Farmworker union decries appointee

By JULIET WILLIAMS

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday named a former GOP lawmaker to a board overseeing relations between farmers and field laborers, a move that drew immediate criticism from labor advocates because of her opposition to landmark farmworker health protections.

The United Farm Workers called on the state Senate to reject the nomination of former Assemblywoman Sharon Runner to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, a position that pays $128,109 a year.

"While Governor Schwarzenegger promises to vigorously enforce his regulation protecting farmworkers ... a year after six of them perished from the heat, he has appointed an ex-lawmaker to the state farm labor board who opposed protections ... ," UFW legislative director Giev Kashkooli said.

Runner opposed a 2005 bill that would have given farmworkers additional protections.

Schwarzenegger had made it clear he sought to have such regulations adopted administratively, and the bill died. The governor's administration later adopted rules that require farmers and contractors to provide workers with water and breaks, have shade available and have emergency plans in place in case of excessive high temperatures.

Before the regulations took effect, there were no specific employer rules regarding heat illness, although they were required to have an injury and illness prevention program. A string of 10 heat-related deaths — four of them farmworkers — during a two-month period in 2005 prompted the review.

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Rachel Cameron said the governor remains committed to the rules, which are enforced by the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, not the agriculture board.

"The ALRB acts as a neutral arbitrator in reviewing labor-relations cases between employees and employers," Cameron said. "We have full confidence that Sharon will be a fair adjudicator on the board."

Runner, 54, did not immediately respond to requests for comment made by The Associated Press through her former spokeswoman and the office of her husband, also a Republican. George Runner's office referred AP to the governor's office.

Schwarzenegger has continued to support the farmworker protections. Last year, California levied the largest fine on record, $262,700, against a labor contractor that employed a pregnant teenager who died of heat stroke in a Central Valley vineyard. Atwater-based Merced Farm Labor later agreed to voluntarily surrender its operating license for three years.

Schwarzenegger even appeared at the funeral for the victim, 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez. Inspectors said she died when her supervisors denied her access to shade and water as she pruned grapevines for more than nine hours in nearly triple-digit heat.

The Agricultural Labor Relations board was established in 1975 to enforce protections for employees, employers and labor organizations.

Its Web site says the board's mission is "to ensure peace in the fields of California by guaranteeing justice for all agricultural workers and stability in agricultural labor relations."

Jose Mejia, director of the State Council of Laborers, said in a statement that his group supports Runner's nomination.

Runner, a board member for a Christian school, is currently awaiting a double-lung transplant because of a rare disease that caused her to miss some of last year's legislative session.

Her husband has announced his candidacy for the state Franchise Tax Board in 2010.

Runner's appointment was one of several announced by Schwarzenegger on Friday.