LABOR LEADERS: Nearly 100 female farm workers,...

LABOR LEADERS: Nearly 100 female farm workers, including representatives from Ventura County, are gathering in Fresno today for a first-ever statewide conference to address issues facing women who work the fields. . . . The two-day event will focus on such topics as job discrimination, sexual harassment and health education. “This is a historic event,” said Eileen McCarthy, an Oxnard attorney with California Rural Legal Assistance, which is sponsoring the event. “This is about farm worker women taking charge of their lives.”

LIBRARY LAYOFFS: Dressed in black and eating pizza, library supporters held a wake at Port Hueneme’s Prueter Library to mark service cutbacks at the county’s 15 library branches. . . . Starting Monday, the branches will open later, close earlier and shut down on days they used to be open. . . . “The cuts are really affecting a lot of good people,” said Carl Chamberlain, a library supporter who took part in the wake. “They had to do a lot of juggling and it discombobulates the whole system.”

RAIDER ROOTERS: North Oxnard residents may be unhappy with the lack of access to the Los Angeles Raiders training field (B1), but over at City Hall, they love the team. . . . City officials said the Raiders boost local business and generate good publicity for Oxnard. But even those factors didn’t stop the city last year from suing the team to collect $30,000 in back taxes and $1,200 in legal fees. “We love the Raiders,” City Atty. Gary Gillig explained. “But that was a business matter. That’s more than love; that’s extreme passion.”

FLOOD AID: Ventura County residents have donated more than $10,000 to the American Red Cross to support disaster relief operations in the flood-ravaged Midwest (A18). . . . “The people of Ventura County are once again demonstrating a desire to assist others in need, and we are thankful for this generosity of spirit,” said Ken Riley, chairman of the Ventura County Red Cross.

Field Labor

A snapshot of Ventura County’s men and women farm workers.

MEN WOMEN Average annual pay $10,010 $6,435 Average hourly pay $5.58 $5.22 Average length of employment 8 mos. 4.9 mos. % who have year-round work 47.7% 16.3% % with paid sick leave 23.9% 10.8% % who lack child care 4.8% 23.1%

Source: Ventura County Study of Women Agricultural Workers