Services needed to address more regular occurrence of severe smoke events / Letter to Whatcom County officials

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October 18, 2022 Dena Jensen

Keep sharing the things you learn and observe with our officials that will help result in more and better services for our community members who are in crisis or are in danger of being so.  

Here is an email I sent this evening to the Whatcom County Council and the County Executive:

Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2022, 05:31:04 PM PDT

Subject: Services needed to address more regular occurrence of severe smoke events

Dear Whatcom County Council, and County Executive Sidhu:

I have been watching the rapid increase today in poor air quality due to wildfire smoke. I am including a couple screenshots. 

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Calling on Whatcom County officials to protect those exposed to extreme climate impacts/ Letter to Whatcom County Council and Executive Sidhu

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Click the screenshot to access a Facebook post by Community to Community Development displaying a video of Skagit Farmworkers out in the pumpkin fields during smoky conditions in early September 2022

September 18, 2022 Dena Jensen

Many of our friends and neighbors are put in a position to feel they have to work, without critical protections under severely smokey or hot conditions. There are currently no sufficiently protective provisions from our local, state, and federal governments for farmworkers and certain groups of people whom we have left to live or work outside during dangerous weather conditions.

I am including below an email I sent to Whatcom County officials today to call on them to take action locally and use their influence to urge state and federal governments to take action, as well.

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Harvest vs. safety; ag workers at risk in Chelan-Douglas counties / Facebook post, The Searchlight Review

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Click the graphic to enlarge a copy of a 4/30/20 email from Malcom Butler, a Chelan-Douglas Health Officer, sent to JT Austin of Governor Inslee’s office. The complete text of the email is contained in the blog post

July 7, 2019  Sandy Robson

From this recent Searchlight Review Facebook post, we can get some insights into the foundations of why agricultural workers continue to struggle against the imbalance of negative impacts suffered by them due to COVID-19.

 

In reviewing public records I recently obtained from the Chelan-Douglas Health District related to a COVID-19 outbreak at Stemilt Growers, a grower, packer and marketer of apples, pears, cherries and other tree fruits, I came across an email that I wanted to share. Continue reading →

No hasty green-lights during COVID-19 / Letter to the Whatcom County Council

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Click the graphic to access a copy of Whatcom County Council Member Ben Elenbaas’s “Letter to Governor as amended on 5.19.2020” on the Whatcom County website

May 21, 2020  Dena Jensen

Subject: Please develop resources to help businesses and community members be resilient during the current health emergency

Dear Whatcom County Council:

So far, I have listened to the first two hours and the last hour of your 5 hour Whatcom County Council meeting from May 19, 2020. During that time a lot of attention was brought by Council Member Ben Elenbaas to the idea that the Coronavirus is going to stay with us for a long time, perhaps infinitely. Continue reading →

Update on Emergency Rules in Housing in Agriculture / Facebook post, Community to Community Development

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Click the graphic of a Facebook post showing two workers in blue clothing holding signs at a strike for safe working conditions and hazard pay in Eastern Washington to access the post on Community to Community Development’s Facebook page

May 13, 2020 Community to Community Development

UPDATE ON EMERGENCY RULES IN HOUSING IN AGRICULTURE: The Dept of Labor and Industries has finally released the rules for housing. In spite of all the public comments, the position and arguments of C2C and familias Unidas por la Justicia, science and medical data on how this deadly virus is transmitted the State Agencies have chosen to risk farm workers lives in favor of the economic interests of the corporate agricultural producers, mostly tree fruit . We would like to thank all of our friends and allies for standing with farm workers during this difficult time. Much more will be required from all of us, to support farm worker families and communities, given this lack of protections from our State Government.

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Submit comments ASAP to demand that emergency rules for ag worker housing truly protect and help save lives of farmworkers / Facebook post Community to Community Development

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Click the graphic of a Facebook post showing a photo of a farmworker’s open hands stretched forward full of fresh strawberries  to view this post on Community to Community Development’s Facebook page

April 25, 2020  C2C

Below is the full text of the Saturday 4/25/2020 Action Alert from Community to Community Development. People can send in a comment now to beat the Monday 4/27/20, 5:00 p.m. deadline!!

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Farm Workforce Modernization Act poses setbacks for workers and growers / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Community members, along with representatives of Community to Community Development and Familias Unidas por la Justicia join in a 2019 People’s Tribunal addressing the mistreatment of H-2A farmworkers at Crystal View Raspberry Farm in Bellingham, WA

November 30, 2019  Dena Jensen

Update, December 14, 2019: On Thursday December 12, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, HR 5038, was passed out of the House in the Congress. It now moves to the United States Senate.

Local farmworker advocacy organizations, Community to Community Development,  and Familias Unidas por la Justicia have been of significant support to H-2A visa workers, locally in Whatcom County, and in other areas in the state, as they were in June of 2019 in Grant County, Washington, at the King Fuji Ranch in Mattewa. Continue reading →

Worthy of honor and respect: the 2019 Farmworker March for Dignity / Noisy Waters Northwest

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August 8, 2019 Dena Jensen

It’s been held for years. I have been to four. This year was the second time I’ve marched the full route. The annual Farmworker March for Dignity starts at dawn, with many people leaving their home destinations around 4:00 a.m., in carpools or individually, to arrive at shuttle locations and park their vehicles.

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Annual Farmworker March Spotlights Worker Violations at Crystal View Farms / Press Release, Community to Community Development and Familias Unidas por la Justicia

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August 2, 2019 Press Release, Community to Community Development and Familias Unidas por la Justicia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Annual Farmworker March Spotlights Worker Violations at Crystal View Farms

Farmworker March for Dignity

When: Sunday, August 4, 2019 4:30 a.m

Starting point: 1431 Sunset Ave. Ferndale, WA

BELLINGHAM, WA August 2, 2019 – This Sunday, hundreds of people will march 14 miles through rural roads of Whatcom County for the annual Farmworker March for Dignity, organized by Community to Community Development (C2C) and Familias Unidas por la Justicia. The march kicks off at dawn, the average time a Farmworker begins working in the field. Leaders from C2C, Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ), and Cooperativa Tierra y Libertad will start the march at a Customs and Border Patrol station, the site of border militarization, detention and deportation impacting Farmworkers families in the region. 

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Satpal Sidhu’s responses to my questions about a sanctuary ordinance and farm workers on the Riveters Collective Ask Me Anything event / Dena Jensen

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July 27, 2019 Dena Jensen

One of the great election-related services that the Riveters Collective — which organizes and supports actions in Whatcom County and local communities — offers to our community, is their Ask Me Anything (AMA) events on Facebook, where members of their Facebook group can ask questions to find out what they want to know about candidates running for office during election season.

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