Summary

HIP collaborated with North Bay Jobs with Justice to explore the ways in which Sonoma County farmworker safety and economic security have been aggravated by inadequate governmental and industry labor policies, in the context of wildfires, extreme heat, dangerous smoke, and drought. We found that workers face an impossible trade off under government and industry practices that lack compensation protections: sacrifice their health for pay, or sacrifice their paycheck entirely.

The farmworkers we talked to expressed losing significant income during times of climate crisis, which affects their ability to afford basic needs and is associated with physical and mental health harms. To avoid income loss, the majority of workers told us they always go to work in dangerous conditions even if they don’t want to—which increases risk of death and severe short- and long-term health conditions. Wage loss and exposure to hazards continue a long legacy of structural oppression that has made immigrant and Indigenous farmworkers in Sonoma County especially vulnerable to harm.

This year has seen powerful victories for Sonoma County farmworker safety, economic security, justice, and health equity– and much more must be done to achieve justice for Sonoma County’s farmworkers. In this brief, we describe the urgency for the companies in the wine industry to join the movement by providing hazard pay during periods of unhealthy air quality due to smoke.

Recommendations

• Wine industry companies should adopt hazard pay to appropriately compensate workers who put their safety at risk on the frontlines
• Local government should pass disaster insurance policy to cover lost wages from climate crises, to mitigate economic stress and promote safety for workers
• Local government and wine industry leaders should ensure language justice and respect for Indigenous workers by providing all safety and evacuation trainings in workers’ first languages