Workers Need the Help

Ventura County officials’ failure to include farm workers in their initial request for federal disaster-relief aid is a reminder that, even in 1999, the thousands of people who actually get their hands dirty in the county’s billion-dollar agriculture industry remain all too invisible.

The decision last week to seek relief for affected workers as well as for the growers was the right move--a few weeks late.

After a four-night freeze in late December dealt $657 million in damage to California’s crops, the state Office of Emergency Services directed local officials to determine whether Ventura County should be included in a request for federal farm worker aid being prepared for six Central Valley counties, where the bitter cold ravaged ripening citrus and threw thousands of laborers out of work.

After an informal survey of growers, labor groups and farm worker advocates, local officials decided no. Yet the county vigorously pursued disaster relief for growers to allow those who suffered large losses to apply for low-interest loans. Freeze damage to Ventura County’s lemon, orange and avocado crops is estimated at $74.3 million.

Only after Supervisor John Flynn lashed out at county emergency services officials for that discrepancy and ordered a more thorough study of the freeze’s impact on the county’s roughly 20,000 farm workers did the county seek emergency assistance that would allow local workers to apply for a range of federal benefits, including grants for temporary housing and extended unemployment benefits.

Shortly after Flynn made those comments, the Clinton administration declared six counties--Fresno, Madera, Tulare, Kern, King and Monterey--federal disaster areas, clearing the way for fieldworkers there to receive federal aid.

Farm worker advocates concede that local effects have so far appeared manageable but estimate that 15% to 25% of the county’s farm labor force was affected either through job losses or reduced hours. The number of farm workers seeking help from Catholic Charities in Moorpark has increased about 30% in recent weeks. Workers in Ventura County packinghouses that process Central Valley fruit are among those most immediately affected--and although Central Valley fruit is not arriving, Central Valley farmhands left jobless are showing up in Ventura County to compete for the reduced number of jobs here.

State officials have been scrambling to meet the needs of those left unemployed by the freeze. Gov. Gray Davis waived the one-week waiting period for farm workers to apply for unemployment benefits and allotted $4.5 million to provide job assistance to those displaced by the cold.

“Unfortunately, for a lot of government agencies, farm workers are the last people they think about,” said county Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail. “We need to correct that.”

We heartily agree.