California farmworkers say they were fired for leaving jobs in heat. Could a bill prevent that?

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — Earlier this summer, Erika Deluque began to feel weak while working in a Dixon tomato field in triple-digit heat. Her headache grew stronger, her body involuntarily shivered and she felt like vomiting.

“I felt so suffocated, so desperate,” recalled Deluque, 32.

Nearby co-workers noticed Deluque and suggested she go home. Still Deluque, a recent immigrant from Colombia, felt hesitant. She feared losing her job.

To convince her, a group of five farmworkers offered to go home with her in solidarity. The workers and Deluque said they got permission from their supervisor to go home early that June 6 as an excessive heat warning continued.

When they returned the following day, the entire group was told there was no more work for them and received their final paychecks.

“Truthfully, if I had known they were going to fire me, I probably wouldn’t have left, even if I felt so bad,” Deluque said.

Conrado Ruiz, the owner of the contractor that employed the workers, declined to comment on the allegations.

While Cal-OSHA and the California Labor Commissioner’s Office investigate the incident as a retaliatory firing, the six farmworkers have become the face for new legislation intended to prevent similar situations.

On Monday, Deluque and the other workers recalled their experiences at a press conference outside the Capitol for Senate Bill 1299. The legislation, authored by Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, would make workers’ compensation claims for farmworkers presumed work-related when agricultural employers are not complying with heat safety standards.

Agricultural workers are 35 times more likely to die from heat-related stress than workers in other industries, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Cortese and advocates say the bill is designed to promote employer compliance with added financial pressure and circumvent Cal-OSHA understaffing. Agricultural employers are already required to provide shade, hydration access, rest breaks and heat illness prevention training, per a 2005 California law.

But all too often, Cortese said, employers fail to comply. One in six farmworkers reported not receiving the minimum number of rest breaks, according to a 2022 study from the UC Merced Community and Labor Center.

“The laws are fine,” Cortese said. “They’ve been on the books for 19 years. We just want them enforced, and we’re going to insist on them being enforced.”

Jorge Santana, one of the now-called “Yolo Six” farmworkers, said he called Cal-OSHA repeatedly to report concerns about heat safety the day the workers were let go. Santana, 61, didn’t hear back from an inspector until three weeks later.

SB 1299 would prevent more of these unfortunate situations and help farmworkers across the state, Santana said. He encouraged state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to pass the legislation.

“Do your jobs (because) tomorrow and the day after, I will be doing my job,” Santana said. “So please do your job.”

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