Tag Archives: UFW

This Water is for Display Only

(The California EFCA would provide easier access to unions for farmworkers. It will pass out of the legislature, the question is whether Arnold will sign it. He should. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

Another Reason for the California Employee Free Choice Act

Supposedly we have the water available, we have the shade available, we have bathrooms available but dare not use them for fear of being fired. It was as if we had none at all.

— Rigoberto Ramirez, Blueberry worker

We’ve shared stories with you about farm workers who’ve had no water to drink. Now we want to tell you about workers who do have water, but don’t have the opportunity to drink it because of the pressure put on them by the companies they work for. Please read their stories and then take action to help them by sending Gov. Schwarzenegger and your legislators an e-mail today.

YOU CAN TAKE ACTION TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR FARMWORKERS!

The following is from a May 26th complaint the UFW filed on behalf of workers at Munger Farms, where 3 farm labor contractors employ more than 40 crews and 1,000 workers to harvest blueberries. Pickers are working hourly, but have a huge quota of 5 boxes a day–which forces them to work through their breaks, not drink water or go to the bathroom for fear of losing their jobs. This is not an imaginary fear. It happened to about 60 workers on May 26. The workers were promised 3 days of work. They were fired after one day before they even had the chance to acclimatize themselves to the brutal pace demanded. Here is the story of an experienced blueberry picker, Guillermo Cruz:

We started working at 8 am and we were asked to pick 5 boxes of blueberries for the day which is a total of 65 pounds of blueberries. I did everything that I could to meet the quota. Company supervisors were constantly on top of us and yelling at us if we dropped any blueberries on the ground which made us very nervous and confused on what to do. Workers could not afford to go to drink water or even go to the restroom because of the tremendous fear of losing their jobs. Some workers even worked through their lunch breaks to try to meet the quota. The company would not even allow us to take our third break. Many workers were running and going as fast as they could to try to meet the goal. I was one of the few that was able to make 4 boxes and could not understand why I would be fired if I had done everything in my power to meet the quota. The time we worked we saw crews of 60 workers going and coming because of the tremendous pressure to meet the quota and the company was firing workers every day.

Some of the workers are still waiting for their pay checks.

KERO Ch 23, 6/1/2009 UFW Prepared To Press Charges – UFW Representatives May File Against Munger Farms

DELANO, Calif. — Last week, dozens of blueberry pickers were protesting against unfair working conditions in Delano. Monday night the United Farm Workers Union said that they are ready to press charges against the berry farmers. Dozens of field workers said they were fired and never paid. MORE

This is not the only incident. On May 26, the UFW filed charges on behalf of Giumarra vineyard worker Francisco Farfan. Francisco was suspended and sent home for the day after the foreman said Francisco had gone too many times to drink water. He was keeping up with the workload demanded. It was hotter than 100 degrees that day. Francisco believes he was suspended for taking safety measures that did not impede his work performance and to which he is legally entitled.

Two days later the UFW also filed charges on behalf of vineyard workers at Sunrise Agriculture. Again, the about 100 workers there did have water. The problem was they were not allowed to drink the water unless they were on an official break–10 minutes every 4 hrs–or at lunch. These workers also did not have shade to protect them from the sun and were not trained in heat safety as required by law.

Such incidents show that workers need the ability to speak up without being afraid of losing their jobs. It’s why SB789 CA Employee Free Choice Act for Farm Workers is so vital. This bill will make it easier for farm workers to organize, speak up to improve working conditions and help enforce the laws that CA’s government cannot enforce. SB789 passed the CA state senate and will next be heard in the assembly and then go to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Please take action today and tell them to pass SB789, a bill that will give farm workers the power to protect themselves.

Farm workers can not wait. Violations occur every day and little is done. Complaints regarding lack of drinking water, shade and work breaks to make use of these simple but lifesaving measures are an everyday occurrence for farm workers (worker stories). Last year six farm workers died of heat-related causes. Fifteen farm workers have died of heat-related complications since July 2004.

If you get time, this short documentary made late last summer is worth watching.  It’s 20 minutes long.  California’s Harvest of Shame is narrated by Speaker Emeritus Nunez, himself the son of a migrant farm worker, and includes a prologue and epilogue by actor and activist Martin Sheen.


 

 

PLEASE TAKE ACTION TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR FARMWORKERS!

Immigration Reform for Farm Workers, the Most Practical Solution for America

Now more than ever a comprehensive U.S. immigration reform is key in helping rebuild our country and giving back American working families the prosperity and equality they deserve. When we allow a group of people to be exploited and discriminated against, it negatively impacts American workers by driving down wages, benefits and working conditions.

President Obama recently announced he will pursue immigration reform that would allow the millions of undocumented workers already living in the country now to “come out of the shadows.” For that to happen, they need to be able to speak up and report abuses, organize and come to the bargaining table without fearing deportation. The reality is that most of these millions of workers have already established families in their communities and are part of our society as much as any U.S.-born American.

According to the federal government, more than 50 percent of U.S. farm workers laboring are undocumented. If we were to deport all undocumented farm workers, it would mean the collapse of the agricultural industry as we know it. That’s why the UFW has worked together with the agricultural industry for the last 10 years to craft a bipartisan approach that would ensure a legal work force for U.S. agriculture.

This compromise resulted in the AgJobs bill that would give undocumented farm workers presently here the right to earn legal status by continuing to work in agriculture. AgJobs is the practical and equitable solution in addressing grower concerns about labor shortages and the insecurity that makes farm workers so vulnerable to abuse.

Undocumented farm workers possess essential skills needed to maintain the viability of the agricultural industry. By allowing them to work here without molestation, we can ensure growers have a legal and available work force, and prevent unscrupulous employers from abusing the workers.

Blog by UFW President Arturo S. Rodriguez, cross-posted from The Hill

Rhetoric is not enough to protect farm workers from the heat

(Several people died in the fields last year, such a scenario should not be repeated. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

Gov. Schwarzenegger’s Cal-OSHA has announced today that they are kicking off a campaign to train employers to protect farm workers from the heat. Ironically, the same agency just proposed changes that actually undermine the current regulations aimed to protect workers from dying or becoming ill from extreme heat.

Teaching growers how to avoid illness and deaths among their workforce is important, but it’s not enough. At the same time, the governor must make sure the laws are enforced. Such a system surely includes giving farm workers the tools to protect themselves.  

For the past four years, the United Farm Workers has worked tirelessly to prevent heat deaths. In response to pressure from the UFW and their supporters, Gov. Schwarzenegger issued heat regulations. Despite these regulations, six farm workers died in the summer of 2008-as the rules went unenforced and ignored by employers.

The evidence points to neglect–not ignorance–as the cause of farm worker deaths. Also, the state’s consistent reduction of fines for violations has made these regulations ineffective.

Please take action today and help us tell the governor that more of the same will not prevent deaths.  Farm workers need a system that works. This requires a multi-faceted approach which would include: enforcing existing laws, giving farm workers the tools to protect themselves, and seeking serious criminal penalties for those whose gross negligence has caused the death of innocent people.

Go to:

http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/heat309

Ask President-Elect Obama not to let the outgoing Bush Admin Steal Farm Worker Protections

The Bush Administration has released midnight regulation changes that make it easier for growers to slash the pay of domestic farm workers and hire imported foreign laborers instead of U.S. field workers. They will weaken government protections in an industry known for violating the minimum wage, housing requirements and other rules. We must do everything we can to avoid having these regulations implemented. Please help!

Today’s LA Times describes the situation well.

Los Angeles Times, 12/16/08:

Not content to leave office as the most unpopular president in recent history, Bush is cementing his legacy of hardheaded autocracy by pushing through a record number of last-minute and particularly noxious changes in federal regulations. Bypassing congressional debate and often receiving public comments through government websites, the administration has in recent months issued dozens of “midnight regulations” that in some cases could take years to reverse. This isn’t just leaving a stamp on the country, it’s more like inking a tattoo.

Please join the UFW in appealing to President-Elect Obama to act quickly to reverse these harmful regulatory changes once he is sworn in to office and protect farm workers from these callous regulations. Sign the online petition to his transition team today!

More excerpts from Today’s LA Times editorial:

Los  Angeles Times, 12/16/08:

Bush rewrites the rules-Last-minute changes being pushed through by the administration, such as altering H-2A visa rules, are creating disasters that Barack Obama will have to reverse beginning Jan. 20.

Although other presidents have crafted rules the next administration might not, none has been so aggressive or destructive as Bush. His administration has attacked environmental safeguards, reproductive rights and public safety. It has acted to permit uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, curtail women’s access to birth control, allow visitors to carry loaded guns in national parks — which are among the safest public places in the country — and open millions of acres of unspoiled land to mining.

Last week, the Department of Labor weakenedthe nation’s already flawed agricultural guest worker program. The new H-2A visa rules, which take effect in January, revise the way wages are calculated and will lower them substantially. In California, farmworker advocates say, the current $9.72 hourly wage would drop by 18%. The new rules also reduce requirements for growers to prove they have made a good-faith effort to recruit U.S. workers and limit how much they have to reimburse workers for their trips home. This is precisely what opponents of immigration reform feared: policies that disadvantage citizens and encourage the easy exploitation of migrants…

The LA Times is not the only newspaper that has spoken out. The following excerpts comes from yesterday’s Miami Herald editorial.


Miami Herald, 12/15/08

Rule changes target vulnerable workers.

OUR OPINION: Don’t allow last-minute regulations to erode standards

The torrent of new rules being issued by the Bush administration as it heads out the door is turning into a regulatory fiasco. The changes have lowered the bar on environmental review across the board, from limiting worker exposure to toxins to ignoring provisions of the Clean Water Act and softening, if not gutting, the Endangered Species Act. Late last week, new rules targeted vulnerable members of the labor force — farmworkers.

…Rules that are to be published this week and which would take effect just days before President Bush leaves office would: make it easier to hire foreign ”guest workers” — to the detriment of Americans willing to work in the fields; lower wage standards; and weaken oversight of farm hiring. This revision will hurt those who can least afford any cuts in pay or erosion of job protections…

Yesterday’s New York Times editorial said:


New York Times, 12/15/08

A Cheap Shot at Workers


The Bush administration is doing a last-minute overhaul of the visa program for temporary farmworkers to make it easier to hire foreigners over Americans, to lower workers’ wages and to erode their rights. You would think that after failing for eight years to fix immigration, the administration would pack it in rather than make one last listless stab at a solution. But this plan isn’t even that – it’s just midnight meanness, right in time for the holidays…

There are many more newspaper articles and editorials on this subject, but the bottom line is the same. These regulations are horrific for farm workers and we need the Obama administration to do everything it can to make sure they are not enacted.  

That is why we are asking you to please join the UFW in appealing to President-Elect Obama to act quickly to protect farm workers by reversing these harmful regulatory changes once he is sworn in to office . Sign the UFW’s online petition to his transition team today!

* For more specific information on these regulations click here to see Farm Worker Justice’s 2 page Summary of H-2A Regulations, entitled “The Bush Administration’s Shameful Legacy for Farmworkers: Midnight Regulations on the H-2A Guestworker Program” & click here to see their White Paper, “Litany of Abuses: Why we need more–not fewer–labor protections in the H2A Guestworker Program and click here to go to the UFW’s guestworker page where we will be posting the latest information.

Help farmworkers: Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoes AB 2386, secret ballot election reform

(It was disappointing, but not particularly surprising, to see Arnold axe AB 2386. It should have been signed. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

Photobucket Image HostingWe need to share some very disappointing news with you and then ask you to e-mail Gov. Schwarzenegger and let him know how you feel. Last week, the Governor vetoed AB 2386, a vital bill to reform secret ballot elections for farm workers. With this single stroke of his pen, the governor denied farm workers the tool they need to protect themselves. While we are disappointed with the Governor’s veto, sadly we are not surprised.

When the governor vetoed a bill with similar goals last year, his veto message said:

“I am directing my Labor and Workforce Development Agency to work with the proponents of this bill to ensure that all labor laws and regulations are being vigorously enforced, and to make it absolutely clear to all concerned that my veto is premised on an expectation that agricultural workers receive the full protections of the law.

Tragically this has not happened. During the black summer of 2008, as many as six farm workers died due to heat-related causes.

Governor Schwarzenegger’s enforcement has not saved lives. And his administration has not “rigorously enforced” the law. In May of this year, 17-year old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez died of heat illness, working for Merced Farm Labor. The Associated Press reported that the state ignored collecting the fine on Merced Farm Labor for not complying with heat regulations back in 2006.

Associated Press – 5/29/08

A division official said Jimenez’s employer, Merced Farm Labor, had been issued three citations in 2006 for exposing workers to heat stroke, failing to train workers on heat stress prevention and not installing toilets at the work site.

The Atwater company has not paid the $2,250 it owes in fines, said agency spokesman Dean Fryer.

Sacramento Bee – May 30, 2008

The labor contractor that employed a teenage farmworker who died after working hours in a hot vineyard was cited in 2006 for failing to provide employees with training to avoid heat stress, Cal-OSHA records show.

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health also cited Merced Farm Labor contracting services in 2006 for not having an injury-prevention plan for its workers or enough toilets for them to use, agency spokesman Dean Fryer said Thursday.

The company was fined $750 for each of the violations and was told to fix them by December 2006.

Company representatives told Cal-OSHA it had corrected the problems, and staff members “felt comfortable the abatement was done and didn’t make an actual field visit,” Fryer said. “That’s not unusual. Usually, we get great cooperation from employers.”

Consequently, young Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez died while working at a company that provided no shade, did not have adequate water, and had no emergency plan in place. All due to the same type of negligence Cal-OSHA had fined the same company for in 2006.

After Maria Isabel’s death, the Governor boasted that enforcement was at its highest level. Yet sadly, the lives of five more farm workers were lost this past summer.

In last week’s veto message, the Governor says he can enforce the laws.

As I indicated last year in my veto of SB 180, I remain committed to ensuring that agricultural workers receive all the workplace protections that our labor laws afford. To that end, I am calling for the creation of a dedicated funding source to facilitate enhanced oversight and education in the agricultural industry. I am directing my Labor and Workforce Development Agency to work with the proponents of this bill and all stakeholders to develop a proposal which will create such a program in a fiscally responsible way, for the ultimate benefit of both agricultural employees and employers.

Gov. Schwarzenegger words ring hollow after he promised simular things in his veto message last year and still as many as six farm workers died due to heat-related causes.

The support of poor farm workers means so much less to him than the support of big money agricultural interests. We also know that had it not been for the Governor’s fundraising agenda, or had we been a rich organization the Governor may have been willing to sign a bill for farm workers.

Please e-mail the Governor today!

Farm worker families desperately need your help for safe drinking water

(It is unconscionable that people have to fight for something so basic as safe drinking water. – promoted by Julia Rosen)

Photobucket Image HostingApproximately 200 farm workers and their families live in the 49 units at the Rafael L. Silva Migrant Family Housing Center in Los Banos, CA. These workers don’t have access to safe drinking water. Please help.

According to the Merced County Health Department, the water that comes out of their pipes has unacceptable amounts of arsenic, copper and radionuclide. Families get a ration of bottled water. However, they say the amount is not enough to have clean water for household chores and practice good hygiene. Families end up using having to use the contaminated well water.

Martin Jimenez and his family use the well water to shower. “Your hair falls out,” he said, describing the experience. Jimenez also said he has a rash from using the water. Other workers wash their dishes in this water. (July 12, Los Banos Enterprise)

Fish and Game has a pipeline that could provide safe water to these families, but they refuse to allow these families to use it. The Housing Authority has been negotiating with them ever since the camp re-opened in 2006 to be allowed to use Fish and Game’s pipeline until the Housing Authority could put in its own. Every excuse that Fish and Game has given has been resolved. However, they still refuse to allow the community to connect to their water line that receives safe water from the City of Los Banos.  

Please help. Sign the online petition TODAY & tell Fish and Game to be a good neighbor and stop forcing kids and their families to use contaminated water.

You can go to: http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/losbanos

This Brave Nation



Brave New Foundation (disclaimer: my employer)just launched episode 2 of This Brave Nation, a documentary series born out of a collaboration between BNF and The Nation magazine.  In this episode, two legendary Californians, Dolores Huerta and Bonnie Raitt, are featured in conversation with one another.  (Episode 1 also features two Californians: Van Jones and Carl Pope.  Really serves to remind you just how outsized a role our state has played in building the progressive movement in the U.S.)

Here’s the trailer with Bonnie Raitt.  You can view the entire 30-minute episode at http://bravenation.com/bonnie_…

Future episodes will include Anthony Romero and Ava Lowery, Majora Carter and Pete Seeger, and Tom Hayden and Naomi Klein. At a moment when progressives are healing the wounds of a divisive presidential primary, this series reminds us of the solidarity of our movement.

(CA80AD) Perez’s Economic Plan

The California 80th Assembly District has the affluence of Palm Springs and La Quinta, where the well-off winter, and the Grapes of Wrath poverty of Duroville.

Manuel Perez:  “For too long, the 80th Assembly District has been ignored and neglected by politicians.  Growing up the son of farm workers, I know the struggles of working families.  I will fight locally and in Sacramento to bring new opportunities and prosperity to all our communities.”

Manuel Perez focuses on parents as well as students as a School Board Trustee, recruiting them to work with him to reverse the schools to jails pipeline in our poverty burdened communities.  But it’s not enough to educate, we need jobs in California, and specifically a green tech business plan from Palm Springs to Calexico.  Check the plan on the flip.

NOTE:  I originally gave Indian Wells to the 80th when posting this, and I’ve sinced remembered that it’s in the 64th.  I’ve edited the first sentence of this post (above the flip) to correct it.

Crossposted at Daily Kos

Photobucket

The Manuel Perez Plan for New Jobs and a Stronger Local Economy



As our next Assembly Member, Manuel Perez will be a leader in creating new jobs and stimulating our local economy.

*Bring new green technology businesses to the Valley creating green collar jobs by tapping into the alternative energy resources within the district.

*Create higher education opportunities, workforce development and job training sites.

*Build partnerships between tribal governments, resorts, golf courses, hotels and the tourist industry with local schools and community colleges to create internships, apprenticeships and job training opportunities.

*Strongly support family farmers and farm workers to ensure prosperous yields.

*Promote small business economic development, encourage the California entrepreneurial spirit, and expand and promote of “enterprise zones.”

PhotobucketManuel Perez

(CA80thAD) Gloria Romero & Dolores Huerta Endorse Perez

California Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero and celebrated labor leader and civil rights champion Dolores Huerta endorse Manuel Perez, Candidate for the 80th Assembly District.

“I feel honored beyond words”, says Mr. Perez, “to have received this support from two of California’s most distinguished leaders.  Both Dolores Huerta and Senator Romero have worked hard for those who have been marginalized and underrepresented.  I will attempt the same.”

This is one of the few California state seats in play this year, and the demographics indicate it should be blue by now.  Manuel Perez is an organizer, a healthcare provider, and a powerful progressive voice for this region.  Good thing I listened to netroots nags and ran for state delegate, because now I’ll have the honor of endorsing him this Thursday at our Pre-Endorsement meeting, and caucusing for him at the State Convention.   For your people-powered politics fix, read more about Manuel Perez on the flip.

Crossposted at Daily Kos http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…

Coachella School Board Trustee Manuel Perez grew up in both Coachella and Calexico, graduated from public schools and then from UC Riverside before coming home to teach. He later earned a Masters of Education from Harvard, worked as an organizer and health researcher and now provides health care access to thousands of families as Director of Community Health and Advocacy for a Community Health Foundation.  He and his wife Gladys are raising their family in the same community where they grew up, teaching their sons the same values they learned from their parents. – from latest press release from Agxibel Barrajas

 

PerezWithYouth

For those who’ve already read David Dayen’s excellent profile on Manuel Perez, you know that UFW is integral to Perez’s life story.  Manuel had a date to introduce Dolores Huerta to the folks at the 1st Annual Southern Region Promotor Conference a few weeks ago, but had to miss it when he returned to Harvard to accept a 2008 Harvard Graduate School of Education Alumni of Color Achievement Award.  Clearly she has forgiven him.  About that conference, one Perez has worked hard on for many months:

Hello everyone,

As you know, Promotores from the Imperial and Riverside Counties have been working diligently to organize the 1st Annual Southern Region Promotor Conference entitled, “The People’s Conference-Sharing, Teaching and Learning for Social Change and Well Being.”   It is scheduled for Saturday, February 23, 2008 at Desert Mirage High School.  There will be many great workshops offered and the keynote will be legendary UFW organizer Dolores Huerta.  This conference is strictly for Promotores and we expect approximately 200 from throughout our regions.  However, if you would like to participate in the conference by hosting an informational/educational booth please let us know asap.  Because of our target population, the conference will be entirely in Spanish, but there will be translation services in English.  Attached are the registration form, a map, and a list for housing accommodations in case you may need a place to stay.  The attachments are in Spanish, including the Registration form.  However, if you need some help with the form, please do not hesitate to contact Poder Popular at 760-398-5327.  We are very excited about the event and we look forward to building and organizing community health with you.

Thank You,

Manuel Perez, Ed. M.

Southern Region Promotor Task Force-Member at Large

Director of Community Health and Advocacy

Borrego Community Health Foundation-

Centro Medico Coachella, Oasis, Cathedral City

This region was recently a Republican stronghold, but thanks to Bush, the neocons, and the general failure of GOP policies, Democrats are coming on strong in this region.  We have a real chance to elect a powerful liberal in the 80th, one who can advocate for better schools, equal access to health care in the context of his own experience in the field, one who can advocate for gay rights in Spanish.  This is who we need representing a region from Palm Springs to Calexico.  We need Perez in Sacramento, and now Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero and UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta have joined John Conyers, Joe Cota, Esteban Torres, LIUNA Local 777, and host of others in support of his candidacy.  

More photos here

Working Under the Gun…Literally

(All workers deserve respect and decent working conditions. For more info, see the UFW site for this action. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

Working Under The Gun
It’s Not Just an Expression

Workers of Starrh and Starrh Cotton Growers–a large cotton, hay, and almond producer in California–need your help. They need you to e-mail Cal OSHA immediately and tell them to investigate the violations at the ranch right away and prosecute the company to the fullest extent of the law. When you hear what the workers lives are like, you will be horrified…and furious. Please take a moment to help these workers by sending your e-mail today! Go to: http://www.ufwaction…

“I have been working for Starrh and Starrh for five years”, Alejandro Gil told us. “The working conditions are awful. We are exposed to a lot of dust and we do not have any protection. In the last two or three days, I have been feeling a pain in my chest and my back when I breathe…The owner’s brother-in-law always puts pressure on workers. He wants more production. The brother-in-law always carries a gun on his waist to scare workers.”

Take Action at: http://www.ufwaction…

“We never had bathrooms, fresh water or water to wash our hands. Sometimes we do not get any breaks. They put a lot of pressure on us to work faster. When I helped them packing hay, I worked up to 16 hours without breaks.” said Gerardo Negrete. “I am a sprayer and they do not give us what we need to protect ourselves from the chemicals. I have sprayed [pesticide] without gloves, masks or overalls. They only give those to us when we are close to roads where maybe some inspectors can see us…The foremen make fun of us for not having the protection we need.”

Francisco Villasaña, another 20-year employee, reports, “The foreman is abusive. Not only does he humiliate us, but he also does not provide us with fresh water–he actually drinks our water.”

Listening to these workers makes you wonder if we’ve stepped into a time warp. Really, how can this happen in 2007?

There are laws that say that workers need breaks for meals and to rest. There are laws that say that workers must have clean water to drink, and protection from sun and extreme heat. There are laws that say that workers must have bathrooms–for their own health–and that of the consumers who eat the food that comes from those fields.

Please send an e-mail to Cal OSHA–the agency responsible for protecting farm workers and enforcing these laws–and tell them to investigate these violations immediately and prosecute the company to the fullest extent of the law. Go to: http://www.ufwaction…