CRLA and Monterey County Board of Supervisors Commemorate Supreme Court victory ending use of “El Cortito” 50 years ago
About El Cortito
“El Cortito” was a short-handled hoe that forced agricultural workers to stoop over all day long for decades in the Salinas Valley – a position that led to debilitating, permanent back injuries. By keeping workers bent over, el cortito asserted the growers’ dominance over the workers and reinforced a systemic disregard for their health – living up to its nickname of “the devil’s arm” in Spanish, as the agricultural workers called it.
CRLA Takes on the Case
In 1969, Maurice “Mo” Jourdane, former CRLA Attorney and retired Superior Court Judge, was approached by a group of agricultural workers in Soledad who voiced their complaints about el cortito. They wanted justice, and their years of protesting led to no success. Cesar Chavez also urged Jourdane to take the case.
Community Worker and former farmworker Hector de la Rosa challenged Jourdane to weed and thin crops with el cortito for a day. Jourdane immediately experienced the excruciating pain it caused and began working on the case.
The Legal Battle
Along with Marty Glick, former CRLA Executive Director and Salinas Office Director, Jourdane began a six-year legal battle to ban el cortito. CRLA first petitioned to the California Industrial Safety Board that el cortito aged agricultural workers’ bodies prematurely, citing that men in their 30s and 40s resembled 70-year-olds with advanced arthritis. The board rejected their petition in 1973 and claimed that the tool was not unsafe and the cost of replacing it outweighs the harm from its use.
CRLA took the battle to next level and went to the California Supreme Court, along with lead plaintiff Sebastian Carmona and other courageous Salinas Valley agricultural workers who joined him.
El Cortito Ban and Impact
On April 7, 1975, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of CRLA and agricultural workers and banned the use of el cortito. The California Industrial Safety Board then issued Administrative Interpretation Number 62, which stated “the use of the short handle hoe shall be deemed a violation of safety order Section 8 CAC 3316.”
Its ban was a victory on many fronts – agricultural workers’ health, the farmworker rights movement, and a critical moment in CRLA’s legal advocacy and community lawyering. Community lawyering builds relationships and shared power to generate legal strategies for lasting change driven by the expertise and vision of communities. These workers fought for their justice and united with CRLA, who helped them achieve their vision.
