Farmworkers

California's newly signed law regulates recruiters of foreign workers to cut down on human trafficking, a form of modern slavery.

Lawmakers again passed a bill giving workers compensation to employees harmed by heat on the job. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar bill last year

The state's farmers are divided over a bill that would loosen rules protecting agricultural land. The goal of a bill proposed by Assembly Democrat Buffy Wicks is to seed solar farms on fallowed fields.

State Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, the daughter of immigrants, has urged Trump and other fellow Republicans to consider work permits for undocumented worked considered essential workers.

As California confronts a bird flu outbreak, it is also time to take a hard look at the food production system that puts farm workers in close contact with sick animals, the standard American diet that demands it, and the health ramifications of both.

California wants to protect witnesses in workplace investigations from deportation, but the Biden administration program for undocumented employees is at risk with Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Gov. Newsom blocks legislation to make it easier for California farmworkers to file workers’ comp claims for heat illness. It was backed by their union and opposed by business groups.

While California has rules to protect farmworkers from excessive heat, inspections and citations are significantly down. A bill before the Legislature would make it easier to file workers’ compensation claims for heat illnesses.

A judge has halted a union effort at the Wonderful Company, throwing into question a new state law designed to make it easier for agricultural workers to organize.

The number of agricultural guest workers has risen dramatically in California. But state regulators have struggled to ensure that farms are providing safe housing to their workers.