Ag Commissioner and farmworker advocates ally around new advisory group.

There are layers and layers of regulations in the country and the state designed to protect workers. Those regulations don't always work.

Farmworkers have historically lagged when it comes to some of the basics: They were one of only two classes of employees excluded from the landmark Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1935, which established the right to collective bargaining.

They've since gotten the Agricultural Labor Relations Board to rule on their own collective bargaining matters, and a host of pesticide restrictions and posting requirements have improved farmworker safety.

But that has produced far from a cooperative, friendly space for regulators and farmworkers.

A new farmworker advisory committee, launched last week, is designed to bridge the gap between farmworkers and county officials.

The idea originated three years ago when farmworkers with the Center for Community Advocacy and members of Agricultural Commissioner Eric Lauritzen's office had agreed to participate in a forum together.

"It was a really, really shaky start," says Juan Uranga, attorney and director of CCA.

"As we were planning it, miscommunications occurred and feelings were hurt, and the forum was about to be canceled."

Since then, they've smoothed things over. The new advisory committee, made up of six farmworkers trained by CCA, will meet regularly with two officials from the ag commissioner's office to share ideas about farmworker safety.

The group will also host an annual community event to provide information about the ag commissioner's jurisdiction over farmland.

"It’s more proactive than filing a complaint," Uranga says. The system has long been more reactive he says, bringing the parties together only when someone has been exposed to pesticides or injured in an accident.

"Filing a complaint is because something bad has happened, and you ask someone to look into it and make it right," Uranga adds. "There’s room for both."

From Lauritzen's perspective, it's a chance to hear directly from farmworkers, instead of only via complaints or attorneys. “This gives us the opportunity to engage in positive, productive conversations," he said in a statement.