Farm Workers Face Challenges 30 Years Later
Every union had been vanquished.
B ut C e s a r c h a n g e d h is to r y ’s
course 35 years ago w hen he helped
lead a five-year strike and boycott
against D elano-area grape grow ers
in C alifo m ia’s great Central Valley.
It was one o f those 1 ittle m iracles o f
our tim e w hen, on July 29, 1970, 29
table-grape g ro w ers cam e to the
U F W 's D elano head q u arters and
signed their first-ever union con-
A rturo S. R odhigi fz
for T hc
P ortland O bstrstr
Thirty years ago, C esar C havez
and the farm w orkers did the im pos
sible: They overcam e the aw esom e
p o w ero fC alifo m ia agribusiness.
In the 1960s, Cesar and the United
Farm Workers (UFW) were struggling
against history. During the preceding 80
years, every organizing attempt had been
defeated. Every strike had been crushed.
tracts.
M uch has changed since then,
and much has rem ained the same.
Organizing fann workers today is a
difficult and, at tim es, daunting task.
But it is nothing com pared to the
obstacles faced by C esar and the
UFW in our early days.
U nfortunately, there is still a lot o f
w ork to be done to secure a decent life
for the people w ho are responsible
for bringing fo o d to o u rtab les. M any
farm w orkers labor long hours in the
fields for poverty w ages. A ccording
to a recent report by H um an Rights
W atch, nearly 800,000 children still
w ork in agriculture. These young
people can suffer even m ore than
adults from exposure to potentially
dangerous pesticides. F an n w orkers
usually have no health benefits and
often do not have access to toilets
and fresh water.
But som e things are improving.
Since a new organizing drive began in
1994 - a year after C esar’s death -
farm w orkers have voted for the UFW
in 20 union elections and signed 24
new - or first-tim e - contracts with
grow ers in a num b ero fcro p s, includ
ing lettuce, roses and w ine grapes.
U FW m em bership has grown to more
than 27,000 m em bers, up from about
Las+ Chance
Summer Cleanup
Carpel &- Ulphosiery cleaning
$ %
M artin C lean in g
Service
C arpet cleaning: 1 Hall Free and
Pre-Spray Traffic Area
• Vacuum $5.00 each area
• Stairs $1.50 Ea.
Additional Services
Auto * Boat
R.V. Cleaning * Deodorizing
Pet Odor Treatment
Dirt Resistant (Teflon) Protection
Spot & Stain Removal
Upholstery Cleaning
•
Sofa under 6 ft. $69.00 *
Ottoman $20
Sofa over 6 ft. $79.00 - $99.00
* Dining Chair $20
Loveseat $49.00 * Chair $24.00
Recliner $29.00-$49.00
»Sectional $69.00-$ 119.00
•
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r 2 Areas Or More
State Farm is continuing efforts to
m eet the needs o f its custom ers with
the new bilingual custom er response
center. T he El Paso site is another
$7 coo
2 A rea M inim um
,
, .
. T in r
Each Area
F re e
vice Center, a tax-exem pt organiza
tion C esar founded in the 1960s, is
now the largest non-profit hom e
builder for farm w orkers and other
poor people in the Southw est. In the
last decade, it has built - and also
Arturo S.
Rodriguezis
a veteran
United Farm
Workers
(UFW)
organizer. He
became the
UFW's
second
president
upon the
death o f his
m entor and
father-in-law,
Cesar
Chavez, in
1993.
______ _________________________________________
SQ C 00
Heavily Soiled Carpet Areas
forw ard to better serving the needs o f
our Spanish-speaking custom ers and
adding a new dim ension o f service
fo r S ta te F a rm ,” sa id D eb o rah
extension o f the agent and is now
taking after-hours calls in Spanish or
English from custom ers nationw ide.
“ W ith the El Paso CRC, we look
I
Healthy Minds in Healthy Bodies
T he Latina Em pow erm ent N etw ork is sponsor
ing the M ente Sana en C uerpo Sano (H ealthy
M inds in H ealthy Bodies) on Oct. 21 at Centro
Cultural, 1110N. A dair, Cornelius.
This is a free event for Latino families to com e
together for an afternoon o f fam ily activities,
presentations and inform ation, in order to foster
an understanding ofhealthy family dynam ics. The
event is scheduled from 12:30 p.m . to 4 p.m.
I___________________________________________________________________I
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SAFEWAY
T raskell, V ice President o f Regional
Services. A ccording to the U.S. cen
sus in 1990, there w ere 17 m illion
people who prim arily spoke Spanish.
Mente Sana en Cuerpo Sano
,
Each Area
I
L
manages more than 2,500 high-qual
ity hom es and apartm ents.
The Service C enter also operates
“ Radio C am pesina,” the farm w ork
e rs’ radio netw ork. W ith eight sta
tio n s in th re e s ta te s , “ R a d io
C em pesina” boasts the largest lis
tening audience o f farm w orkers in
the country. It’s also the num ber-one
Spanish-language radio station in the
m a rk e ts it se rv e s, a c c o rd in g to
A rbitran ratings.
T oday, there are m any battles for
farm w orkers to wage.
For exam ple, the U FW is helping
lead the battle for imm igration reform.
It has called on the governm ent to
g ran t am n esty to u n d o cu m en te d
w orkers w ho are already in this coun
try.
A nd the UFW is seeking badly
needed legislation in C alifornia to
curb daily abuses by farm labor co n
tractors. Too often, growers hire these
m iddle m en w ho directly cheat and
exploit farm workers. Then the grow
ers absolve them selves o f responsi
bility for the m istreatm ent.
T oday’s farm w orkers are indebted
to C esar and those brave strikers for
their sacrifices. T hey w ere truly non
violent w arriors on the long path to
freedom.
State Farm M eets N eeds o f S p an ish -Sp eak ing P olicyh olders
1 ^ I I HI] iiiiiiiiiiii _____________
l_ Includes 1 H a l l
20,000 in 1994.
In addition to recent organizing
gains, C esar C havez’s m ovem ent
continues to push for progress both
in and out o f the fields.
The N ational Farm W orkers Ser-
0
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