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LODI (California) RECORD June 1, 2008
Pilgrimage honors farm worker
Walk from Lodi to Sacramento urges changes to labor law
By
LODI - A religious pilgrimage honoring farm worker Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, 17, who became ill on the job from heat exposure May 14 and died two days later, will begin today at St. Anne's Catholic Church. St. Anne's Father Jairo Ramirez will offer a blessing in a 12:30 p.m. Mass. After the service, the group will begin a four-day mission, walking through Lodi, Galt, Elk Grove and Sacramento. The group is expected to arrive by noon Wednesday at the State Capitol. Once there, officials with the United Farm Workers will introduce proposed legislative changes to California labor laws. The union, which organized the pilgrimage, projects more than 400 people from throughout the state will participate. The long walk - and the increased enforcement of California's farm labor laws - was inspired by Jimenez's death. United Farm Workers will provide marchers with food, water, mobile restrooms and medical staff along the way. Those walking will spend the night with community members who have offered their homes for lodging. The group will also stop at churches. "First, we want to honor Maria Isabel and at the same time seek justice in what transpired," said Arturo S. Rodriguez, union president. "Second, as an organization, we need to do this because we feel we haven't done enough." Jimenez, who was two months pregnant, died May 16, two days after suffering a heat illness while working in a Farmington vineyard. The contractor, who has been cited by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health with three previous health violations, is under state investigation. The Jimenez family and the union allege the contractor failed to comply with safety regulations when she collapsed on the job. The contractor could also face child labor violations. The pilgrims will carry three coffins to Sacramento. Two will symbolize the deaths of Jimenez and her unborn child. The third will symbolize other farm workers who have lost their lives in the fields. Woodbridge resident Juan Gonzalez, 68, designed and built the coffins. Gonzalez was an agriculture laborer until he turned 21. Gonzalez took part in the 1960s demonstrations organized by the union's founder, Cesar E. Chavez. "I take this personal, because she is a human being," Gonzalez said. "I worked in these fields in the late 1960s, and it seems that nothing is fixed. Everything is the same," he added.
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