Vigils held to remember farmworker who died during heat wave

By Bridget Chavez

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    PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — Three different vigils were held across the Portland area to honor and remember a farmworker who died while working at a nursery in St. Paul during the heat wave this week.

“We’re here to honor Sebastian Francisco Perez’ life, farmworker, son, father, brother, dad who died because of extreme heat waves,” April Alvarez, the field director for PUCN, Oregon’s Farm Workers Union, said.

The vigils were held in St. Paul at the nursery where Perez died, in North Portland at the Guatemalan Consulate and one in Hermiston, Oregon.

Perez was 38-years-old and originally from Guatemala.

PUCN is now demanding action so that workers are protected when they have to work in extreme conditions.

“We’re pushing for, you know, clean, freshwater for employers to provide shade when there is more than 90 degrees of heat outside, and we’re just pushing for general taking care of their employees in general,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez said they’ve been pushing for these protections since March of 2021.

“With Sebastian’s life lost, it is clear more than ever that you know OSHA and employers of farmworkers are taking care of the people who bring food every day to our tables,” she said.

Marta Guembes is the honorary consul from Guatemala for the state of Oregon, has been in touch with Perez’s wife and mother, who are both in Guatemala.

“It’s heartbroken and very unfortunate that we lost one of our Guatemalan sons,” Guembes said.

Alvarez said farmworkers can’t afford to wait any longer for these emergency rules to be put in place.

“The time is now to take action, and that’s the biggest takeaway because we don’t want another life lost, she said.

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