Volume 6, Number 2, Summer-Fall 1997
Publications
Farm Safety, a quarterly newsletter, is published in English and Spanish by the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Farm Safety Program. Also included as inserts in most issues are fact sheets related to seasonal safety concerns. The Summer 1997 issue, for example, featured articles "Tomato Harvesttime: Tips for Safeguarding Worker Health" and "Summertime Field Hazards," and bilingual inserts illustrated and described "Hand Signals for Use In Agriculture" and "Heat Illness and How to Avoid It." Articles in that issue also included "Don't Think 'It Can't Happen to Me'" about a preventable farming accident and "Attention Farmers 55 Years and Older: Safety and Health Concerns for Aging Workers." The Fall 1997 issue features "Grain Handling Safety" with accompanying inserts on "Grain Entrapment Prevention" and "Zero Injuries: A Worthwhile Goal." For information about the newsletter, write or phone the Farm Safety Program, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, 3022 Bainer Hall, University of California, Davis, CA, 916/752-0563 (fax 916/752-2640).
An Assessment of Migrant and Farm Workers' Need for Housing in California: How a Cooperative Model Has Helped Meet That Need.Written by James Gordon, Principal Researcher, La Cooperativa Campesina de California, Sacramento, California, the 54-page book published in 1995 (Item No. R27, $6 plus shipping) documents the housing shortfall for both migrant and non-migrant seasonal workers. Recommendations include an increase in cooperatively produced housing and the creation of a government-grower-farm worker partnership to address the housing needs. For more information and a catalog of other publications available, contact the Center for Cooperatives, One Shields Avenue, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. Phone: 916/752-2408. Fax: 916/752-5451.
Immigration in a Changing Economy: California's Experience, by Kevin F. McCarthy and Georges Vernez, is a report of a comprehensive study of how immigration has changed over the past three decades. It assesses the impact immigration has had on the state's demography, economy, people, and institutions. The 370-page book (ISBN: 0833024965) costs $20, plus tax and shipping, from RAND, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138. For information, phone RAND Distribution Services at 310/451-7002 or fax: 310/451-6915.
Rural Latino Resources: A National Guide, by Refugio I. Rochin, Director, and Emily Marroquin, Student Assistant, Julian Samora Research Institute (JSRI) is a compiled listing of researchers, educators, and organizations in North America who are resources on rural Latino issues, such as health, family, crime, poverty, and labor patterns. The guide also lists publications and other work produced by the participants. It is available in PDF format on the JSRI website at http://www.jsri.msu.edu, or in hard copy for $7 plus shipping and handling from Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University, 112 Paolucci Bldg., East Lansing, MI 48824-1110.
Two books on workers' compensation in California provide alphabetical references by subject to the labor code, rules and regulations, case law and writings by noted legal authors, as well as California Compensation Cases and California Workers' Compensation Reporter. The Workers Compensation Index, 4th Edition is $74.50, and Rehabilitation Index, 8th Edition, is $54.50, including sales tax, shipping, and handling, ordered from: James T. Stewart, 1937 Santa Ana, Clovis, CA 93611-4126 (phone: 209/291-3238; fax: 209/485-3804).
The National Pesticide Telecommunications Network toll-free pesticide information service for callers in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, described in LMD Winter-Spring 1997 "Resources" (page 14) now operates 7 days a week, except holidays, from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time. The service is co-sponsored by Oregon State University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Phone: 800-858-7378. FAX: 1-541-737-0761. Email: nptn@ace.orst.edu. Or visit the NPTN website at http://ace.orst.edu/info/nptn/.
Internet Resources
A Profile of U.S. Farm Workers. Based on data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), which has been conducted regularly since 1988 by the U.S. Department of Labor, this April 1997 report was written for the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform and is on-line in HTML format at http://www.dol.gov/dol/asp/public/programs/agworker/report/main.htm. It describes the demographics, household composition, income and use of public services by people throughout the nation who perform "seasonal agricultural services," as defined by the 1986 immigration reform act. A special report on California workers, based on 1991 NAWS data, is available in PDF format (requires Adobe Acrobat) on the APMP website (http://are.berkeley.edu/APMP/) under "Project Reports." Work on a more current California report has begun.
All issues of Labor Management Decisions are now on-line at the APMP website (http://are.berkeley.edu/APMP) in PDF format (requiries Adobe Acrobat), and a few issues are also available in HTML format. Very soon all published LMD articles will become accessible in HTML through a clickable index of titles.