The State - News from Sept. 12, 1985

Secretary of Labor William Brock gave states 18 months to establish rules to provide toilets and drinking water for field workers or face federal intervention. He said that for any state that failed to act within that time, the federal government would issue a field sanitation standard. Brock described the lack of toilets for field workers as unsafe and unsanitary, and added that “basic human decency dictates that farm workers should be provided with sanitation facilities.” Currently only 13 states--including California--have field sanitation standards.