CAL/OSHA Seeks to Strengthen Farmworker Safety with Proactive Inspections

Guest Column | How Farmworkers Outlawed ‘El Cortito’ 50 Years Ago | The King City Rustler | Your Local News Source in King City, California

For decades in the Salinas Valley, the short-handle hoe, known as “El Cortito,” was used for weeding and thinning rows of crops that kept farmworkers stooped over for long hours each day. Workers were only able to stand and stretch when they reached the end of a row, finishing each workday with stressed and strained spines. Over many years, the stoop labor was not only physically debilitating, often resulting in permanent back injuries, but also…