Grape-picker's death leads to UFW call for more relief from heat

[Kadie]

Grape-picker's death leads to UFW call for more relief from heat

JULIANA BARBASSA, Associated Press Writer
Monday, August 2, 2004


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(08-02) 14:28 PDT BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) --

A grape picker died after working 10 hours in a field outside Bakersfield in triple-digit heat. Now his son and union representatives are appealing to companies to take the commonsense measures that could have saved his life.

"There isn't much I can do now, but I don't want other workers to go through what I'm going through now," said Luis Angel Valdivia, who watched his 53-year-old father, Asuncion Valdivia, faint among the grape vines, and eventually die in his car, as he sped toward the hospital seeking medical help.

California's grape harvest happens in the middle of summer, when temperatures in the state's fertile Central Valley often soar past 100, and lead to frequent complaints of dizziness and nausea among workers_ the symptoms of heat stroke, said Arturo Rodriguez, the president of the United Farm Workers.

"There is not a whole lot we can do, except put pressure on the growers to give them what they need to take care of their bodies," said Rodriguez. "They just need to use commonsense. If it's 100 degrees out, workers need more breaks, and more water, than the minimum required."

The state's Division of Occupational Health and Safety requires employers to give workers two ten-minute breaks in one day, plus a half-hour lunch. Cool water should also be provided for the workers.

more....
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/08/02/state1728EDT7546.DTL



and to contrast, take a look at this story....



USDA: Price No Reason To Avoid Produce
Fresh Produce Usually Costs Less

POSTED: 2:19 pm EDT August 2, 2004
UPDATED: 2:40 pm EDT August 2, 2004

CONCORD, N.H. -- There goes another excuse for not eating more vegetables.

A government study found that though many people say cost prevents them from eating more produce, consumers can get the recommended three servings of fruits and four servings of vegetables daily for just 64 cents.

That would account for 12 percent of daily food spending per person, which averaged $5.50 in 1999.

"That's a lot of good nutrition for only 64 cents, only 225 calories and less than 1 gram of fat," said the study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "That leaves 88 percent of their food dollar left for the other three food groups."

more...
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/money/3606425/detail.html

[lostnfound]

1. Houston garbage collector died after left in cab for 3 hrs, unconscious

A couple of weeks ago, there was an http://www.chron.com/content/archive/ysearch.mpl?operation=getdoc&database=2004%3B2003%3B2002%3B2001%3B2000%3B1999%3B1998%3B1997%3B1996%3B1995%3B1994%3B1993%3B1992%3B1991%3B1990%3B1989%3B1988%3B1987%3B1986%3B1985%3B&databases=2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B2004%3B&docid=54072&docids=54072%3B54017%3B53989%3B52869%3B51909%3B51433%3B51052%3B51037%3B50988%3B50758%3B50503%3B50422%3B49533%3B49095%3B49043%3B48591%3B48235%3B46878%3B46817%3B46654%3B&query=died+heat+and+20040701<%3DDATE<%3D20040801+NOT+3:RSEC&pos=7&numhits=25&start=&type=&user=houston&sview=1&hview=2&dview=1">article in the Houston Chronicle about a 22-year old trash collector who died on his second day on the job. His supervisor -- contacted by phone at 1:30 pm -- told coworkers to let him 'rest in the cab' of the truck. At 4:30 pm they finally called paramedics who found him with a 109 degree temperature.

Trash collector's heat death probed / Victim's family says employer's response was too little, too late

By LEIGH HOPPER
Staff

<snip>

The family of Theon L. Harrison says Republic Waste Services' response to the emergency was slow and inappropriate. Harrison was placed, they say, unconscious, in a non-air-conditioned garbage truck cab even though a heat stroke victim should be moved to a cool, shaded area to rest. Although emergency treatment is paramount, paramedics were not called until a company supervisor arrived on the scene, hours after Harrison first reported symptoms, the family said.

<snip>

The day after Theon Harrison died, water coolers were distributed to all the workers at the beginning of the day. About a month later, the company - which paid for Harrison's funeral, the family said - held a training session about heat stress.

<snip>
The family was told the driver attempted to find help at a fire station located near Hopper Road and Bentley, only to find the station closed. (A number of Houston's fire stations are closed for renovation or permanently shuttered, said Houston Fire Department EMS medical director David Persse.)

<snip>

"What was he telling you, that you didn't respond to sooner?" Blow wants to ask her son's co-workers. She said she keeps thinking how close he was to her north Houston home as precious minutes ticked by. She doesn't know why her son's co-workers didn't take him inside a nearby store, or drive him to a nearby hospital.

[lostnfound]

2. Just another example of callous disregard for human life.

I would bet you $10 that cost-cutting has something to do with this, whether in training, or in failing to provide water coolers.

[tlcandie]

4. Firehouse shuttered permanently OR closed for renovations..

If shuttered permanently is our government at fault for not providing necessary funding?

May be a far stretch, but it certainly is proof of the cuts that firemen and all our emergency support people are suffering from.. now we suffer!

EDIT: this was suppose to be reply to the original.. my bad !!!

[lostnfound]

5. No, not a far stretch -- I think you are exactly right. nt

[GCP]

3. Bring back unions

Fuck, these are such sad stories, I'm ready to :puke: because of stuff like this. Where's OSHA when you need them? Prolly decimated by the trolls in the WH.

[struggle4progress]

6. Absolutely. eom

[Piperay]

7. They need more than two

10 minutes breaks a day when they work for 10 HOURS a day and make so little money! :argh: :mad: