A group of about 50 farmworkers went on strike Thursday at a Kern County pistachio farm, demanding free face coverings, gloves and information from the farm’s owner after they said they learned from the media that dozens of their coworkers tested positive for the coronavirus, a union official said.
Workers picketed in the town of Wasco outside Primex Farms, which grows pistachio nuts, said Armando Elenes, a United Farm Workers official. Workers' demands also include better sanitation measures and more information from the company, which had not told them about the positive cases, he said.
The farmworkers learned of the cases about two weeks ago when fellow workers started getting sick, but only heard that dozens had tested positive from a report on local television, Elenes said.
Primex, which has 5,000 acres of pistachio orchards in California and also grows other nuts and dried fruits, confirmed that 31 people at the company were infected.
The farm has about 400 workers and is following health guidelines to prevent virus spread, said Mojgan Amin, the company’s chief operating officer. It is closing its plant from Friday until Monday for a deep cleaning and hired a mobile testing facility to offer free testing to all workers on Monday, Amin said.
Veronica Perez, one of the workers, said the company never held a meeting to tell them what was happening and only began providing free masks a few days ago. Previously, she said, they sold cloth masks for $8 each.
The company has since brought on new workers to fill in for those who have gotten ill but hasn’t advised them of the outbreak, she said.
— Associated Press