A California bill that would make it easier for farmworkers to get compensation for heat-related injuries, illnesses, or deaths is moving forward in the state Legislature.
The state Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday, Aug. 15, endorsed the bill on a 11-3 vote. Now, it will head to the Assembly Floor for an upcoming vote.
This bill would establish that an agricultural worker’s heat-related injury arose out of, and came in the course of the job, if the employer fails to comply with heat-illness prevention standards.
It would also create the Farmworker Climate Change Heat Injury and Death Fund to pay costs related to administering the worker compensation claims. It would consist of a one-time $5 million transfer from non-general funds of the Workers’ Compensation Administration Revolving Fund.
“As climate change continues to break heat records across California, farm workers need a rapid response for heat-related injuries and illnesses. Their families need support when faced with the worst kind of heat-related tragedy — the death of a loved one and breadwinner,” said state Sen. Dave Cortese, who authored the bill, in a statement.
“By ensuring timely compensation and medical treatment in times of need, we create a safer environment for our farming workforce,” Cortese said.
The bill does not create any additional workers’ compensation benefit level beyond what is already available.
This piece of legislation comes as frontline workers launched Heat Week by taking part in marches and demonstrations to shed light on workplace heat exposure across the country.
Lourdes Cardenas, a member of the United Farm Workers, talked to reporters earlier this week about the hardships she and others endure by working the fields in California. She’s a farmworker in Fresno, where she said temperatures are reaching 105 degrees.
“Every year the heat gets stronger,” Cardenas said, adding that she’s experienced unbearable heat conditions at farms that are not under a United Farm Workers contract.
“I had experienced heat stress. I’ve felt dizzy, dehydrated and wanting to vomit. I’ve experienced the water being very far away, where we cannot reach it. I’ve experienced working where they do not provide us with enough shade, or they provide it too far away, or they do not provide us with any shade,” Cardenas added.
“For me, I know that a job is not worth my life. I know that my health does not matter to the boss. I have to take care of it. We workers have to take care of each other,” Cardenas added.
The bill is sponsored by the United Farm Workers, with support from other labor organizations and agricultural community groups. It’s opposed by a coalition of business groups led by the California Chamber of Commerce.
