Three California farm workers died in the last month while working in a stifling heat wave that reached triple digits for several days in a row. Juan Ochoa died while checking irrigation equipment on Etchegaray Farms in the San Joaquin Valley. The farm was briefly shut down when state officials found that the farm was not complying with heat-stress laws, but is now back open. California passed progressive laws to prevent heat illness in the fields. Why do farm laborers continue dying? What needs to happen to ensure no more deaths under the California sun?
Guests: Alejandro Ochoa, Farm worker and brother of Juan Ochoa, Delano, CA; Erika Monterroza, Spokesperson, Cal-OSHA, Oakland, CA, www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/; Erika Oropeza, Vice President, United Farm Workers (UFW), Madera, CA, www.ufw.org
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