Other Programmatic Elements Identified by the Committee - Agriculture Forestry and Fishing Research at NIOSH - page 128

cultural region in the United States, employing over 200,000 farm laborers during
spring and summer. Fresno is a community that many farm laborers visit and in
which they were likely to feel comfortable. Some academics were uncomfortable
with the choice because it meant leaving the familiar confines of their campuses,
such as Berkeley, Santa Cruz, and San Diego. However, when the reason for the
choice was carefully explained, nearly all 60 faculty members invited to participate
expressed appreciation for the thought that had gone into the selection process. For
the 60-odd farm labor representatives or rural community leaders, who included
industry representatives, the choice of Fresno made sense from the beginning.
Next, the conference discussion process involved carefully choosing eight aca-
demics to prepare research papers on specific topics: housing, voting rights, labor
relations, the California farm labor market, measuring rural poverty, indigenous
migrants, the changing structure of agriculture, and pesticide policy.
At the conference, the presentation of papers was structured so that a panel of
three would comment on each paper—typically an academic, a farm labor repre-
sentative or rural community leader, and an industry representative. Papers were
provided to panel members at least a week in advance of the conference. Time was
allotted for comments or questions to any of the panelists. A panel facilitator and
note-taker kept the entire process running smoothly, and simultaneous translation
into Spanish and English was made available to all who needed such assistance.
Among the outcomes of the conference were eight conference proceedings
papers, with synopses of panelists' or conference participants' comments, and the
formation of a project advisory committee to provide general guidance to the CIRS
staff in its work. All the labor and community participants found the format to be
welcoming and to have enhanced participation.
Engaging Hired Forestry Services Workers
The second example involved the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Forest Service, which in California had found that its staff was relatively unin-
formed about Hispanic immigrant workers, many of whom were showing up as
contract laborers for planting or other work on federal land. In 1995, CIRS was
contacted by a representative of the Forest Service who asked whether it might be
possible to set up a workshop to enable staff members to learn more about the
newest components of the forest labor force.
In the view of CIRS staff, it was essential that Forest Service personnel en-
counter Spanish-speaking immigrant workers directly, not just hear a description
of them in English. CIRS staff arranged for a busload of about 50 Forest Service
employees to visit a public farm labor camp near Stockton. The meeting was held
in the evening, after the workday, after the workers had a chance to change from