KQED: California Farmworkers Call For More Employers to Comply with Heat-Illness Prevention

California farmworkers who say they’ve faced dangerously hot worksites spoke Monday in support of a bill that seeks to protect them from extreme heat.

The proposed legislation, SB 1299, would make it easier for agricultural laborers to win workers’ compensation claims for heat-related illnesses or deaths. Opponents of the bill, which faces a legislative deadline this week, said it could lead to unfair costs for employers even if they comply with existing worker protections. But supporters hope it will save lives by boosting compliance.

Many farmworkers are low-wage immigrants who are reluctant to complain to state authorities about problems at their worksites because they fear losing their jobs. Erika Barros, who experienced heat stroke symptoms in June while picking tomatoes on a day when the temperature surpassed triple digits, didn’t know she had the right to rest breaks in the shade.

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