LAT: Gov. Schwarzenegger's Rules to Protect Workers from Intense Heat

[DeepModem Mom]

Governor's Rules to Protect Workers From Intense Heat
By Robert Sallday and Nancy Vogel, Times Staff Writers


SACRAMENTO -- Standing with the family of a farmworker killed by heatstroke in a Central Valley field, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced that his administration would issue emergency orders requiring rest breaks and shade for laborers in the piercing valley heat.

The regulations mark the first significant rules protecting California farmworkers, construction crews, roofers, landscapers and others from heat-related illness and death.

Supporters said the new rules were stronger than those in consistently hotter states such as Texas and Arizona, and marked the most significant breakthrough on an issue that has divided California's agricultural industry, the United Farm Workers union, Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike.

"This summer, four workers in our state have suffered extreme heat stress and died," Schwarzenegger said. "We need to do everything it takes to prevent this from happening again."

Schwarzenegger — whose wife is the niece of Robert Kennedy, an iconic figure for farmworkers for embracing their cause in the 1960s — announced the regulations at a press conference attended by the cousin and uncle of Constantino Cruz, a 24-year-old laborer....On July 21, Cruz collapsed in a tomato field near Shafter in 100-plus degree heat, after an end-of-the-day "speed-up" sorting tomatoes from the dirt and vines. Cruz seemed to recover, then slipped into a coma and stayed on life support for several days. He died Sunday....


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-080205heat_lat,0,7062850.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. And he'll get the credit for this when the Dems forced him into it

[Oerdin]

4. You are so right.

I just can't agree with you enough. There are so many conservative religious Republicans who demand that welfare be abolished and that the poor "get jobs" (as if it was that easy). These people claim to be Christians yet they break about half of the eight Beatitude which Jesus spoke about during his sermon upon the mount. How these people can say they're Christians while not following the teachings of Jesus I don't know.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02371a.htm

I agree with the position Bill Clinton took on Welfare reform. It should be temporary help and the goal should be to help people get back on their own two feet and become self sufficient again but Newt Gingrich and his friends wanted to abolish public assistance and that's just immoral.

[Oerdin]

2. This is good news.

Does it really matter who motivated the legislation just as long as workers get protected? I'd sware that some of you are so partisan that it seems you would prefer the workers not get additional protection then to see the other side get any credit. The truth is we need a lot more worker protections and we're not going to get them if we don't work with the moderates in the Republican Party. Sure, the right wing extremists are shit bags and we should work hard to expose them as such. We should also stake out strong positions and argue them loudly and publicly, but, even while doing so we're still going to have to reach out to the moderates on the other side if we want to get things done. Protecting workers is worth swallowing our pride occasionally and doing what it takes to get those new protections.

[matcom]

3. you are right

but you really think THIS can/will be adhered to? :eyes:

yes. there will now be a Government Official on every farm, in every field.

after 30 whole posts you sure to know us pretty well

[Oerdin]

5. I've been lurking

I tend not to post to much and instead lurk. I have been lurking for a long time; I will mostly continue to lurk.

Back on topic there doesn't need to be a government official on every farm just as there isn't to enforce other worker safety laws, the minimium wage, and the sales tax. Most people are law abiding and if law enforcement catches enough offenders who are publically punished for breaking this law then the law will be respected by and large. This is especially true if activists help educate farm workers about their rights.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

7. Sorry, my friend, but I am in labor law and you are incorrect

So far in this state I have seen:

A republican supreme court rule that an employer is not at fault BEYOND workers compensation coverage when they negligently service (or don't service) a vehicle that results in a worker's death

I have seen the legislature (written by republicans) pass a law that considers someone in a persistent vegitative state to only be 90% disabled (would YOU hire them?)

I have seen laborers collapse for YEARS from heat exhaustion only to have the insurance carrier hold up settlements claiming some pre-existing condition caused it

I have seen farm laborers with serious pulmonary and central nervous system disabilities due to being sprayed by crop dusters

I have seen workers not get paid because farmers yelled out "INS" in the fields on payday

You give them far too much credit

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. With all due respect, Arnold used his popularity to browbeat Dems

into going along with the most draconian workers comp legislation to EVER get passed in this state...therefore, when he appears all compassionate when a migrant worker dies (with me FULLY KNOWING THAT IF THE GUY LIVED HIS INDEMNITY for that injury would have been severely reduced) forgive me if I puke when the motherfucker accidentally does the right thing to score latino points...Republicans have ALWAYS been the enemy of labor..he did them no great favors today

[XemaSab]

8. Yay! No more walking transects at

R---- Ranch!

Oh, wait, that job's done...

Thank god these people get some recognition and protection, even if it's only on paper.

[Judi Lynn]

9. State seeks to halt farmworker deaths

SACRAMENTO
State seeks to halt farmworker deaths
New rules on breaks after 5 lose their lives in heat of summer
Mark Martin, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Wednesday, August 3, 2005

Sacramento -- Responding to a string of farmworker deaths in the sun-baked Central Valley, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger introduced new regulations Tuesday allowing employees to demand breaks.

Schwarzenegger hailed the new rules, which have support from both the United Farm Workers and groups representing agribusiness, as the toughest heat- related workplace regulations in the country. Employers who don't comply would face fines or even possible misdemeanor criminal charges.

The announcement comes amid a brutal year for farmworkers. Five have died from heat-related illness this summer; one 24-year-old died Sunday after 10 days in the hospital. Constantino Cruz had collapsed in a Kern County tomato field after a nine-hour shift in 100-degree temperatures.

"This is a tragedy ... and we need to do everything it takes to prevent this from happening again," Schwarzenegger said at a news conference in the Capitol that included relatives of Constantino and of a farmworker who died last year.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/08/03/BAGD7E1R6I1.DTL

(Maybe he's losing his grip. This doesn't sound as Republican as it should!)