Associate Kimberly Emery (left) stands with NFWM board members and farm workers at a vigil to remember those who have died from heat stress while working in the fields.
by Kimberly Emery
Board Members of the National Farm Worker Ministry (NFWM) gathered in Raleigh/Durham, N.C. over the weekend of July 24-26. As a prelude to our Saturday board meeting, we spent Friday bearing witness and standing with farm workers at a vigil to remember those who have died from heat stress while working in the fields.
Statistics from the Center for Disease Control show that farm workers die from heat-related illnesses at a rate 20 times higher than other workers. This community vigil for six North Carolina farm workers lost to heat stress was a sharing of our collective sorrow and a reflection on the urgent need for the passage of more protections. In silence and with candlelight, we created a solemn space to remember those whose lives were needlessly cut short.
Our gathering was led by El Futuro Es Nuestro and included partner organizations such as the Union of Southern Service Workers and the Southern Workers Assembly, as well as representatives from a variety of religious denominations. Members of the NFWM board were also part of a delegation delivering postcards to the North Carolina Department of Labor from people of faith demanding changes in state law to protect workers from heat stress.
As climate change continues to alter weather patterns, heat stress and other environmental risks such as smoke from wildfires continue to mount for those who must work outdoors. There are simple ways to reduce the risk of heat-related health conditions, such as reliable access to shade, rest, and water, but employers must be legally mandated to provide these. In addition, as we heard when we later joined local farm workers for a communal dinner and sharing, worker housing can exacerbate heat stress when it is poorly constructed, badly maintained, and not properly air conditioned.
You are invited to join the NFWM for a live webinar, in honor of World Food Day, on Wednesday, October 14 at 11 a.m. CST to learn more about how labor laws exclude farm workers from workplace protections, and how this lack of protection impacts worker health and safety.
Registration information for this free webinar can be found here.
“Honor the hands that harvest your crops”—Dolores Huerta
Sí se puede!
About the author: Associate Kimberly Emery is the BVM representative to the National Farm Workers MInistry.
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