Flashback: A 10-Year-Old Boy’s Days in the Fields
Raymond Rodríguez

I was saddened by the news that three more farmworkers had collapsed and died after being forced to work in the relentless, scorching sun that sears California’s Central Valley during the summer months.

One of the workers died because he was not provided any protection from the sun. The employer felt that it was unnecessary because the grapevines provided some shade. Livestock in the valley receive better care than farmworkers.

It angered me to realize how little the harsh working conditions had changed since I labored in the fields more than 60 years ago!

Fatherless at age 10 in the midst of the Great Depression, I had no choice but to seek work in the farms on the outskirts of Long Beach. The 10-hour workday started at 7. I limited myself to a 3-mile radius, because it took me an hour to walk that far. Once I got a bike, I accepted jobs farther away.

Based on my experiences, I don't recommend farm labor as a way to earn a living or grow up. Conditions were extremely primitive. I never worked on a farm or ranch that provided toilet facilities. When nature called, men, women and children disappeared into the convenient brush and took care of their needs.

During hot weather, drinking water was a problem. On ranches engaged in dry farming, you carried a gallon jug of water. To keep it cool, you wrapped it in a wet gunny sack and hid it under a shady bush. On vegetable farms you drank from the irrigation ditches. Veteran workers advised you not to guzzle too much water because it could make you sick.

Some of them relied on chewing tobacco or chomping on a cigar to keep the saliva flowing and cut down on their need for water.

I worked for Mexican, Belgium, Chinese and Japanese farmers.

The Asians were very strict. We were not allowed to talk while working. My godfather was fired for talking. He had the audacity to reply that he was working with his hands and not his mouth.

On one occasion when I finished a row I was weeding with the infamous short-handled hoe, I sat down to rest for a few minutes while my coworkers caught up with me. The foreman fired me for sitting down.

Crops were sprayed with pesticides on days when there was little or no wind. No type of protective gear was ever issued, and we were never told what chemicals the pesticides contained or if they were harmful to our health. By the end of the day, my clothes would be soaking wet from the spray.

The only thing I hated worse was picking strawberries. They were irrigated at night, and in the morning you had to drag yourself down the cold, muddy rows. Not surprisingly, older workers suffered from numerous arthritic illnesses.

The crops were more important than the welfare of the workers. You could always get more cheap Mexican labor.

Today the problem is exacerbated because an estimated 80 percent of all farmworkers are undocumented. Employers know they have little to fear from lawsuits, strikes or any protests. Even the United Farm Workers Union is seldom in a position to mount an effective protest or boycott.

Due to the power of the growers associations, attempts to monitor working conditions have been steadily weakened.

After 15 years of delays, a bill was introduced in the California Assembly this summer authorizing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to take emergency action to prevent more deaths. Even though every Republican voted against it, the bill passed. If approved by the Senate and signed by the governor, it may still take months to implement.

The safeguards it provides are minimal. For example, the provision to furnish shade for the workers will go into effect only when temperatures exceed 95 degrees.

As a nation, we remain a cruel paradox. We formally honor the lifelong sacrifice of César Chávez but ration our obscene wealth on a compassion scale that excludes those who toil in scalding heat to feed us.

(Raymond Rodríguez, of Long Beach, Calif., is a retired university professor. He may be contacted by email at rayrodriguez@earthlink.com)

© 2005, Hispanic Link News Service
08/28/05
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