Monterey County celebrates 50 years since banning “El Cortito,” and historians tell of effects of using it
MONTEREY, Calif. (KION) - At a special meeting on Tuesday, leaders in Monterey County are celebrating 50 years since the banning of an agricultural tool known as “El Cortito,” which was a fundamental part of the harvesting process, but which had a major impact on the health of the farm workers and braceros who used it.
Historian Jose Sanchez has compiled hundreds of documents and interviewed braceros about their experiences using the cortito. One of them, former bracero Javier Castro Arce, recounts how this tool left him with back pain and his hands reflect years of hard work.
Sanchez was also able to speak with Jose Pedro Cabrera, grandson of Cayetano Cabrera Ramirez, a former bracero who worked in Monterey County in the 1960s. Pedro Cabrera is a third generation farm worker, and to this day works his land with “el cortito.”
For many years, the short-handled tool was used in agricultural fields in Monterey County until one day a farm worker raised his voice after it took a toll on his health.
In the 1975 case of Carmona v. Division of Industrial Safety, the California Rural Legal Assistance, or CRLA, succeeded in stopping the use of the “el cortito,” known as the short-handled hoe, which caused permanent injuries to generations of farm workers.
In 1967, a group of farmworkers from Soledad filed a complaint about the use of “el cortito.” Led by Sebastian Carmona, the case was prosecuted by attorneys Maurice “Mo” Jourdane and Marty Glick, and Hector De La Rosa, a CRLA worker. The legal fight took six years, until the California Supreme Court finally heard the matter and ruled in favor of CRLA and the farmworkers. The California Industrial Safety Board then banned the use of “el cortito,” on April 7, 1975.
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors will also recognize Los Tigres del Norte, a group that is a legend of Mexican norteño music. This for their work in defense of immigrants throughout their career, and will declare every June 10 as “Los Tigres del Norte Day” in Monterey County.
