Friday, April 15, 2022
CapitalPress.com 9
Study: Farmworkers accuse OSHA of shortcomings on COVID
By LYNNE TERRY Oregon Capital
Chronicle
SALEM — The past
two years have been diffi-
cult for everyone, but some
87,000 farmworkers in Ore-
gon have faced some of the
worst hardships, with state
officials sometimes failing
to protect them, according
to a report published April 5.
The COVID-19 Farm-
worker Study involved
in-depth interviews with 48
farmworkers from 11 coun-
ties statewide, from Mar-
ion to Malheur to Jackson
counties. Researchers found
that while enduring grueling
work to get food on Oregon
tables, farmworkers often
were not provided masks
to protect them from get-
ting COVID. The report said
they often were not prop-
erly informed in their native
languages about COVID
or where to get vaccinated,
didn’t have break areas and
had to eat in their vehicles.
Inspectors from the Ore-
gon Occupational Safety
and Health Administration
showed up at workplaces
but turned a blind eye to ille-
gal conditions, the report
said.
“Workers know that Ore-
gon OSHA is supposed to
enforce the rules, but rarely
does this happen,” the report
said. “Not all agricultural
and food industry employers
practice or enforce masking
and distancing, even though
it is prescribed by law and
workers prefer it.”
An OSHA spokesman
denied in an email that the
agency was lax in enforcing
rules, saying it has a history
of protecting farmworkers.
According to some esti-
mates, Oregon has the fifth
largest farmworker popu-
lation in the country, right
after Washington state. Cal-
ifornia is first.
The report, which was
funded by the Meyer Memo-
rial Trust in Portland, comes
two months after emo-
tional hearings during the
legislative session over a
farmworker overtime bill.
Despite strong agricul-
tural industry opposition,
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
A farmworker on an organic farm. Farmworkers who were interviewed in a new study
said OSHA had shortcomings. The agency denies it.
it passed on partisan lines,
and is awaiting Gov. Kate
Brown’s signature. The bill
will phase in 40-hour a week
overtime pay starting next
year.
The interviews with the
farmworkers, who were 25
to 65 years old, were con-
ducted between February
2021 through July 2021,
including during the sum-
mer’s heat dome when one
farmworker died, the report
said.
Ron Mize, professor of
ethnic studies and women,
gender, and sexuality stud-
ies at Oregon State Univer-
sity, worked on the study
with researchers from Port-
land State University and
the University of Oregon.
Mize said the workers knew
that OSHA was supposed to
enforce the rules and were
confused when it didn’t.
“They really struggled
with OSHA,” Mize told the
Capital Chronicle. “They
never really felt like they
got clear guidance on the
rules and the very few times
in which they saw inspec-
tors, they were often con-
fused because (the inspec-
tors) said there was nothing
wrong and they felt they
were in close proximity to
one another and there were a
lot of issues with social dis-
tancing that they could not
control.”
Agency officials said that
wasn’t so.
“It’s really important
to understand that Oregon
OSHA was one of only a few
states in the nation to adopt
specific COVID-19 rules
to reduce the risk in work-
places, and that includes a
specific rule addressing the
risks in agriculture labor
housing,” according to an
email from Aaron Corvin,
OSHA spokesman. “We
have extended and updated
such protections over time
and as the pandemic and
public health guidance have
evolved. They have included
provisions addressing facial
coverings, physical distanc-
ing, and regular sanitation.”
He added: “We regularly
engage with stakeholders,
and produce and dissemi-
nate educational resources
and communications serv-
ing vulnerable workers in
multiple languages, includ-
ing in high-hazard indus-
tries. Our rulemaking pro-
cesses – including for our
heat and wildfire smoke rule
projects – have included
worker listening sessions.”
He said OSHA has bilin-
gual staff and uses language
services to speak to workers.
“Oregon OSHA has a
long-running focus on serv-
ing agricultural and other
vulnerable worker popula-
tions as part of our safety
emphasis programs,” Cor-
vin wrote.
Data provided to the Cap-
ital Chronicle showed that
OSHA issued 22 COVID-re-
lated citations to agricultural
companies between March
2020 and March 2023. The
agency concluded that none
of the violations were will-
ful, a finding which can lead
to thousands of dollars in
fines.
The highest fine for an
agricultural company was
$600 to a farm for not fol-
lowing physical distancing
rules, among other things.
Some agricultural compa-
nies cited by OSHA were
not fined.
‘They do not follow the
rules’
Many
farmworkers
told researchers that their
employers ignored COVID
rules.
“They do not follow
the rules, 6 feet apart as it
should be,” said a 49-year
old farmworker on the north
coast and lower Willamette
Valley. “They do not give
us masks. They gave us a
meeting about wearing a
mask and being away from
others. But the job some-
times requires us to be close.
Sometimes they put us close
when we cut the cabbage.
They don’t care if you get
sick or infected.”
She said farmworkers
endure dirty conditions and
lack sanitation.
“Sometimes we don’t
have paper or disinfectant
… even the bathroom is
dirty,” she said. “We have to
go to the office to ask for a
roll of paper. They (Oregon
OSHA) came but they hav-
en’t done anything.”
Another farmworker, 33,
who works in the nursery
business, added:
“One day we were work-
ing on the side of the road.
We were planting trees. Like
50 of us. Someone called
the agency that handles
that. They (Oregon OSHA)
arrived and saw a lot of
people without a mask. And
they themselves said that
since it was outdoors if they
didn’t have the masks, there
was no problem. Then they
just checked the restrooms
and counted how many
restrooms there were....”
The report says that most
farmworkers were willing
to get vaccinated and that
many did. But it faults state
agencies for not following
up with support. One-third
of those interviewed spoke
indigenous languages like
Mam from Guatemala or
Zapotec from Mexico. The
rest spoke Spanish.
“Even when information
about particular services or
programs was available in
their languages, there was
no follow-through from
agencies or service provid-
ers,” the report said. “Sim-
ply notifying people in
Mam or Zapotec, for exam-
ple, about where farmwork-
ers can get vaccinated or
where they can get food
assistance is not enough.
Additional steps require
having service navigators
available who can meet or
consult directly with them
and work with them in their
own languages.”
COVID outbreaks hit
agricultural workplaces, but
employers were not trans-
parent about infections, the
report said.
“In some cases, farm-
workers described these
outbreaks as not being
reported to employees
or being asked to return
back to work,” the report
said. “Some who had fam-
ily members with under-
lying medical conditions
were wary of going to work
in the midst of large out-
breaks. Employers didn’t
provide consistent informa-
tion about what to do if you
are sick, if you have been
exposed, and whether or not
you would get paid if you
were quarantined, regard-
less of whether you were
sick yourself.”
The Oregon Health
Authority, which oversaw
the state’s COVID vaccina-
tion campaign, and the state
Department of Human Ser-
vices, which provides med-
ical, food and other assis-
tance to legal residents,
did not respond to requests
from the Capital Chronicle
for comment on the find-
ings in the report.
DHS oversees the food
stamp program, which has
been a key resource for
many farmworkers, the
report indicated. But many
of the workers did not seek
state help, the report said.
“Worried about being
labeled as a ‘public charge,’
some stopped asking for the
state and federally funded
food assistance such as the
Supplemental
Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP)
benefits they were entitled
to,” the report said. “Many
never recovered from lost
wages and hours of work
and continued struggling to
pay their bills one year into
the pandemic.”
The report listed sev-
eral recommendations, cit-
ing some from farmwork-
ers themselves. They said
the state should “put inspec-
tors on farms so that they are
regularly checking all the
operations.”
The researchers said
farmworkers need cultur-
ally sensitive mental health
support, better safety net
services and better access
to legal advice on every-
thing from employment
and housing to immigra-
tion and obtaining a driver’s
license. The researchers also
called on the state to enforce
existing anti-retaliation and
workplace protections and
conduct random inspections.
HAIL INSURANCE
EO Media Group File
The price tag to refurbish the Wallowa Lake Dam has soared from the originally es-
timated $16 million to about $21 million, according to the Wallowa Lake Irrigation
District, which owns the dam.
Price tag on Wallowa Lake Dam soars
By BILL BRADSHAW
EO Media Group
ENTERPRISE, Ore. —
The price tag for rebuilding
the Wallowa Lake Dam has
jumped to about $21 million,
said Dan Butterfield, pres-
ident of the Wallowa Lake
Irrigation District, leaving
the stakeholders wondering
where they will get the extra
money.
The district, which owns
the dam, hopes to break
ground on the project in the
fall of 2023, after the irriga-
tion season ends that Sep-
tember. The Legislature
added $14 million in state
lottery funds to its bud-
get last year for the project,
which was originally esti-
mated to cost about $16 mil-
lion. Now the district and
the other stakeholders have
to find the additional money.
“We’re going to want
to make sure we have the
funding lined up before we
start. We’re not spending
any money until we get the
$14 (million),” Butterfield
said April 4. “We’re going
to wait and make sure we
have our money before we
get started.”
Seeking extra funding
“We’re going to still have
the conversation on what
we do with the gap,” But-
terfield said. “Right now,
we’re brainstorming on
where else we could get
money.”
The major stakehold-
ers of the dam include the
irrigation district, the Ore-
gon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, the Nez Perce
Tribe’s Department of
Fisheries Resources Man-
agement and the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Uma-
tilla Indian Reservation.
Minor stakeholders also
are involved, including the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice, which has jurisdiction
over bull trout; the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration; the Oregon
Department of Environ-
mental Quality and others.
Ann Rava, spokeswoman
for state Sen. Bill Hansell,
R-Athena, shed a little light
on the funding issue in an
email April 4 that the stake-
holders met in two sepa-
rate meetings last week.
She referenced a report
from Regional Solutions
Exchange from last week.
“First, we brought the
larger stakeholder group
together to talk about prog-
ress on all projects within
the Wallowa Basin that
relate to fish passage or irri-
gation efficiency,” the report
said. “The Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife
announced that they will
be able to contribute $1.25
million toward design and
engineering work for both
the Wallowa Lake Dam fish
passage and the fish pas-
sage for the Consolidated
Ditch. The Wallowa County
Soil and Water Conserva-
tion District shared that they
will be going after some fed-
eral funds related to a down-
stream project. ... However,
the group is still commit-
ted to working together and
finding the funding to com-
plete the project.”
The refurbishment of the
century-old dam is intended
to improve the spillways,
include a fish passage, add
more concrete for weight,
replace the five conduit gates
and to upgrade the electrical
system and instrumentation.
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Fish passage
One of the major issues
in designing the dam is the
fish passage.
Butterfield said no agree-
ment on that issue has been
reached.
It’s up to the engineer,
McMillen, Jacobs and Asso-
ciates of Boise, to determine
the type of fish passage that
will be included and to final-
ize the plans for the dam.
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