Hot, hot, hot: Stories on heat-safety:

• More farm deaths in heat despite CA crackdown (AP)

• California Department of Labor shuts down labor contractor for heat-safety violations.

• New documentary about heat safety intended to spur California government into action (LA Times)
  

• Risks to workers rise with temperatures: Gross negligence on the part of field supervisors, lack of worker education efforts to blame, says Cal-OSHA chief (Sacramento Bee)
  

• Despite enforcement push, California agencies still lax when farmworkers die (LA Times)

Wooden shacks, raw sewage, mold infestations, broken windows... scene from 18th century England?  21st century "third world"?  Nope.  Try Oxnard, California, bordered by large-scale farms, agricultural packing houses and the Pacific Coast Highway.  California Rural Legal Assistance is representing a family who lives there.  The county has notified the owners of a host of alleged code violations and plans to refer the matter to the District Attorney's Office for criminal investigation and potential prosecution.

Also, here's an interesting bit of trivia.  According to that new survey in Washington state, indigenous Central Americans are increasingly filling ranks of U.S. farmworkers.  We're already on it.  Farmworker Justice has done trainings in pesticide safety for workers who speak Mixteco, Triqui and Maya Quiché.

More news about the agricultural labor crisis: Farmers in NY fear labor shortage threatens crops.

And finally, if you haven't already seen it, Owen Thompson has a sharp review of the film American Harvest.

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