Struggling county farmworkers find assistance at fair

By José L. Sánchez Jr.

Ventura County farmworkers getting hammered by the current economy attended this year's Farmworker Fair in record numbers, organizers said.

The third annual fair, known in Spanish as the Feria Campesina, drew 800 participants Sunday to the West Oxnard Job and Career Center. Last year, 600 attended, and 500 the year before, said Mary Navarro-Aldana, the center's work force services manager.

"It's the economy. They need the services," she said.

Even in normal economic times, farmworkers are subject to ups and downs in employment because of the weather and other factors, Navarro-Aldana said. Now, with high food and fuel prices, many are struggling, she added.

Ventura County has about 20,000 farmworkers. The fair took place on a Sunday to ensure maximum attendance, Navarro-Aldana said.

As bands played and dancers twirled in the brightly colored traditional costumes of Oaxaca, Mexico, representatives of 32 public and nonprofit organizations offered information and services.

Clinicas del Camino Real, a Ventura-based, nonprofit healthcare agency, offered diabetes and blood pressure checks. From 11 a.m to 3 p.m., Clinicas staff saw 150 people, said Laura Magaño, an agency staff member.

Marino Gomez, a construction worker, said he signed up for a diabetes test because he's worried about it. His mother and others in his family suffer from the disease, and his uncle is in poor condition because of it, he said.

Veronica Ambriz, a 32-year-old mother of three, said she went to the fair looking for information about day care and to complain about her job situation. She's been picking strawberries for eight years and had always been able to get jobs that paid hourly wages plus an additional amount per basket, she said. This year, all she is getting is $8 an hour, Ambriz said.

The number of wage complaints among agricultural workers in Ventura County is continuing to increase, said Ester Marie Dominguez, regional director of the United Farm Workers of America, which had a booth at the fair.

The complaints are especially prevalent among workers hired by labor contractors to work for various producers, she said. Under California law, the labor contractors are responsible for the working conditions, not the producers, Dominguez said.