SONOMA (California) INDEX-TRIBUNE

September 12, 2008

VWS camps offer safe haven

By Emily Charrier INDEX-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

The camps may be modest - with neat rows of gray trailers, a mess tent and a laundry area - but for 60 vineyard workers this is home during the harvest season.

For five years, Vineyard Workers Services has been housing as many migrant workers as they legally can on two campsites in the Valley, providing safe and sanitary housing for the laborers who keep the wine industry functioning.

"This is the only camp like this in the county," said Kenneth Ramirez, executive director of Vineyard Workers Services.

Late every summer, the Valley is flooded with hundreds of migrant laborers who come to Sonoma to pick grapes. Many of the workers come from Mexico, risking a dangerous trip across the desert to illegally enter the country for the chance to work in California's many agricultural fields. From the orange groves of Southern California to the apple orchards in Washington state, migrant workers travel all the way up the coast, following the growing season. Whatever cash they scrape together typically gets sent back to their families.

It's not an easy life. The labor is backbreaking as workers crouch over to pick ton after ton of grapes.

Augustine, 22, an undocumented worker who did not give his last name, has spent two years working the crops in California. He said he often begins his days at 1 or 2 a.m., working eight to 10 hour shifts in the sometimes-blistering heat. He works with seven other laborers, including his brother Abel. Augustine said it takes the eight men about an hour to pick one ton of grapes, for which they are paid $110, which works out to $13.75 a man an hour.

"The money is good, better than you can make in Mexico," Augustine said.

The money is one thing, but housing is something else. Many workers struggle with where to live as they work their way up and down the state. While some farms and wineries offer migrant labor housing, it is becoming harder to find.

"A lot of those places are closing down," Ramirez said, adding the quarters can often be run down. "Some of it is decent housing, but some of it is shacks with dirt floors."

When housing isn't available, workers do what they can to get by. "They crowd into small living spaces, they rent low end hotels, they sleep in cars or down by the creek," Ramirez said. "It's a hassle and there are safety issues, there are health issues."

The staff at Vineyard Workers Services spent years working with the county and the city to find suitable housing for the Valley's workers every harvest season. Five years ago, camps were opened on Eighth Street East and in a vacant piece of land next to St. Leo's Catholic Church in Agua Caliente. Each trailer sleeps four people, and the men are given clean bathrooms with showers and a place to meet and share food, which Vineyard Workers Services provides at least three times a week. The men typically pay $10 a night to stay in these camps, but as the economy dipped the organization decided this year to charge $5 a night.

Ramirez said Vineyard Workers Services would house more workers but "that's all we have the ability to do right now because of our permits. We are at capacity."

Ramirez said the organization begins puling the camps together every May, and by the end of July there are usually a few men living on the sites.

But because the county does not have guidelines for running migrant labor camps, Vineyard Workers Services must apply for new permits every year, and must also face new regulations.

For the first time this year, the county required the trailers to have earthquake straps and asked that the driveways be graveled. The staff found out about these requirements just days before workers were scheduled to show up, causing a mad scramble to raise the $2,000 needed to pay for the equipment and get everything in place in time for the workers to move in.

 "It really is a balancing act with the county," Ramirez said. "We had to bust our butts to get these camps ready."

Ultimately, Vineyard Workers Services would like to offer permanent housing for the workers who stay year-round to help with pruning in the winter. If they were allowed to, they could house about 120 workers, because Ramirez said every year they must turn men away. He said the organization does not have the money to purchase land for permanent housing, but is hoping someone might donate property for the cause. If nothing else, Ramirez said they hope to add four more trailers next year, "But that takes money."

This year, Ramirez said the organization is working to provide more seminars and activities for workers. On Tuesday evening, about a dozen men gathered to hear a presentation on recycling, which was followed by a seminar on workplace safety hosted by Sonoma Valley Hospital's Occupational Medicine Department.

"We're really collaborating with the community," Ramirez said. St. Joseph's Health Systems sends a mobile clinic to the camps once a week to offer dental and medical check-ups. The camps also offer workers help with learning English, and on Wednesday hosted the annual community barbecue, where the public was invited to mix and mingle with the workers.

"Our motto is: Bringing a face to the worker," Ramirez said.

And the laborers are appreciative. "Those are things that are beneficial to know about," Augustine said. "This place is good."