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Republicans reject spending bill under pressure from Trump and Musk; TX group works to give Latinos seat at table in fight against methane; Clean Trucks Campaign touts benefits of electric vehicles for PA; Child labor in agriculture is a growing concern in FL.

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House Republicans nix bipartisan budget agreement at President-elect Donald Trump is urging. Republicans breakdown priorities of Trump's first 100-day agenda and, the House Ethics Committee votes to release its report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz.

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Rural folks could soon be shut out of loans for natural disasters if Project 2025 has its way, Taos, New Mexico weighs options for its housing shortage, and the top states providing America's Christmas trees revealed.

Workers' Memorial Day: Group Calls for Justice After Farmworker Death

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Friday, April 27, 2018   

SUMAS, Wash. – Saturday is Workers' Memorial Day, a commemoration of people who've lost their lives on the job. In Washington state, the farm community is remembering Ernesto Silva Ibarra, a 28-year-old farmworker who became ill last summer while picking berries during wildfires and later died.

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries fined Sarbanand Farms, where Ibarra worked, for two infractions after the incident – not providing timely meals and rest breaks to workers. However, Edgar Franks, civic engagement coordinator with the group Community to Community Development, thinks the investigation should be reopened – for Ibarra and other farmworkers.

"They're in a precarious position and put in a position where they can't defend themselves, and if they do defend themselves, they get threatened,” says Franks. “So, this is why we're asking for L&I to reopen the case. We want justice for Ernesto and the hundreds of other farmworkers that were sick."

He says other workers also became ill during wildfires last year. Sarbanand was scheduled to dispute the fines in court this week, but the case has been delayed until May 23rd. L&I fined the company nearly $150,000, but the agency did not find Sarbanand responsible for Ibarra's death.

After Ibarra's death, about 70 workers at Sarbanand went on strike and were fired. Like Ibarra, the laborers were in the country on guest worker or H2A visas.

Franks sees that visa program as exploiting workers, affording them few rights and no ability to unionize. He says it's compounded by the inherent danger in agricultural work.

"When people come to work, they expect to go back and be with their families,” says Franks. “So, that's why we still fight for justice for Ernesto Silva and the many other farmworkers."

Farm work was the second-most deadly occupation in the country in 2016, the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.


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