Davis Vanguard: Senator Cortese Joins Yolo Six Farmworkers in Calling for Greater Compliance with Heat Illness and Injury Regulations

Last week, CalMatters reported on six Yolo County farmworkers who claim that they were fired for leaving their jobs during a June heatwave.

As reported by CalMatters, one of the farm workers working in a tomato field near Dixon on June 5, explained that the high the first day was between 99 and 107.  She already got a headache during the work and the next day was even hotter.

The 40-year-old farmworker told CalMatters, “the more it started to go back to my head, and I started to feel like vomiting.”

Seeing other workers feeling ill, she and five coworkers got their foreperson’s permission to leave early on June 6 – during one of first heat waves this year.

When they showed up the next day – they were given their last checks.  Two state agencies are investigating the incident as a retaliatory firing.

On Monday, Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) and United Farm Workers (UFW) held a press conference regarding legislative efforts to save farmworkers’ lives during extreme heat waves by ensuring agricultural employer compliance with existing heat prevention injury and illness laws and regulations.

Click here to read the entire article. https://davisvanguard.org/2024/08/senator-cortese-joins-yolo-six-farmworkers-in-calling-for-greater-compliance-with-heat-illness-and-injury-regulations/