The path now appears clear for new affordable housing for farmworkers in Half Moon Bay, more than a year after the community was rocked by a deadly mass shooting at two mushroom farms. The City Council on Wednesday night in a unanimous vote approved a 40-unit project consisting of studio and two-bedroom apartments. The plan […]
Two Pasco companies will pay $470,000 to resolve a lawsuit alleging multiple rapes and sexual harassment of their female farmworkers by a supervisor. The companies, Greenridge Farms and Baker Produce, retaliated against the women who spoke up, including a woman who reported to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office that she had been raped multiple times, […]
GAINESVILLE — After a violent crash killed eight of their colleagues and injured dozens more, the path to recovery for the migrant farmworkers looked long. Rigoberto Gregorio shattered his femur, leaving the 30-year-old in a wheelchair and unable to bathe himself. Ramón Pérez Ponce endured ongoing and radiating pain, prompting the 39-year-old to dial 911 […]
The driver of a truck that slammed into a bus carrying farmworkers, killing eight people, was in another crash just three days earlier and taken a cocktail of drugs the day before, court records revealed on Wednesday. Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, was ordered held without bail a little more than 24 hours after the crash […]
At least eight people were killed and eight more were critically injured when a bus carrying dozens of workers on their way to a farm crashed and overturned in Florida on Tuesday morning, authorities said. The bus was traveling west on State Route 40 on its way to a watermelon farm and was carrying 53 […]
SAN DIEGO (AP) — One of California’s most influential agricultural companies filed a lawsuit Monday against the state to stop a contentious law to help farmworkers unionize that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom reluctantly signed two years ago after pressure from the White House. The action by the Wonderful Co. comes as it battles the United […]
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — Temporary farmworkers will have more legal protections against employer retaliation, unsafe working conditions, illegal recruitment practices and other abuses under a Labor Department rule announced Friday. Each year about 300,000 immigrants, mostly from Mexico, take seasonal jobs on U.S. farms. The new rule, which takes effect June 28, will target […]
Apr. 23—Gov. Janet Mills vetoed three bills on Tuesday, including measures that would have set a minimum wage for farmworkers in Maine and allow them to engage in certain labor-related activity. She also rejected a bill that would have required the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill to treat water discharge so that it does not exceed […]
Apr. 10—AUGUSTA — The Maine Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday in support of a bill to establish a minimum wage for farmworkers and provide them with cost-of-living increases that other workers are eligible for. Another round of votes is needed in the Senate and House of Representatives, but the bill appears to be on track to […]
Apr. 9—AUGUSTA — The Maine House of Representatives voted 72-70 Tuesday to pass a bill establishing a minimum wage for farmworkers and providing them with cost-of-living increases that other workers are eligible for. “Farmworkers give us life. They give us food,” said Rep. Nina Milliken, D-Blue Hill. “We have an obligation to support them in […]
Seeking relief from South Florida’s soaring heat, outdoor workers in South Florida appealed to politicians in Miami-Dade and Tallahassee for help. They got none. A Miami-Dade measure intended to ensure basic protections like water and breaks wound up derailed by construction and agriculture lobbyists. Florida lawmakers then doubled down on the denial, this week approving […]
When Lucy Rodríguez heard about the bankruptcy of Prima Wawona, one of the largest producers and packers of tree fruit in California, her concern was not so much for herself but for all the seasonal workers in the fields and the packing houses, since many of them were counting on May to return to work […]