Hundreds Laid Off as Citrus Freeze Begins to Take Toll

San Joaquin Valley citrus-packing houses have dismissed hundreds of workers in recent days, launching an expected blizzard of freeze-related layoffs that could put thousands of Californians out of work.

In the biggest layoff announced so far, LoBue Bros. of Lindsay said Thursday that it dismissed 425 to 450 citrus harvesting and packing workers because of crop damage during the recent “Arctic Express” cold snap. Only a skeleton crew of eight to 10 remains at the nearly 60-year-old firm.

G. A. Wollenman, general manager of Tulare County firm, said nearly two-thirds of the dismissed workers were full-time, permanent personnel. “There’s no use having all these people sitting around and doing nothing,” Wollenman said. “That’s the bottom line.”

Wollenman said it will take weeks before damage to trees can be more fully assessed and before it is clear when workers can be rehired. He said he was hopeful that most of the staff could be brought back for next fall’s orange crop but that it likely would be more than a year before orange groves recover enough to rehire all of the work force.

Joel Nelsen, president of the California Citrus Mutual growers association, estimated that smaller packing houses in the San Joaquin Valley have dismissed “several hundred” workers this week.

In addition, he said San Joaquin Valley agricultural authorities and economic officials have predicted that layoffs among local packing house employees will balloon to 15,000 within weeks. He said an undetermined number of additional farm workers and others dependent on the area’s agricultural economy also are likely to lose their jobs by the time the crop freeze takes its full toll. Workers elsewhere in the state also are expected to be affected.

Those estimates, Nelsen said, are being submitted to state and federal authorities in hopes of having the region declared a disaster area eligible for government aid.

The cold snap has caused major damage throughout much of California’s $8-billion fruit and vegetable industry. Along with destroying big chunks of the citrus crop in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, it has hurt lettuce, broccoli, avocado and artichoke crops all the way from San Diego to Santa Cruz.