Ag Labor Groups Upset By Fine Reduction

Farm labor advocates groups are furious after a District Court judge in Bellingham trimmed a fine to $35,000 Tuesday for a blueberry farm accused of unsafe working conditions, after a worker died in August.  The State Department of Labor and Industry previously found Sarbanand Farms not liable for the death of Honesto Silva Ibarra, 28,  but it found the company failed to offer enough rest breaks and water.  Rosalina Guillen, with the nonprofit Community-to-Community Development, claims farm managers ignored Ibarra’s request for medical help until it was too late.

"He did have diabetes, but his death was caused by overwork, by not enough food, but also extreme dehydration and overwork outside in the fields, during a time when that smoke was covering all of Whatcom County."

The fine was originally $145,000, but the state lowered it to $73,000.

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