Editorial Farm Worker Progress

ICasting Off Disgrace' in Texas

Photo by Rigo Ordaz

won rights. "Back in 1967:' she said,"we organized a march to Austin totry and get a minimum wage of $1an hour. On the way, then-GovernorJohn Connally met us at a roadsidepark and told us we might as wellturn around and go back becauseneither he nor anyone else would beat the capitol to meet us."

Harrington and the farm workersdidn't turn back that day. The UFWfought for and eventually won raisesin the minimum wage. Then farmworkers began a drive for workers'compensation.

In 1977, a UFW-backed bill wasintroduced in both the Texas Houseand Senate, but it was quickly killed.

The United Farm Workers won aneight year battle with the enactmentlast year of landmark legislation grant­ing workers' compensation benefitsfor the first time to Texas farm workers.

After signing the bill into law, TexasGovernor Mark White proclaimed that"we have succeeded in casting offthe disgrace and dishonor of allowingan entire sector of our agriculturalwork force to do work that could behazardous to health and safety with­out the protection provided by basicmedical benefits enjoyed by all theother workers."

Rebecca Flores Harrington, stateUFW director and lobbyist, led thelong fight for the farm workers' newly

Passing out pens: the end of an eight year struggle.

The United Farm Workers ofAmerica was founded in Delano,California in March 1962

The title United Farm Workersof Americ•• AFL-CIO Foodand Justice is registered withthe United States Patent andTrademark Office.

DIrect all correspondence toFood lind JusticeP.O. Box 62. Keene. CA 93510

National Executive Board:

President:Cesar ChavezSecretary-Treasurer:Peter VelascoFirst Vice-President:Dolores HuertaSecond Vice-President:Frank OrtizThird Vice·President"David MartinezMembers:Arturo RodriguezAnuro MendozaOscar Mondragon8en Maddock

Editorisl Board

Cesar Chavez, EditorDavid Martinez, Associate EditorFrank OrtizArturo RodriguezArturo MendozaOscar MondragonBen MaddockRoberto de la CruzBarbara Macri

Writer:Fr. Ken IrrgangPhotographer:VIctor AlemanProduction Director:Paul Chavez

Magazine of the United FarmWorkers of America, AFL·CIOLa Paz. Keene. CA 93531

Volume 2. Number 2

FOOD AND JUSTICE

February 1985

®~11

1. U.S. Civil Rights Commission, 19782. U.S. Senate Labor & Public Welfare CommIttee. 19743. U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Migratory Labor, 19804. KRON-~V News Report. 19845. Caltf. Agricultural Labor RelatIons Board. 1980

Child abuse is getting a lot of attention. Butchild labor -- a form of child abuse -- is stillcommon in California, Arizona, Texas and through­out the nation.

Some 800,000 underaged children surviveby harvesting crops with their families acrossAmerica 1 Malnutrition among migrant kids is 10times higher than the national rate 2 ; farm workerbabies suffer 25% higher infant mortality3.andsome are born deformed because of toxic pesti­cides carelessly sprayed in the fields 4 Kids asyoung as six years old have voted in state-con­ducted union election since they qualified asworkers 5 . "Without them we couldn't survive:'one migrant parent admitted.

Many growers say children are in the fieldsbecause their parents want them to work.Some well-meaning people think the answer isbetter education and more social programs.We disagree!

Where farm workers enjoy the protections ofUFW contracts we have succeeded in nearly elimi­nating this vile abuse. These workers earn enoughso they don't have to migrate anymore with theirchildren; their kids go to school and they canafford to live in decent homes instead of rancidfarm labor camps.

But only about 20% of California farm workersenjoy these protections. For the rest, poverty andabuse are daily facts of life. We in the UFW areworking to change that. Y

2 3

5

Father Jorge Farias and UFW member Zulema Hernandez at the mass ofthanksgiving in San Juan.

UFW Texas Director Rebecca Flores Harrington speaks to farm workers andsupporters during the bill signing ceremony.

summer legislative session. Only thearch-conservative Texas Farm Bureauopposed the bill right up to the end.

When the legislation was approved,Harrington said "passing this lawafter an eight year struggle is a tributeto the rising political clout of the farmworker movement and the Hispaniccommunity. It is also a tribute tothose who have stood with us and

In 1979, the proposal was passed bythe House but died in the Senate.Two years later, when it appeared thebill would finally pass, agribusinessallies staged a filibuster during thefinal hours of the Senate's regularsession and killed the measure.

After Lt Governor Bill Hobby helpedwork out a compromise the bill finallypassed on June 30 in a special

4

Photo by Riga Ordaz

Texas Governor Mark White came to the Rio Grande Valley to sign the newworkers' compensation bill as farm workers looked on.

Memorial

7

80-year old mother. Sister Carol Annwas then hospitalized for hepatitis.She fell into a coma, recovered briefly,and died a few days later of kidneyand liver failure.

"She was never satisfied just to docharity work for people," UFW TexasDirector Rebecca Flores Harringtonsaid. "She was always struggling andfighting for the rights of poor people."

':.Just the way she was, the way shespoke -- she was a commanding figureat the capitol," according to stateSen. Hector Uribe.

Condolences from thousands offarm workers as well as community,religious and political leaders pouredin from across the state. The TexasLegislature unanimously passed aresolution praising Sister Carol AnnMessina for her love of the poor andher accomplishments on behalf offarm workers in Texas. '¥'

Sister Carol Ann Messinaand Cesar Chavez. L -~"''';j=-.

IShe wasn1t satisfied to do charity work l

Farm workers in Texas are mourningthe death of Sister Carol Ann Messina,47, a tireless champion of farm wor­ker rights who died January 14 aftera brief illness.

Sister Carol Ann played a key rolein passage of important legislation forfarm workers, including coverageunder workers' compensation (seestory on page 3) and a 1981 measurebanning the back-breaking short­handled hoe in Texas.

In 1979, with financial aid from theNational Farm Worker Ministry, SisterCarol Ann joined the UFW staff andbegan her work in the Rio GrandeValley. She lobbied, worked to relievethe suffering of workers hard-hit bythe 1983 Texas freeze, and spent timeon voter registration drives and politi­cal campaigns.

Last December she returned to herhome in New Jersey to visit her

of the new law, and bread and wine.Governor White travelled to the Rio

Grande Valley in South Texas to signthe historic new law as farm workerslooked on. After signing the bill theGovernor passed out pens to farmworkers and autographed their redand black UFW banners

He told hundreds of assembled farmworkers and local officials that the billsigning was "a proud moment for me,the leadership of the Texas House andSenate. Most of all, this is a proudmoment for the legislators, farm laborleaders, and farm workers of Texaswho have worked long and hard forthis day. No longer will we toleratethe exclusion under law of those whopick our produce, harvest our crops,and put food on our tables."

"Governor White travelledto the Rio Grande Valleyin South Texas to signthe historic new law asfarm workers looked on.After signing the bill theGovernor passed out pensto farm workers and auto­graphed theti red andblack UFW banners. "

Jim Harrington, Rebecca's husbandand director of the Texas AmericanCivil Liberties Union, said credit forthe victory belongs to the farmworkers who sacrificed and organizedto ensure success: "It is you who,after more than eight years of fightingand never giving up, achieved thevictory."

After the mass and signing cere­mony, officials, guests and farm wor­kers met at the UFW hall in San Juanfor a fiesta of singing and dancing.

'¥'

"John Connally met usat a roadside park andtold us we might as wellturn around and go backbecause neither he noranyone else would be atthe capitol to meet us. "

State Senator Hector Uribe wasanother co-sponsor. He viewed pas­sage of the bill -- along with otherUFW victories such as outlawing theinfamous short-handled hoe and win­ning regulations to provide fieldtoilets, drinking water, and hand­washing facilities for farm workers -­as a legislative "renaissance" and asign that Texas is emerging from the"Dark Ages."

Farm workers celebrated on the daythe bill was signed with a mass of

" ...passing this law afteran eight year struggleis a trtbute to the risingpolitical clout of the farmworker movement andthe Hispanic community. "thanksgiving at the Shrine of Our Ladyof San Juan. Part of the pageantry offlags, music and processions was theoffering by farm workers of symbolicgifts including many of the fruits andvegetables they help produce, copies

6

worked for justice in our struggle."State Rep. Juan Hinojosa, one of

the bill's sponsors, called the hard­fought effort the end of a "war." "Wefarm workers (Hinojosa grew up as afarm worker in the Rio Grande Valley)were treated as a subclass, out ofsight, ignored, suffering by ourselves.But we never gave up because webelieved in justice."

Issues

Deukmejian Prosecutor Hands Grower Names OfSecret Witnesses Who Informed On Company

Prosecutors for Gov. George Deuk­mejian allowed attorneys for a majorlettuce grower unrestricted access toconfidential files containing the namesof farm workers who bore witnessagainst the company in return for thepromise of anonymity.

One attorney and two paralegalsfrom the Los Angeles lawfirm ofGibson, Dunn & Crutcher -- whichrepresents Bruce Church Inc. -- spentseveral days last fall in Sacramentoreviewing 15 boxes of privileged files.The data covered two years of investi­gation and litigation againt Church.They were used in the successfulprosecution of the company for refus­ing to bargain in good faith with itsfarm workers.

The five-member Agricultural LaborRelations Board ruled in December

8

1983 that Church broke the lawby failing to negotiate in good faithfor a contract with the United FarmWorkers.

The ALRB files shown to Church'slawyers feature internal staff memos,attorney-client communications andother confidential documents. Theyalso include the names of hundreds offarm worker witnesses, many of whomwere promised confidentiality by theALRB. ALRB investigators and prose­cutors often agree to keep growersfrom learning the identity of workerwitnesses because many farm workerswill not otherwise cooperate for fea rof reprisals from their employers.

"Now it is well known among farmworkers throughout the state thatGov. Deukmejian's men will turn yourname and what you said over to the

The toll in human tragedycaused by Gov. Deukme­jian can be seen in thefaces of grape workerGustavo Guzman and hisfamily. He was fired in1984 after joining co­workers in showing sup­port for the UFW atLucas & Sons Ranchnear De/ano. "/ wasfired a year ago and theALRB has not even seta hearing date" in hiscase, Guzman said.

UNFAIR

LABoR

PRAC11cE

FILES

boss if you talk to the ALRB aboutgrower abuses," UFW PresidentCesar Chavez said.

ALRB General Counsel David Stirlingagreed to show the files to Church'sattorneys. "What Deukmejian's prose­cutor (Stirling) has done is analogousto a district attorney giving convictedcriminals privileged information abouttheir cases which are on appeal,"California Assemblyman RichardAlatorre said. "It's outrageous. It'sunheard of in National Labor RelationsBoard practice."

Alatorre authored the 1975 lawwhich created the ALRB. The stateAuditor General is investigatingStirling's release of the confidential

Cartoon by Kathy Ruiz Garin

ALRB files to the grower at Alatorre'srequest.

"Any National Labor Relations Boardgeneral counsel who released suchsensitive documents to his adversaryin a pending litigation would besubject to removal from office,"Alatorre said. Church is appealing itsconviction by the ALRB. "By hisactions, Mr. Stirling has made himselfa branch of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher(Church's lawfirm)," the assemblymanconcluded.

After the five member ALRB learnedthe Church files had been released itsought a court order prohibitingStirling from turning over the data.On December 3, Sacramento Superior

9

Eugenio and Mati/de Lopez (husband and wife) were n~t recalled .t? their .jobs at Tex-Cal Land Management Inc. in Delano. Eugenio had testIfIed agamstthe company before the ALRB and is a known UFW supporter. Tex-Cal fo~~­

men told Mati/de, "the company wants to take all the UFW members outand that she should "never mind going back to work."

Court Judge John Sapunor blockedStirling from releasing the materialsto Church without first discussing thedata with ALRB members

ALRB members and the UFWpraised the ruling. But Board MemberJerome Waldie said Stirling's releaseof the files to Church was "the mostoutrageous conduct" in exposingfarm workers to possible intimidationand retaliation since Deukmejian tookoffice in January 1983.

Stirling, a Deukmejian appointee,has indicated that he will continue togive attorneys for Church access toALRB files in his possession even10

though their client's case is still beingconsidered by the state Court ofAppeals. He also rejected a requestfrom ALRB members to follow docu­ment request guidelines observed bythe National Labor Relations Board'sgeneral counsel in Washington, D.C.

Stirling, the chief enforcement offi­cer of the ALRB, agreed to requestsby Church's lawyers to examine theagency's files even though he admit­ted they had not been purged ofconfidential and privileged documents,including the names of secret farmworker witnesses. Y

Pesticides

Dr. Marion Moses and Agriculture's 'Deadly Dozen'

Dr. Marion Moses

In this issue we are pleased to introduce you to Dr. Marion Moses, along-time friend and volunteer for La Causa, and now the medicaldirector of our farm worker clinics.

Dr. Moses is one of the country's leading specialists in environmentaldisease, particularlv the effect of pesticides on farm workers and on thefood supplV for American consumers.

In coming months, we will present a series of features on 12 agricul­tural pesticides which Dr. Moses calls "The Deadlv Dozen. " She ISconvinced these pesticides should be banned in our fields, orchardsand vineyards.

ThiS series will help make you aware of the danger these chemicalspose for farm workers as well as consumers.

11

There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation.There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize.

There is a failure here that topples all our success.Moses is insistent that Food and

Justice readers realize she is not apesticide alarmist who cries "wolf!" atthe sight of any multi-syllabic chem­ical name ending in "ide" or "phate."

Moses' eyes flash with anger whenshe warns that she does not want tobe portrayed as a pesticide crusaderwho jumps at the chance to proclaimthe latest cancer-causing chemical."It's no wonder people are getting sodeadened to the issue that nowadaysyou see bumper stickers like 'Livingcauses cancer:" she said.

Moses said there are many pesti­cides to be genuinely concernedabout, and it is in the interest of both

13

One day in Salinas, Chavez, watchingher work feverishly in a make-shiftclinic, asked, "Marion, why don't youbecome a doctor?" That remarkspurred her into taking the last stepin realizing her childhood ambition.

"Call it whatever you wantto -- intuition or whatever, "she said, "but I knew at Ithat moment I wantedto be a doctor when I, ,grew up.

After searching for a medical schoolthat would accept a woman in her30s, she received her M.D. degreefrom Temple University in Philadel­phia at the age of 40.

During her residency at Mount SinaiHospital in New York, Moses focus­sed her professional interest on anissue which she was first exposed toin California -- the effects of agricul­tural poisons on workers. This interestdrew her back to California. "After ,all," she said, "there aren't a lot offarm workers on the East Side of Dr. Marion Moses: fulfilling aManhattan." childhood ambition.

Moses' professional credentialsequal her compassion and dedication.In addition to her professional degrees,memberships, and committee appoint­ments, she has written extensively onpesticides in The American Journalof Industrial Medicine, EnvironmentalResearch, and Environmental andOccupational Medicine.

"I couldn't believe it whenI found out the way farmworkers were beingabused right in our ownback yard, " she said.

California and took a position withthe Kaiser Foundation Hospital. Offand on she enrolled in pre-med cour­ses at the University of California,Berkeley. It was there that she heardabout Cesar Chavez and La Causa."I couldn't believe it when I found outthe way farm workers were beingabused right in our own back yard,"she said.

Moses soon began organizing sup­port for farm workers in the Bay Area.She walked her first picketline duringthe UFW's Schenley and DiGiorgioboycotts in 1966. As the grape strikeand boycott in the Delano area con­tinued (it was to last five years), Mosesbecame more and more involved. Shewent to Delano on weekends to help."Was that hectic!" she said. "I'dmake the five hour drive at 5:30 a.m.,take care of as many farm workerpatients as I could, and then driveback late Sunday night."

Finally, Moses agreed to work fLjll­time in Delano for a month. That wasin July 1966. She ended up stayingfive years.

In 1967, when it became obviousthat the UFW would not win con­tracts without a boycott of grapes,Moses was asked to go to Toronto towork on the boycott. She protestedto Cesar Chavez: "What about theclinic? Who's going to take care ofthe medical needs here?" The answercame fast, she said, when Chavezasked her: "Marion, what good willit be to have a clinic if we don't havea union?"

Moses worked on the boycott inMontreal, Philadelphia, and New Yorkbefore returning to California in 1969.

After high school, Moses settled onbecoming a nurse instead of a doctor."I was broken-hearted when Dad toldme there wasn't enough money toput me through medical school," shesaid. "And it made matters worsewhen he added that girls should benurses anyway, not doctors."

So she attended Georgetown Uni­versity in Washington, D.C., earnedher degree, and practiced nursing.She also received a master's degreeat Columbia University in New Yorkand taught nursing classes.

In the early 1960s she went to

Dr. Marion Moses, 49, was onlyseven years old when she made upher mind to be a doctor.

Born in Wheeling, West Virginiathe second of eight children, Moseswas only seven years old when heryoung sister, Margaret Rose, died. Shesensed that her death shouldn't havehappened, someone should have beenable to save her. "Call it whatever youwant to -- intuition or whatever," shesaid, "but I knew at that momentI wanted to be a doctor when Igrew up."

A few years later, as a sophomorein high school, Moses experiencedanother event, one that would leadher to the farm workers movement inCalifornia. She read John Steinbeck'sGrapes of Wrath.

She read it and re-read it. Hangingon the wall of her office at United FarmWorkers headquarters in La Paz -­next to a modern icon-like picture ofthe late Dorothy Day, her friend andformer patient -- is a quotation fromthat book done in calligraphy by apersonal friend:

12

farm workers and consumers to knowabout them. These include "TheDeadly Dozen" which Food andJustice will highlight in comingmonths.

These 12 pesticides have four thingsin common, Moses said. They havepoisoned or killed farm workers, leftharmful residues on marketed food,and caused cancer and birth defectsin laboratory animals.

"The Deadly Dozen," Moses said,"are pesticides no grower should everuse on crops or fields. No farm workershould ever come in contact withthem and no consumer should everhave to worry about them being onfood sold in supermarkets!" Y

Dr. Marion Moses (second fromright) meeting with the staff of the

farm workers' clinic in Salinas.

1415

Photo Essay

Child Abuse on the Farm

16

What does the future hold?Photo by Cathy Murphy

Child labor is a form of child abuse.

17

"Where farm workers enjoy the protections of UFW contracts we have succeeded in nearly eliminating this vile abuse."

18 19

~':'!k,-~

Taking a break.

survive unless the children work.

For grape workers there is no child care in the vineyards.

20 21

Profile

(lea, off and return)

Name _

23

boring!"Getting involved in volunteer work

was as natural to Eggers as breathing.It was a way of life at her Catholicelementary and secondary schools.She also credits her mother and Fr.Marion Douglas, a priest doing inner­city social work in Cincinnati, forinfluencing her.

Eggers chose social work as hermajor at Ball State University inMuncie. She received her bachelor'sdegree and was planning for a mas-

Lawyer For The Farm Workers

Ellen Eggers and son, Tomas, at La Paz.

When Ellen Eggers, 34, an attorneyfor the United Farm Workers, talksabout her involvement with the UFW,she laughs. She left her home in FortWayne, Indiana for California to vol­unteer for just one summer, she said.That was in 1972. She's been withthe farm workers ever since.

"I'm a little like the comedian whosaid he spent a week in Philadelphialast night. Well, I spent 13 years withthe UFW in the summer of 1972. Theonly difference is it hasn't been

___other___ $5__$10__$25

It is a bitter irony of our timesthat those who produce the

richest bounty of food in historytoo often don't have enough to

feed their own children.Some California crops are

notorious for employing largenumbers of children. Like the

onions, where the youngboy pictured, is working.

At ranches where farm workersare protected by United Farm

Workers contracts, child laborhas been largely eliminated.

There farm workers earn decentpay and benefits so their

children don't have to work. Buttoo many farm worker children

still labor under a hot sun inonion fields and other crops.Hundreds of good people in

the United Farm Workers arespending their lives fighting thisvile form of child abuse. But theycan't do it alone. You can helpend child labor for farm workers.

Fighting Child Abuse

(please print)Address _

City State Zip _Please make checks payable to United Farm Workers.22

Cesar Chavez, UFW, P.O. Box 62, Keene, CA 93570

Dear Cesar Chavez:Enclosed is my gift to help the United Farm Workers

end child labor in the fields:

Farm Worker Progress

The farm worker service centers are named in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

25

The King Fund: Helping Farm Workerssuffered severe head injuries whenthe store he was in collapsed. It wasseveral months before he partiallyrecovered from a coma and completeparalysis.

Estela Velez, director of the MLKservice center in nearby Huron, im­mediately contacted Fratti's wife,Alejandra, in Mexicali, Mexico andarranged for her and two of herchildren to come to be with Fratti.Velez found housing for them, drovethem to see Fratti every day, andobtained medical and disability bene­fits for the injured worker. Velez wasaided by the service center director

Each day the Martin Luther King Jr.Fund, and arm of the farm workers'movement, helps people with themyriad of social and economic prob­lems they face through 14 servicecenters located in agricultural com­munities across California.

One interesting service center casefollowed the severe earthquake thatdevastated the central California cityof Coalinga on May 2, 1983.

Amazingly, only one person wasseriously injured: Walter Fratti, a37-year-old UFW member who hadgone to town that day to translate fortwo Spanish-speaking workers. Fratti

UFW attorney Ellen Eggers review­ing a brief at her desk in the legaldepartment.

La Paz is her three-year-old son,Tomas. As a single parent, the pres­sures of raising a child and workingat a job requiring much travel andlong hours can be frustrating at times,she admitted. "But," she quicklyadded, "I don't know what I'd dowithout Tomas. He means the worldto me.""¥,

ter's in social work when the summerof 1972 came along. "I didn't knowmuch about the UFW at that time,"she said, "but a good friend showedme a brochure about the UFW thatpleaded for volunteers. 'So I went forthe summer. Little did I know."

After working as a boycott organ­izer for almost three years in the LosAngeles area, Eggers was assignedto the UFW legal department's Salinasoffice in June 1975. "I really gothooked there," she said. "I couldn'tbelieve the range of activities. Every­thing from taking a declaration in abroccoli field to arguing cases beforethe California Supreme Court!"

Two months later she returned toIndiana to begin law school. But eachsummer she returned to California towork in the UFW legal department.She received her law degree fromValparaiso University in 1978, passedthe Indiana and Michigan bars, re­turned to California, passed the Cali­fornia bar. ..and went to work.

The wide range of legal activitiesthat impressed Ellen Eggers in Salinasin 1975 soon became her life. Eggers'assignments have included majorcases involving Gov. George Deuk­mejian's non-enforcement of the Cali­fornia Agricultural Labor RelationsAct, and recently, a multi-milliondollar suit filed in state court againstThe Vii/age Voice for its libel of CesarChavez and the UFW.

Eggers is popular at La Paz becauseof her ready laugh, friendliness, andoptimism. But she can also getfighting mad.

One thing that makes her see redis the flagrant disregard for the farmlabor law passed in 1975: "How politi­cians like Deukmejian can get electedand then make a shambles of a goodlaw we .fought so hard to win infuri­ates me. We've got to get him out ofoffice and the law back in force!"

Another big part of Eggers' life at24

27

Almost a year after the earthquake,Fratti finally was well enough to gohome. Guicho visits the family inMexicali, across the internationalborder from Calexico, every month.He delivers Fratti's disability checkand looks after other family needs.

Throughout the long ordeal, Ale­jandra Fratti repeatedly expressed herthanks for the help the Fratti familyreceived from the UFW and the MLKservice centers. "I don't know whatwe would have done if Walter hadn'tbelonged to the union," she saidY

-.......The Salinas MLK Service Center's director, Juan Huerta (seated at right)meets with farm worker clients.

in Parlier, Estela Juarez.Three months after the earthquake,

Fratt, still in a coma, was transferredto Sharp Memorial Hospital in SanDiego. Minnie Ybarra, who heads theMLK service center in San Ysidro,about 20 miles away, took Fratti'sfamily into her own home for severaldays until she could arrange housingfor them. Ybarra stayed in constantcontact with the family while Fratti'scondition slowly improved. "It washectic, but we managed somehow,"she said.

After six months in San Diego,Fratti was transferred to a Brawleyhospital so he could be closer to hisfamily during a four-month period ofconvalescence. There Fratti and hisfamily came under the care of JuanGuicho, director of the service centerin nearby Calexico.

//

/

A farm worker turns for help to King Fund Service Center Director JuanHuerta in Salinas.26

Controversy

Even Growers Admit the Boycott Works

United Farm Workers attorney Ellen Eggers is one of themany dedicated men and women who are helping win abetter life for farm workers.

But she and her colleagues in the UFW's Legal Departmentcan't do it alone. They need others who want to give ofthemselves for this good cause.

If you or someone you know is an attorney -- or if you'rejust interested in serving full time with the farm workers'movement -- send in for more information by returningthis form.

tear off and return

Cesar Chavez, UFW, P.O. Box 62, Keene, CA 93570

Dear Cesar Chavez:

I would like more information about your work forsocial justice.Name _

(please print)Address _City _State Zip _Phone _

28

The United Farm Workers has beenwinning boycotts against growers for19 years. In the past most in agribusi­ness would not admit boycotts weresuccessful. Even when the boycottforced growers to agree to theirworkers' demands, agricultural em­ployers would never concede that theygave in because of pressure fromfarm workers.

Daryl Arnold ata 1974 picketline.

But times are changing.The UFW's boycott of Bruce Church

Inc. is becoming so effective that testi­monials on its success are comingfrom unusual places, such as officialmagazines published by the most anti­union grower organizations.

Take the January 1985 issue ofWestern Grower and Shipper, a pub­lication of the anti-UFW WesternGrowers Association. In it WGA Presi­dent Daryl Arnold wrote that the boy­cott "is being used successfully bythe United Farm Workers to get

people and companies to join them ...against a variety of people and pro­ducts in agriculture."

"Each day, more and more groceryretailers and fast food chains arefinding themselves faced with makingdifficult decisions on whether or notto join in the UFW's new, high-techboycott campaign," Arnold stated.The Western Growers Association,

Photo by Xres Fraley

which Arnold heads, helps growersbreak the law by counseling employerson how to intimidate workers whoback the UFW WGA attorneys haveadvised growers to refuse to negotiatein good faith for contracts. Arnold hasled efforts in Sacramento to gut thestate law that guarantees the farmworkers' right to organize. He has alsohelped raise millions of dollars for anti­farm worker politicians such as Repub­lican Governor George Deukmejian.

So when Daryl Arnold says the boy­cott is working, it must be true. Y

29

Guest Column

Photo by Dennis Hearne

By State Senate President Pro Tern David Roberti

day in court.I believe that the people of the

State of California want their lawsvigorously enforced, and that meansall laws -- especially those whichprotect California's farm workers.

"I believe that the peopleof the State of Californiawant their laws vigorouslyenforced, and that meansall laws -- especially thosewhich protect California'sfarm workers. "That is why we in the Legislature arepreparing once again to do battlewith the Governor and his budget toensure that "law and order" meansequal protection for farm workers aswell as the victims of other crimes.

y

of the act, growers are encouragedto destroy the rights of farm workersto organize and bargain without fearof the consequences.

(As President Pro "Tempore of the State Senate, David Roberti leads theupper house of the California Legislature. He has been an outspoken allyof labor and a champion of legislative reforms in such areas as consumerprotection and comparable worth. Senator Roberti has been a staunchadvocate for farm workers since his election to the Legislature in 1966.)

31

...<r..-California Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti addressing the UFW'sconstitutional convention last September in Bakersfield.

"What would people say ifa crusading district attorneysuddenly announced thatthe courts and police weretoo "biased" in favor ofthe rights ofcrime victimsl"

As general counsel, Governor Deuk­mejian's appointee, David Stirling,has made a bad situation worse byallowing an enormous backlog ofworker complaints to accumulate,causing tragic and needless delay.Lately, the general counsel has begunto reduce that backlog by wholesaledismissal of many worker and unioncomplaints, denying workers their

"~ law notenforced isworse than nolaw at all."

seems terribly shocked or surprisedwhen Governor Deukmejian says thatCalifornia's Agricultural Labor Rela­tions Board is too "biased" in favorof the workers who are victimized bythe illegal acts of powerful growers.

In his first two budgets, GovernorDeukmejian first cut 30% from theALRB's law enforcement budget, thenvetoed the Legislature's $1 millionprogram to enforce compliance withthe ALRB's orders. Those ALRBorders call for millions of dollars inback pay for thousands of farmworkers who lost jobs or wagesbecause growers violated the law.Without such a compliance program,the Agricultural Labor Relations Actis a paper tiger. Without enforcement

A law which is not enforced isworse than no law at all.

California Governor George Deuk­mejian may be tough on "law andorder," but there is more to law andorder than crime in the streets -­there is crime in the workplace, too.Unfortunately, when it comes to lawenforcement in California's work­places and fields, the Governor seemsmore concerned with protecting em­ployers accused of breaking the lawthan with protecting the workers whoare victimized by them.

What would people say if a cru­sading district attorney suddenlyannounced that the courts and policewere too "biased" in favor of therights of crime victims? Yet no one

30

Farm Workers History

Cesar Chavez. Store Watch Program. P.O. Box 62. Keene. CA 93570

D I want to help you watch for products boycotted by the UFW.

Please list the supermarket in your area that you could keepan eye on (If you could do more than one include otherson a separate slip of paper). We will send you a storewatch information kit.Your name _Address _City _State Zip _Phone _Name of Supermarket _Address _City _State Zip _32

The Wobblies and the Wheatland Riot.and farm workers. By 1813, althoughtheir actual numbers were small, theWobblies had become influential inthe state.

But the growers were rich andpowerful, and a struggle betweenthe bosses and the Wobblies wasinevitable.

The Wheatland Riot happened be­cause growers commonly advertisedfor many more workers than theyneeded. In August 1913, Wheatland,Calif. grower E.B. Durst advertised in'

The Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University.

"There were nine toilets for 2,800 people (1,500 were·women and children)."

33

One of the early attempts to organizefarm workers was begun in the early1900s by the Industrial Workers of theWorld (IWW), know as the Wobblies.Their rapid gains in strength in thewestern part of the U.S. led to a tragicevent known as'the Wheatland Riot.

The Wobblies were formed inChicago in 1905. They began organ­izing in California but had to battle forthe right to exist with hostile police,sheriff's deputies and vigilantees.The IWW organized lumber workers

an eYealit for lis'.

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The Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University.Workers met at E.S. Durst ranch in Wheat land, Calif: "It's for the kids that we are doing this."

California and Nevada for 2,700workers when he needed only 1,500to harvest his crops. Soon over 2,800workers streamed onto his ranchlooking for jobs.

The extra workers, too poor tokeep moving, stayed in a miserablelabor camp owned by Durst. Manyslept in the fields. They had to buytheir food at the company storebecause Durst would not allow localstores to make deliveries at the camp.Workers were forced to buy lemonadefrom Durst's cousin because drinkingwater was not allowed in the fields.There were nine toilets for 2,800people (1,500 were women and chil­dren). The stench and misery wereterrible.

On August 3, 1913, the day of theriot, two IWW organizers called amass meeting at the camp. When anorganizer -- Blackie Ford -- held a sickbaby and told the crowd, "it's for thekids that we are doing this," law offi­cials interrupted the meeting. Oneofficer fired a shot in the air -- "toquiet the mob," he said -- causing thepeople to panic.

A riot followed the shooting andafterward a district attorney, a deputysheriff, and two workers lay dead.The National Guard was called in andallover California Wobblies werearrested. The two IWW organizers inWheatland -- Ford and Herman Suhr-- were convicted of murder andsentenced to life imprisonment.

The only positive thing that cameout of the riot was the widespread at­tention the tragedy received. "For thefirst time," historian Carey McWilliamswrote, "the people of California weremade to realize, even if vaguely, theplight of its thousands of migratoryworkers .. The deplorable conditionsunder which they lived and workedwere also brought into light for thefirst time." Y

34 35

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