In what some consider nothing more than a media stunt, area farmworkers and advocates from North County gathered by the dozens in front of the Joseph Centeno Administrative Building in Santa Maria on the morning of Jan. 27 to present a Farmworker Bill of Rights, a basic list of demands that protect employees from poor working conditions and prevent wage theft.
With members of the news media in attendance, the press conference included testimonies from several farmworkers as well as speeches by advocates, including a man by the name of Caesar Chavez (his real name) from the United Domestic Worker’s (UDW) office in Santa Maria.
A similar press conference was held in Ventura County on the same day.
Several farmworkers, who spoke through translators and didn’t give their last names, said the hours are long and they aren’t paid well enough—sometimes not at all.
“I’ve been working in the fields for 25 years,” said Maria, a farmworker who spoke through an interpreter. “We work long hours, from when the sun comes up until it goes down, yet we don’t make enough to be able to provide everything we would like to our families.
“We are treated very badly,” she continued. “I don’t know if the higher-ups know what’s going on.”
Another worker by the name of Juana, said that bathrooms aren’t cleaned and maintained properly, lacking basic supplies such as toilet paper.
During his speech, Chavez said that labor is in such demand that at least 50 percent of workers aren’t allowed time off for any reason, including being sick, illnesses, family emergencies, pregnancy, or for vacations.
He also said that pregnant female farmworkers are often exposed to pesticides.
The bill of rights includes specific measures such as creating an anonymous tip line and unpaid leave for pregnant workers, as well as hiring more investigators to ensure compliance with wage and hour laws.
“We are asking the Board of Supervisors to take a leadership position and to address these issues that are happening out in the fields and to act today,” Chavez said.
Fourth District Supervisor Peter Adam, a fourth-generation farmer, wasn’t able to comment directly to the Sun despite several attempts to reach him by phone and email. Through his chief of staff Bob Nelson, Adam said that the protections are already such that farmers can’t afford to mistreat workers because there is a heavy demand for labor.
“The farmers have way too much for them to lose,” Nelson told the Sun, adding that many workers are paid as much as $12 per hour and are competing for labor.
He cited a 2014 Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner figure that states there is a 20 to 25 percent labor shortage in farm work in the county.
Nelson said Adam is unlikely to address the specific concerns at a supervisors meeting any time soon.
Andy Caldwell, radio talk show host and executive director for the nonprofit Coalition of Labor, Agriculture, and Business, chalks up the press conference as nothing more than political activism from organizations that are trying to justify their existences.
“They are trying to create an impetus to make people think they are relevant,” Caldwell told the Sun.
Caldwell was quick to reinforce the idea that it’s not likely farm owners would mistreat workers.
“All anyone would have to do is refer any complainant to legal authorities and they’d be quick to pounce because this is heavily regulated,” Caldwell said, “There is an incredible farmworker labor shortage on Central Coast. Nobody’s treating their workers like dirt.”
However, Hazel Davalos, organizing director for the Central Coast Alliance United for A Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) said many undocumented workers fill the vacant positions and are more vulnerable to mistreatment.
Going further, Caldwell questioned the authority of many of the CAUSE board members, calling them “lily white progressive elitists who have never worked a day of their life on a farm.”
The press conference was a coalition between CAUSE, La Hermandad, members of Catholic Worker in Guadalupe, the UDW, and the United Food and Commercial Workers
This article appears in Feb 4-11, 2016.
