[ad_1]
—story by Ross Courtney
Agricultural employment teams are making a brand new push this spring for firms to make use of a coaching curriculum designed to stop sexual harassment in Washington’s specialty crops.
It’s known as “¡Basta! Stop Sexual Harassment in Agriculture.” (“¡Basta!” is Spanish for “Sufficient!”)
The curriculum, with sources out there in English and Spanish, options dramatized movies set amid the orchards, ladders and bins that Washington’s farmworkers and supervisors will acknowledge.
The package, which additionally consists of coaching guides and mannequin insurance policies, was launched in 2019 by the College of Washington Pacific Northwest Agricultural Security and Well being — or PNASH — Heart. This spring, PNASH granted $7,500 to an ag employer affiliation to assist unfold the phrase.
“We wish to make it extra of a supported exercise within the trade,” stated Michael Gempler, govt director of the Washington Growers League, a Yakima-based ag employment nonprofit.
He envisions distributing lots of of thumb drives to farms everywhere in the state.
Gempler additionally hopes to encourage employers already utilizing the coaching to make use of it commonly. The subject must be addressed greater than as soon as, he stated.
“Altering human habits is difficult,” he stated.
The brand new funding additionally pays for extra content material, particularly a brand new “train-the-trainer” video and one other about legal responsibility and authorized rights and tasks, stated Jody Early, a UW professor of nursing and well being research and the principal investigator for ¡Basta!
The curriculum improvement was fueled by the #MeToo motion, Early stated, in addition to some sexual harassment investigations led by the Equal Employment Alternative Fee at Central Washington fruit firms within the early 2010s. A number of dozen firms and organizations — and most significantly, staff themselves — helped put it collectively.
“Farmworkers have been calling for this from the start,” Early stated.
The Kershaw Cos., primarily based in Yakima, have been utilizing the coaching curriculum for a number of years, stated Chafeka Abdellatif, director of human sources.
The setting and language of the movies assist a “sensitive topic” resonate with orchard workers who typically work far-off from the primary workplace, Abdellatif stated.
“It’s an excellent instrument for the trade to make the most of,” she stated. “It’s essential that sexual harassment is addressed.”
To order a free ¡Basta! coaching package from PNASH, go to: deohs.washington.edu/pnash/basta-toolkit. •
[ad_2]