard for workers not just outdoor workers, but indoor workers as well, and we do need to see that protection from ambient heat because as we are sort of trying to air condition our way out of these hazards that entirely leaves out the folks who are exposed to the heat outdoors in their work.
there is no possibility for our food [00:14:00] supply to be moved indoors. As well, you have to think about the laborers who are scrambling to install air conditioning in the attic spaces that are 150 degrees in Phoenix in order for the rest of us to live in climate controlled comfort. So, there are a lot of people right now that are on the front lines.
And they're really acting as human shields against the violence of climate change and what it has in store for us. And I think that there are a lot of people particularly in states like Texas and Florida that view those workers as expendable, that they are absolutely just the cost of doing business and they are perfectly fine to have you know, the workers who are overwhelmingly you know, black or brown, overwhelmingly likely to be immigrants and have a fragile documentation status.
Like, these are really vulnerable people that does not make them expendable because they are keeping the rest of us alive.
[00:14:59] Angela: right, right.[00:15:00] I'm hearing you talk and I just keep thinking about this year. It's not, year's not over, but the climate we've already seen
like we're used to hot, we're used to dry heat, And just thinking how quickly climates can change and noting how hot this year has been for not just California, for the whole nation. And even looking at the year prior, like we've had a few years of just really chaotic weather.
[00:15:28] Elizabeth: Yeah.
[00:15:29] Angela: And it's just getting more and more intense. So when you say like nine years, I'm. I'm terrified to think about nine years and what that could look like, what that could feel like I'm a little shocked that it takes that long. I understand the bureaucracy, but it's still quite mind boggling.
Like I said, I'm just like thinking like nine years, nine, nine years, like, okay, we definitely need to get this in place. But I want to go back for a second [00:16:00] to California. So we do have regulations, we do have protocols in place that are stronger than at the national level. But a farm worker here in California has recently died while working in extreme heat.
So I'm curious to know, how did that happen in a state that has protections, regulations, and protocols? Like, were they followed? what does it actually look like in the fields,
[00:16:29] Elizabeth: So every time a worker is killed by heat, you have to ask yourself a handful of questions, particularly in a state that does have heat protection standards. when a worker is killed by heat, I look at that fatality and I think were the rules insufficient or was the employer non compliant? And if the employer was non compliant, what steps of enforcement should have been taken [00:17:00] to prevent that death? And so I think we're probably both talking about Elidio. He was 59 years old. He was working in Selma, which is just outside of Fresno. He experienced symptoms of heat illness while he was working. It was about a hundred degrees. He reported this to his supervisor, the supervisor instructed him to keep working. When he collapsed, he was not given emergency medical attention. He died there in the fields, he was harvesting tomatillo, and his supervisor then directed other workers to take his body. And leave it at the hospital in Selma, you know, the co workers and the supervisor were, you know, eventually contacted by investigators, which was weeks later which is also a violation of the law to, they had been directed to say [00:18:00] that he had not been working, that he, he collapsed in his home, which doesn't make sense.
And nobody's buying it, so here we have an employer who has violated just about every part of the heat protection standards that we do have in California. he was not encouraged or required by his employer as he should have been to take a rest break, a paid rest break with his whole body in the shade with plenty of cool drinking water.
He was not given the emergency treatment that he needed for the symptoms that he was experiencing. There are rules around what you have to do. You have to have a medical response plan. You have to provide emergency care. And the burden is on the employer to call 911. The burden is on the employer to have a full understanding of, because these aren't places that necessarily have an address, but they have to have a plan for how to communicate their location to emergency services.
They have to do that, and I guess some of the things that are most [00:19:00] shocking to people are that not only did they not provide him with you know, the attention that could have saved his life or call emergency services, they also failed to report his death. And that is obviously a workplace death.
that is incredibly unlawful to not report it. They never reported it. We had difficulty ourselves. I'm reporting it on behalf of the family. It took some time and some pressure and some publicity to have that report taken by the Fresno district field office. So you know, all of these points um, this is an employer that is clearly egregiously willing to violate the law.
And we have a saying, especially around heat, but it applies to many things. And the saying is, you know, translates basically to the laws on the books are not the same as the laws in the field. And so, you know, we need to have enforcement of the rules that we do have. We need to have employers feel the pressure [00:20:00] of people watching, of workers that are educated in the rights, of workers that are willing to report them.
The UFW and the UFW Foundation, we have a a hotline, a heat hotline that that farmworkers can call to you know, to report heat violations, to report fatalities, to ask questions. It can be anonymous. We can keep their information confidential, and we can then help work with them to report violations.
to CalOSHA all of these things in this, you know, in this scenario you know, the best the rules can do for us is hopefully help to hold an employer accountable once a fatality has taken place. But that's not prevention, you know.
[00:20:44] Angela: right. So, I'm curious to what this all tells you, like you see a lot. like violations are nothing new to the farmworker community. Whether it's farmworker housing, unpaid [00:21:00] wages. Disaster relief like the list goes on when it comes to both regulations, protocols and violations that happen.
So just in general, what does this tell you about the current landscape in terms of just kind of like everybody that needs to work together to make this right? We have the employers, the policy makers, the opinion of the general public. What does this tell you about where things are at?
[00:21:33] Elizabeth: Well, one question, you know, that first question, were the rules insufficient? that is a question that we can pretty quickly set aside because it's so obvious that this employer was non compliant. So that's at least one question we can set aside.
You know, because we don't have to think, they did everything right and the worker still died. how are the rules insufficient? In this case, they did everything wrong, basically. So you know, we don't have to have that sort of self reflection around the [00:22:00] rules.
For us, that's an issue of enforcement. and on our part, obviously we feel a tremendous urgency to do as much outreach to workers as possible so they know what their rights are. That being said there is actually a lot of data that is coming out since those heat protection rules came into place, you know, almost 20 years ago now in California, we actually have a pretty good body of data.
The easiest clinical way of tracking heat illness it's called AKI, Acute Kidney Injury. Even a single shift of strenuous labor outdoors is measurable in blood work with an acute kidney injury. More than 80 percent of people that work in those conditions will experience.
You know, at least some mild clinical signs that's measurable on blood work. So that's one of these ways that you can sort of timestamp and study. There was a big study UCLA and Stanford did a big study on using that as a measurement to track the incidence of of likely heat illness in [00:23:00] farmworkers.
And in California, that AKI rate dropped by a third. After those heat regulations came into place. So that, for us, is probably a better signal for us that these rules are helping. That they are making the work safer for farm workers in California. It shows, we can't really measure the compliance.
because even if we, you know, we do a big push, we have a new hotline. We're doing a bunch of outreach and the reports of violations go up. That doesn't mean the violations have gone up. That means the reports of violations have gone up. So looking at that sort of medical data is one way for us to indicate that the rule is at least helping.
Um, the extreme swings in temperature, both hot and cold, but specifically hot those extreme swings are increasing. So, you know, I, this is something where we don't have to look at the rule and say Iridio lost his life. He was killed by heat or a heat related incident.
The rule's not working. For us, we have to look at the bigger picture, [00:24:00] even as we are so, you know angry at the, at the failures that led to these deaths that are entirely preventable. And the other thing is, is we really don't have any kind of data. We don't have any idea how many people are working and killed by heat every year in this country.
We have no idea. And OSHA will be the first to admit it. They have indicated, well, the Bureau of Labor Statistics gives this number. But we know that that is a vast undercount. And they'll say it. You know, even OSHA says we have no idea how many people are killed by heat. Because heat deaths are usually, often, attributed to something else.
You know, a cardiac issue you know, things like that. And especially when the deaths go unreported because they're not. You know, a scrupulous employer you know, particularly then even just transporting the body in that air conditioned vehicle to dump it at the hospital that cools the body temperature.
And if they, if emergency responders had responded [00:25:00] to him in the field, they, they likely would have recorded his body temperatures being 106, 107. Um, And right there, you're going to be looking at hyperthermia, having transported them to a third location. Nobody has a clear idea of how much time elapsed.
You know, that's a way of hiding that death, but it's even, you don't even have to hide it on purpose. A farmworker starts to not feel good. Maybe they start to vomit. Maybe they faint and they're, they're a supervisor. Calls over their, you know, the person that they rode there with, maybe their son, maybe their brother, maybe their dad, and says, You gotta take them home.
They're sick. You have to take them home. And they go home, and that's where they die. And that is never recorded as related to work. It's never recorded as related to heat. So, even getting your mind around the idea that You know, that we have no idea how many people are being killed by heat. That being said, the data that we do have that is a vast undercount shows that in the United States the weather related condition that kills [00:26:00] the most people, the deadliest weather condition is heat.
It's not earthquakes, it's not floods, it's not hurricanes, it's not tornadoes, it's not cold, it's heat. People are killed by heat in this country because we don't have an equal application of protection. If people are poor, if they're living in areas like the Coachella Valley in California that have insufficient infrastructure where they can't keep the electricity on to the farmer communities if the, as long as there are people that are living in labor camps, in thermal where it's 120 degrees and they can't cool down even at night.
These are systemic flaws and we are leaving ourselves as a country super vulnerable to just, you know, this unchecked violence of heat against people that are the most vulnerable anyway.
[00:26:48] Angela: Right. So this is a very um, bleak conversation. It's a very bleak reality that's happening, even though California is, you know, one of the best places [00:27:00] to work. And we have so many labor protections and laws doesn't always translate in the fields. And as bleak as this conversation is, I kind of want to shift gears a little bit, not necessarily labor specific, but I want to take a moment to touch on, you know, the study stream of other states.
Sending migrants to California Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis has passed some of the strictest laws targeting undocumented people in his state and has recently took responsibility for sending migrants to Sacramento. We have Governor Abbott,, Texas, who is banning water breaks.
In Texas, which we know we know as a hot state. And I'm thinking about how, how you mentioned, you know, migrants, they migrate from state to state. They go with the crops. how are protections communicated to those working in the fields? [00:28:00] Especially those coming from other states, coming into California, coming out of California, who do they turn to?
Who can they trust if their employer isn't enforcing the laws?
[00:28:12] Elizabeth: In California part of the heat protection rules require a supervisor and employer to train both the workers and also have training for the supervisors on what the rules are, what the risks are, and you know, how to protect your, your body from heat.
That being said, that's probably one of the things that is that employers are, are the sloppiest with on compliance is that, that training and information part. Um, but that puts the responsibility where it belongs on the employer. But the reality is, you know, that's a correct responsibility for them.
But the reality is, is that, you know, in effect, workers are responsible. For you know, educating and protecting themselves. And certainly we have many parts of the country where workers might be housed in[00:29:00] you know, in Arizona, but they may be on a crew that works part of the time in California and part of the time in Arizona, and so.
You know, if you've crossed that arbitrary state line, you have to think about, like, it's just unreasonable. Right?
[00:29:13] Angela: It is unreasonable. I'm like, I barely know my rights
[00:29:17] Elizabeth: Right.
Exactly.
[00:29:18] Angela: as an employee and I work in California and I lived here my whole life.
[00:29:24] Elizabeth: Yeah. And so, you know, we have in in Arizona, California, we have uh, Radio Campesina, which is a Spanish language radio station that the same programming is aired at stations. you know, from Yuma, Arizona, right at the Mexican border, all the way up to Northern California, and as far as Las Vegas.
So a farm worker who is moving you know, from maybe uh, working in the winter in Yuma then they'll move up to Oxnard, then they'll move up to Salinas, and they have this sort of migrant path that is, you know, we have PSAs, we have you know, probably every hour there is [00:30:00] some level of information this time of year being given about heat protection.
In California and heat risks elsewhere. There's similar radio stations in the Yakima Valley and Washington State. You know, this is a radio station that now, you know, farm workers can listen to it streaming digitally anywhere you know, in the country. But you know, ultimately, each of these places, they're really looking to the community.
To have that support for them to help educate, you know, I would love to see I think every diocese that has farmworker communities in their church should be talking about it on Sunday. You know, these are things that I think if there are our social services. Like preschools you know, the migrant Head Start programs, all of these things.
I think we should be embedding this information for them, but this is, you know, the hazards are real. The hazards have, are not new, but the hazards are getting more extreme, especially in areas that had been lower risk before. So this is a daily conversation that we should be having. you know, [00:31:00] we, when we're talking to you know, folks like at a camp program, which is a college assistance for migrants.
Um, If you're talking to the college age children of farm workers, that's always a conversation you want to have because you know your mom and your dad, they know that if they go out today. And you know, and, and don't take proper precautions that they could die. But it's not just that, that risk of collapsing and dying on that day, they are shortening their lives by you know, the strain that's placed on your organs, on your kidneys, especially on your heart.
These are life shortening you know, risks. And so there's, it's a conversation that we should be having, you know, in our congregations, in our, in our classrooms, in our, you know, around the dinner table. And, you know, it is an, it is a more extreme risk for farm workers even compared to other workers who are similarly socially vulnerable, like day laborers and construction workers, because farm workers are paid by piece rate.
Which means that they're not paid by the [00:32:00] hour, they're paid by the bushel, or the pound, or the row, or the tree. Which means that they have a literal financial incentive to push their body beyond what it's meant to endure. And it will literally cost them, and they're already some of the poorest workers in the country, so it literally costs them money to pull off, to stay hydrated enough that they have to go to the bathroom, to, you know, sit down in the shade.
How much is that costing them, right? So, you know, it can't just be a water break, it has to be a paid rest break, this has to be something that's taken into consideration, there's the economic reality as well. So it's a very, nuanced conversation and we do need to have a federal standard that takes these things into consideration because ultimately the things are very simple.
They need cool water, they need rest, they need shade that covers their whole body, and they need information and, you know, access to emergency services. If they begin to get sick at work, I see people inventing cooling vests and like coming up with all of these ideas, but reality is, [00:33:00] is they need shade and rest, you know, and cool water to drink.
[00:33:03] Angela: So I'm wondering, based on where we are at now, what progress can be made and what needs to happen in order for that to come to fruition?
[00:33:16] Elizabeth: Here in California, I think one low lift uh, improvement that could be made, for example, Is if I'm driving and I see a farm worker you know, they're out harvesting and I see that there's no shade structure. I see that the bathrooms and the water stations are not close enough. I see the water's uncovered or empty.
In this imaginary scenario, I pull over, I get out of the car. I talked to some workers. I see that there's, you know, dangerous conditions, violations. I then have to figure out which of, about, you know, like, 22 different field district offices to call. And if they're in some agricultural sectors, like nurseries or greenhouses, things like that, I have to determine if that's actually not the district office that fits this specific high hazard zone office.
So that right [00:34:00] there... Even me, who, you know, it's my job to think about, you know, these protections. I have, you know, if I was in Washington State and pulled over, I would call Washington Labor and Industries. It's one phone number. And I would tell them what the problem is and they'll dispatch the right people.
Whereas, you know, here in California, you have you're like facing the sphinx here and you have to answer these questions three before you can figure out how to report a violation that is incredibly dangerous and incredibly likely to, you know, to maim or kill someone. And, you know, that, for instance, that's not that hard.
Let's make a central number for, you know, for farm workers, for example, maybe a central number for any heat related things and taking the consideration, the vulnerability of workers here. You know, and so, you know, that's one thing in California that isn't revolutionary, but it seems like it should be easier.
And it isn't always easy to educate folks who are migrant, who are transient, who are moving through a good portion of farm workers in California. They don't speak Spanish fluently. Because [00:35:00] and you know, it's not because they speak English. It's that Spanish might be their second language.
If they have any Spanish language at all, because they're actually speaking a minority indigenous language. And in a lot of cases, this is a language that is not written. It is an oral language. And so, you know, it's encouraging to me during the flooding in central California, I saw a number of different counties.
that were on social media with just audio recordings in Mixteco, right?
[00:35:24] Angela: Yeah, I saw that too. That was
[00:35:26] Elizabeth: about Mixtec, people thinking about Twi'ki, and, and thinking about these Indigenous languages, however they can, you know? Just, you know, using an audio voice note, and it wasn't polished. And that's great.
Like, figure it out. The tools that we have, if they don't work, adapt them. And I know that there's a lot of barriers there, but... You know, we shouldn't be creating additional barriers by requiring a worker to know exactly which district office is the jurisdiction that they're working.
[00:35:50] Angela: Right. So progress can happen. We have seen it for the last 60 years. You guys have done great work and [00:36:00] what can voters do now? What can California voters do now? Especially heading into the 2024 election. is there a one action that they can do?
[00:36:09] Elizabeth: So, you know, we frequently have specific steps to take. For us right now, we are, you know, certainly sending folks towards a petition asking for immediate and urgent action on creating the federal heat standard. You can sign up for our email list for things like that ufw dot org. We're on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok as well and those are all, all monitored if you send a message, but as well, that's a good place to learn about the petitions that we have moving you know, specifically right now around hate.
But you know, part of the urgency for us, and this is just reality, but part of the urgency for us is right now, we have a very worker friendly administration. And we do have people in the, you know high in the, in the Biden administration who are very [00:37:00] informed and do have that sort of appetite.
To really be proactive and make as much progress as possible for farm workers as quickly as possible. And, for us, we're a little haunted by the idea that if we have an administration change at the next election we are going to lose momentum on creating the heat standard and, and I, you know, it is, it is very crucial that, you know, that we retain an administration and expand our ability to move legislation in the House and in the Senate that, that keeps you know, workers lives.
A priority over, over, over profit. So for us, I mean, I hate, you know, nobody likes to be like, well, what's the important thing to do? Ah, you got to vote. Tell your parents to vote. Like, no, it's not, you know, it, that's not all of it, but it is incredibly
[00:37:50] Angela: But we heard it can take nine years and we can't, we can't afford to not vote. Cause heaven forbid something happens and that [00:38:00] nine years gets even extended knowing where we are right now.
[00:38:03] Elizabeth: Have that conversation with your peers. We know there's actually a generational. Tie that if, you know, I, I feel like if you're, if you, if you know, someone who is, who's about to get married or, or who's expecting a baby, you now have to talk to them. Like, are you registered to vote? Are you a frequent voter?
Because that unborn baby is more likely to vote generationally. Like like really just have like that awkward conversation. Like, are you registered to vote? And, and, and go ahead. I know there's a lot of people in this country right now that don't feel invited into the political process. Well, let's invite them, you know, let's, let's make sure that we're creating those sort of you know, those generational connections into, into the way the process works.
[00:38:47] Angela: Yes. Yes. I absolutely. So I want to thank you, Elizabeth, for joining me today. And this has been an amazing conversation. So thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us. And as a [00:39:00] reminder, you can connect with Courage California using CourageCA or emailing us at info at CourageCalifornia. org. And I would personally like to invite you to vote.