Pineros' plight to get review in D.C.

By Tom Knudson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published Saturday, December 3, 2005

Although the shape and scope of the inquiry has yet to be finalized, Congress plans to examine the mistreatment of Latino forest workers on federal land, a key staff member said Friday.

"It's an important issue. We're definitely going to spend time on it," said Doug Crandall, staff director for the house Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health.

Last month, California Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, and three other congressmen requested that the House Committee on Resources hold hearings into the plight of Latino forest workers known as pineros, in particular the 10,000 or so who labor legally in America as foreign guest workers.

Last week, committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, referred the issue to his forests subcommittee, saying he was concerned about the subject. "I take the topic of worker safety very seriously," Pombo wrote in a response to Miller.

Related Document

Click image to see letter from Rep. Richard Pombo to Rep. George Miller

The mistreatment of the Latino workers - both legal and undocumented - was the subject of a Bee series, "The Pineros: Men of the Pines," published Nov. 13-15. The stories found that like Mexican farm workers in the 1950s and '60s, migrant forest workers today toil under harsh conditions that would not be tolerated on ordinary American job sites.

Pineros do the grunt work in America's woods. They plant trees and thin the mountains of brush and spindly timber that fuel forest fires out West. But often, The Bee found, they labor with little training, inadequate safety gear - and sometimes none of either. Injuries are common, as are substandard living conditions and payroll deductions that chisel their earnings.

The Bee found a range of problems, such as serious injuries, dangerous conditions and payroll conflicts, occurring in America's majestic national forests on jobs paid in tax dollars and overseen by federal officials.

The head of the U.S. Forest Service, Dale Bosworth, this week announced reforms designed to correct the problems, including holding government workers responsible for reporting abuses and halting unsafe jobs.

Crandall said the subcommittee is committed to examining the subject more closely but he said official action is not likely until after the Christmas holidays.

"We are going to be doing oversight," he said. "I don't know whether that will mean actual hearings or an investigation. But it is something we are going to work on. Period."

Dan Weiss, spokesman for Rep. Miller, said Friday that the lawmaker "is glad to learn that the forest subcommittee plans to look into this issue, and that the U.S. Forest Service has said it will attempt to improve working conditions on the national forests."

"But it is very important that the abuses ... not be allowed to continue," Weiss added. "And that will require real and immediate action by Congress and the administration."

About the writer:

• The Bee's Tom Knudson can be reached at (530) 582-5336 or tknudson@sacbee.com.