ei· malc:riado - uc san diego library home page · pdf filei'ii 1-september 1,...

23
: DELANO, CALIFORNIA VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 The Voice of the Farm Worker , EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California farm workers in general strike I See pages 3 6] -

Upload: dangtu

Post on 21-Mar-2018

216 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

I'II

1-

: DELANO, CALIFORNIAVOLUME IV NUMBER 6SEPTEMBER 1, 1970

The Voice of the Farm Worker

,EI· Malc:riado

10,000 California farmworkers in general strike

I See pages 3 ~n~_6]

1- \

~~-----":":-----"-'-------...i:~_~~~,-":--_""",,,-~__~_ )

Page 2: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

2/EL MALCRIADO

EDITORIAL- -

SALINAS AND SANTA MARIA:

violence, greedand·stupi.dity

FILL OUT THIS CAID AND SEND IT ,WITH U.SO TO THE AlOft ADD"SSFOR A ONE, YEAR SUISCRIPTION TO EL MALCRIADO,

NAME· _

ADDRESS·

CITY· ~.s;,;.T:;.An:.;;.. .,;Z;.;I;,;,'__

Only time will

Maria, time is

UFW OC attorney

jerry Cohen, one

of four attacked

by grower goons.

EL MALCRIADo. The Voice 01 ... F...mWorker, Is publ1.~ed- monlllly by 1Ile LNI11!DFARM WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITI'EB,

AFL-CIO. Subscrtpt10ns In lIle UUllOd S.......Its posses.lons are $3.50 per year, and tOl'eip,

Includlng Canada and MexIco, US $5.00.Editorial and business offiCes,. located at .he

northwest corner of Garces H..l&bway aDd MItt...Avenue. Delano, California.

Address all correoponclot>o<! to: EL MALCRIADO

pos, Office So'x 130. Delano, C.Ufomla 93215.Second class postall'" paid DeIODb. C&lIIorDIL

Cover drawing and drawingpage 6 by Andy Zermeno.photos pages 3~ 4~ 5~

7~ 8~ 9~ and 10 by CrisSanchez.

running out!

grower associations who have bought and sold farm

workers like chattels for decades.

And violence was once again declared the law

of the valley, when the :growers held the Teamstersunion to their phoney sweetheart contracts, against

the will of the workers. Violence always seems to

be a travelling companion of greed, selfishness,

and stupidity. ---Selfishness, because the large

conglomerates which exploit campesinos allover

the world are now feasting on the sweat of lettuce

pickers who want their own union in Salinas and

Sarita Maria. ---Stupidity, because the growers

once again would rather see their produce rot than

settle with the farm wu. kers.

Is an enlightenment possible?

tell. And in Salinas and Santa

history:

Nor. and aor. p.op1. ar. find inc out tbat ,.ub.cription to EL MALCIIADO 1. the b••t ,••,to k••p up with the f.ra work.r .tru"l••Don't b. 1.ft out·· •••• 1. thl. coupo. t ...,1

SalinasDon Sotoco to El MalcriadoInter-Harvest signsBorder Patrol raids

farm worker strike in U.S.

"Okay, boys, go get him!"

It sounds like a line from a john Wayne movie,

doesn't it? The words were uttered by a major

grower in the Salinas Valley who ordered his goons

to attack jerry Cohen, UFWOC's attorney, Venus-'

tiano Olguin, a UFWOC organizer, and jacques Levy,

a UPI reporter. Another UFWOC organizer, Raul

Santiago, was attacked at the Point Sal Ranch in

Santa Maria.Cohen spent several days in a Salinas hospi­

tal from the brain concussion he received while

investigating a sit-in strike at the Handen ranch

in the Salinas Valley.

Violence was the growers' response to the strike

vote of more than 6,000 farm workers who voted

with their feet not to support company unionism

or the unchecked power of the vegetable growers

in the Salinas Valley.But the violence of the growers did not start

with the attack on the three men at the Hanser.

Ranch. The violence began long ago, when growers

resisted several attempts of farm workers to or­

ganize for their own protection and self-defense.

Violence was written into the bylaws of the various

EL NALCRIADOP.O. lOX 130DELAHQ, CA

9i2lS'

page 3page 6page 7page 8

LargestIN THIS ISSUE:

Page 3: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

EL MALCRIADO/3

<, ten1/ .'?~.,~"" ~~ ~

Itil~ thousand j

Q/:'Iv. farm~c

workerson strike

~

InCalifornia

• Over 10,000 farm workers are

now on strike in five California

counties: Monterey, San Benito,Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, and

northern Santa Barbara counties.

Most of these farm workers have

signed authorization cards for

UFWOC in recent weeks. Theirdemands for a strike were denied

repeatedly as UFWOC granted the

growers a six day, then a ten day

moratorium.

growers useTeamsters tofight Chavez

• After failing to get the alle­giance of the workers, growers be­

gan to intimidate workers into sign­

ing Teamster authorization cards.

Several workers were fired from the

FreshPict Produce Company and

other ranches for refusing to work

under the sweetheart contract.

• UFWOC had reached an agree­

ment with the Teamsters Union

(concerning their jurisdictional

dispute) on August 12th with the

help of the Catholic Bishops FarmLabor Committee, represented by

Monsignor George Higgins. In gen­

eral, the agreement reads that the

Teamsters will have jurisdic­

tion over canneries, frozen food

processing plants, warehouses, and

truck drivers. UFWOC will or­

ganize all field workers.

workers demanda strike

.The ten day moratorium cameto an end Saturday, August 22. On

the next day, angry farm workers

shouted that they would walk Out

on strike the follOWing Monday.

Monsignor Higgins announced to the

strikers that the growers were di­

vided among themselves but agreed

to reject UFWOC and hold the

Teamsters to the contracts which

had been signed in the latter part

of July.

• Herb Fleming, president of the

Grower- Shipper Vegetable Associa­

tion had announced on August 21:

"We have negotiated proper and

legal contracts with the Teamster

union. They have assured us that

they will honor these contracts,

and we intend to do the same."

4,000 attendSaHnas

strike meeting• Four thousand workers as­

sembled on the grounds of Hartnell

College to attend Catholic massand unanimously express their de­

sire to begin the strike the fol­

lOWing day, August 24. The presi­

dent of each ranch committee spokefor his fellow workers. Some of

the workers gave short speeches.

Raul Castillo, a lettuce worker,said the following: "Fellow campe­

sinos, we are here to show the

world our nonconformity -- to do

continued on next page

Page 4: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

4/EL MALCRIADO

salinasstrike:

our part to uplift the life of ourfarm worker families. They livein poverty in this country which isth~ number one farming country in

the world." Castillo made re­ference to the martyrs of Chicagoof 1886 who gave their lives for thelabor movement. He also referredto the agrarian heroes of Mexicoand added: "Outside of thisunion the farm worker will neverreally be recognized as a human

being. Viva la Huelga! VivaCesar Chavez! Vivan los Me­xicanos! Vivan los campesinos!

"the union is.our strength,'

brothers. "• Another farm worker, Jose LuisCastro, representing the lettuce cut­ters of the R. T. England Companysaid: "In view of the fact thatthe growers have done nothing du­ring the moratorium we gave them,there is no other thing to do butstrike. We can't forget that theunion is our strength, brothers -­and there is no obstacle that wecannot overcome .as long as we havethe suppOrt of our leader,. CesarGhavez. Que Viva La Huelga!

" ...growers areangry at us

for not sellingourselves out."

• Antonio Sagredo, another lettuceworker stated the following: "Letthe people and the government of theUnited States know that we areready to work -- but that we musthave what we ask. It isn't verymuch. We don't ask the impos-

photographs on this page:TOP: Workers using theshort-handled hoe thinlettuce at the Bud AntleRanch.MIDDLE: At Sunday'sstrike rally~ farm workersprotest high rental ratesin the migrant camps ofthe Bruce Church Ranch.BOTTOM: The 2nd of Augustfinds farm workers march­ing to Salinas.

photographs opposite ,page:TOP LEFT: A worker at theDriscoll Strawberry Ranch~

whose employees votedunanimously to join UFWOC .TOP RIGHT: The Bud AntleRanch in Salinas.MIDDLE and BOTTOM.; Farmworkers brought bannersfrom allover the SalinasValley to the strike vote.

Page 5: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

EL MALCRlADO/5

sible -- only that they look upon

us as human beings. We have the

same ambitions as they do. We

have families. We have rights.

Weare people. Why must they

continue to treat us like beasts of

burc\en and look for a thousand ways

to keep us down. They sold us

out to the Teamsters, and now they

are angry at us for not selling

ourselves out. And now they

would lose their crops rather than

give in. But the people know we

are right. They will give us their

support. We shall triumph.'

"growers ru Ieby fear,"

Chavez sayseUFWOC vice-president Dolores

Huerta relayed a message from Ce­

sar Chavez. Chavez stated that

UFWOC had agreed to delay a strike

for 10 days at the request of the

growers and Teamsters. "UFWOC

acted in good faith, but got a slap

in the face for this. The growers

do not rule by love in this valley,

but by fear. Injustice is the or­

der of the day, and men live in

want. A strike is both just and

necessary."

8,000 farmworkers manpicket lines

e On Monday morning, August 24,

UFWOC struck 27 of the 60 Sa-. linas growers: Nearly 6,000

workers stayed away from work.

The few that arrived at the fields

respected UFWOC picket lines. A

similiar . strike began against 62

growers in the Santa Maria area,

affecting 2,000 farm workers. The

growers have begun to receive ano­

ther lesson in the school of social

justice. They may learn that sit­

ting down with UFWOC to nego­

tiate contracts is much easier than

facing the loss of the crops. It

took the grape growers five years

to learn this lesson. Have not the

lettuce growers benefitted from this

example? Only time will tell.

1

Page 6: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

, 6jEL MALCRIADO

.,,,.!-I0W HA. Rl) You FOR. THOSE.L)SSO TO VJoR~.... PE..NMl E 5.~Q

NOW-rHAT TItll tJ I( of I-r;_ -rnEY .~~

~EVER.. youRs!

AD\OS, PAPA. c.., .

-rK ~~H( YoLl ~O R.rt~\.Sll\l~ tJ\E

TO B£: .Vnu R ~~I.. __

o 0 0 0

o 0 0 a

THAT liS il~EFoR YOu TO

tL MA/,CI?/ADOoooo,,,00.

Page 7: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

l

EL MALCRIADO/7

a better way of life for our people:'Itliong recounted the sad his­

tory of Filipino farm workers inCalifornia. He mentioned that thou­sands of Filipinos risked their livesin the bloody campaigns of WorldWar II, and when they came homethey were denied the justice andrights they had fought to defend.The assistant dir~ctor alluded tothe vicious coalition between grow­ers and Teamsters in Salinas andpraised the unity of the Delanomovement under the direction ofCesar Chavez.

William Kircher conveyedcongr<ttulations on behalf of Presi­dent clorge Meany of the AFL-CIOto the strikers. In a telephoneconversation, Meany alluded to theproblems with the Teamsters:" •••your success and your strongsupport throughout the world hasgiven you the right to be THEunion in farm labor. It is THEwhich will continue to build a col­lective bargaining base for progressfor workers, and it is going toget additional support from theAFL-CIO for its endeavors:,'

Bishop Joseph Donnelly,chairman of the United States Ca­tholic Bishops Farm Labor Com­mittee summed up the efforts ofhis own group. "We have soughtto make recommendations whichwould bring the parties together,"he began. "We have always feltthat, given good will on the partof the growers and the union, ajust settlement could be reached,ensuring continuing prosperity forthe table grape industry and justwages and proper conditions for theworkers in the industry. We arehappy to report that we have foundgood will in our visits and talkswith union officials and more thanseventy growers:' ,

Delano grape grower JohnnyGiumarra Jr. introduced the prin­ciple grower representatives, in­cluding his father John GiumarraSr., and Mrtin Zaninovich, head ofthe South Central Farmers r

t

,.

pino assistan ~

"Hopefully fo . br

negotIatIons. Instead they turnedout to be most pleasant."

"The boycott is not over yet. ,About 25% or more of the growershave not yet signed contracts. Assoon as all the contracts aresigned we will turn the boycottaround and make grapes sweetagain."

Concluding his remarks,Chavez stated: "We did not wantonly to sign contracts. We wantedin~ustry peace. Both sides gave alittle during negotiations to bringabout this peace."

Larry !tliong, alluded to thebitterness of the struggle when hetold how strikers. were called out­side agitators, Communists, etc."But today is the beginning of anew era on behalf of farm workersin our count

"Viva Cesar Chavez"

negotiator Irwin de Shettler. TheUFWOC team was flanked on both'sides by Delano grape growers,including the Giumarras, John Sr.and. John Jr. The press confer­ence was chaired by Bishop JosephDonnelly of the Catholic Bishop'sFarm Labor Committee.

Cameras, rolled and clickedand reporters strained at attentionas Chavez continued: "The strikehas been long and costly for boththe employers and the· strikers.The material losses can never be,regained, but I think that despiteour unfortunate experiences, wehave created the foundation uponwhich we hope to build a verygood working relationship with thegrower community in Delano. Inour negotiations sessions we in theunion developed a decent respectfor one another. We had expeCt­ed a lot of bitterness in these

Page 8: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

L MALCRIADO

"The eyes ofthe world areon Delano. "left to right~

seated~ BiUKircher~ CesarChavez~ BishopDonneUy~ JohnGiumarra~ MartinZaninovich.Assistant di­rector LarryItZiong standsbehind Cesar.

Some of the ex-strikers get a closer view ofWednesday's proceedings. Seated~ facing cam­.era~ are membe~s ef UFWOC's Board of Directors~

from left: Phillip Veracruz~ Julio Hernandez~and Dolo~es Huerta. I

occasion a mutual victory,and

.ed that the farm workers would

better wages and better work­

conditions under the terms of

contract. "The power of the

m and the power of the in-

try can now work together so

: we can can get a higher pro­

at the market place," he stated.

lis will be of benefit to bothIfarmers and the workers.'. Referring to the new relation­

6 between grape growers andWoe, Giumarra stated: "The

s of America are focused· on

ano. Can we work togethera common success? We have

~istoriC task before us. You',

farm workers, will be able to

other ,people, You did it well. , and you can damn well do

t' ell anywhere in the country.is my hope that with this firstp you can move foreward so

t we will prosper and so will

I Applause broke out as Giu­

rra finished his ~peech. TheIlause grew louder as the con-I . d 'Fts were slgne •

Cesar Chavez explained the

ms of the agreement. Farm

'kers who had only receivedp an hour and fifteen cents a

during the harvest season in

5 would now receive $1.80 an hour

20, cents a box. It would be

reased to $1.95 next year and

k$2.05 an' hour in 1972. TenIs an hour would be contributed

to the health and welfare fund and

2 cents a box would be contribu­ted to a special economic deve­

lopment fund which would help work­

ers face mechanization and other

problems in the future. The three

year agreement follows the patternset by other table grape contracts,

,',,'

including protective clauses on theuses of pesticides and barring lock­

'outs and strikes during harvesttime.

The remaining grape growers'

who have not signed agreements

reside in northern Tulare County,

in Fresno County and in the Lodi

area Of San Joaquin County.

Page 9: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

EL MALCRIADO/9

;a contract is signed;. ]VIVA LOS HUELGUISTAS!

,the victory is ours!

Page 10: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

10jEL MALCRIADO

CANADA

REVELS

ON

NATIONAL

GRAPE

BOYCOTT

DAY

May 30th had beennamed as National GrapeBoycott Day in Canadaand had been endorsedby the United Churchof Canada and the Ca­nadian Labour Congress.

With the signing ofcontracts in April andMay~ the National Dayhad an overriding at­mosphere of celebPa­tion and appreciation.

Five hundred peoplegathered on Toronto'sCentre Island onMay30th to share in anafternoon of music andgames that was the To-­ronto Boycott Office'sexpression of thanksto the city's peoplefor their continuedunderstanding and sup­port of the farm work­ers'struggle.

"Gracias ~ TorontoDay" began with threecarcaravans~ startingfrom different sec­tions of the city andlead by a number ofmunicipal and provin­cial political figures.The caravans convergedon the Toronto water­front where ferriestook the demonstratorsover to Centre Island~

a beautiful publicpark three miles outonto Lake Ontario.Folk~ soul and Mexicanmusic helped createthe feeling of jubili­ation for the appear­ance of the first u­nion Zabel grapes inToronto.

\

victory.Brief remarks from

various community~ la­bor~ church and poli­tical leaders and thepresentation of a fra­med union label to arepresentative of To­ronto's Mayor recom­mitted the community

- to see this strugglethrough to total suc­cess.

The entertainmenthighlight of a five.ternoon was the break­ing of the pinata.

Petra directed theconstruction of a fivefoot grape bunch~ eachgrape containing candyand peanuts. Combin­ing Mexican and Cana­dian cultures~ the pi­nata ceremony~ run byAlfredo de Avila ofthe Buffalo~ N.Y. boy­cott~ found the Cana-

Page 11: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

Above: Daughter of ManuelRivera proudly marches onBoycott Day.Right: Petra Saludado sam­

ples the first union grapes in

Toronto, from the David Freed­man Company of Coachella.

EL MALCRIADO/ll

dian youngsters usinghockey .stick and theirbest slap shot tech­nique to free the can­dy.

Park officials~

cautiously uninvolvedin the physical pre­paration until the Ma­yor's office clearedciway much red tapeclaimed t~e afternoonwas one of the mostsuccessful occurancesthe island has everhosted.

In Vancouver~ PamSmith~ UFWOC BoycottDirector~ used the May30th designation tokick off the summercampaign against Safe­way. Two hundred sup­porters formed tenpicket lines beforeadjourning to StanleyPark for a picnic.Virginia Jones of thePortland~ Oregon~ boy­cott joined the Van­couver celebration..

In Montreal~ JessicaGovea organized a mas­sive roving picketline that totaled over200 at times and vi­sited five Dominionstores~ concluding theday's activity outside~

of the Quebec divisionheadquarters. A streettheatre group traveledwith the picket lineon a flat-bed truck~

performing p: skit de-.picting economic linksbinding the growersand the supermarket.

Additional acti­vities on the 30thwere held in the Bri­tish Columbia citiesof Victoria~ PrinceGeorge~ Prince Rupert~

and Nanaimo.

Page 12: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

Chi

hasdidlthebyNo\

· l4jEL MALCRIADO

1~,tr..::L=ik:";~=r::.."",T'"-Th-T-e"::~:"h-~"':·';"i-~-in-p-a-~-t-!-U-l-~-.,_I_K_fr-E-o-m-o-u-t-S-id-e-O-f-c-e-n-t-e-r-a-r-r-i-v-ed-a-t--s-tr-.ik-e-n-a-S-b-ee-n-g-o-m-g-o-n-fo-r-a-'J Chimself a Chicano, is directly op- the church along with Father Fred most 18 days, the strikers have notpose9 to the strike because rela- Hart and the berets from Colorado lost faith, have not given up hope,tives of his are in the fields work- Springs, Denver, and Pueblo, they but iI!-stead have become strongering as scabs. At one point he told ,found that the doors to the church and have voiced continually the ur-me that he was going to kick my had been chained shut. Takillg a gency of th~ir strike and the; needass because we were deI'(lonstrat- vote of the people, the strikers for them all to stick. together toing publicly and· he felt that I was decided to break the chains and see a victory against the lettuceto blame for it. They have also did so, and then celebrated Mass growers. Dicho - Hecho, the strikecome parading around us all the within the Church. Throughout the committee, will be inviting the en-time with guns, mace, and clubs, church services there were a good tire public of Colorado to a major

FRANK MEDINA AND CHRIS VALDEZ ENTERTAIN CENTER~ COLORADO STRIKERSDURING.A LULL IN NEGOTIATIONS.

waiting for some small incidentwhich would give them the rightto come in and hurt some of thestrikers. The strike has beenpeaceful and will continue to beunless it is, provoked by the po­lice. In order to protect them­selves from the police, the strikershave had' to form their own black

berets, who are the youths. Theseberets are being trained to protectthe strikers and the rest of theChicano community from irrespon­sible cops.

church chainsdo~r··~.aga~rist

strikersThis past Sunday, the strikers,

have arranged with the localpriest to have church services inthe basement of the Catholic churchhere in Center. When the strikersalong with so~e 400 sympathizers

nU,mber lJ~ cops patrolling the area,again looking for' an excuse bywhich they' could stop our church

meeting. The strikers were morethan 150, all asking for their wagesto be raised, but more so, forjustice for the Chicano farm worker.

boycott plannedDicho - Hecho, the strike com­

mittee, is also planning to do ageneral boycott on lettuce and othersubsidiary companies involved withboth Lee A. Consual and Fresh-'pict, which are the major com­panies being picketed at the time.

on to totalvictory!

The strikers are planning to do •several other things besides La

Huelga, including food and gas co­operatives, and other community­oriented endeavors. Although the

meeting when we will have CesarChavez speaking here on the issuesof the .strike. This will be an­nounced in the very near future.When the Chicano says, "Viva La

Huelga," it means more than "Maythe Strike Live" - it means a wayof li,fe, a way of thinking, and afJ.1tUre for all of the poor farm

workers.

ENOUGHl When the lettuce strikeis over, the enemy (the system),the toWll council, the Public Uti­lities Company, the grocery stores,the Gas Company, and others willchange or suffer the pains ofchangeat the hands of the now-liberated

likethelcanoffi

Chibechayof,

abo!saie(Str

tablareled

at'clai

Page 13: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

LETTUCE WORKERS

wetback scabs

supportedby Chavez

Throughout the strike, variousChicano community leaders havecome in and offered their support.Among them have been Corky Gon­zales of the Crusade for Justice,who has given both financial andphysical support. Another greatleader, the man who madethe Grape Strike most successful,Cesar Chavez, has sent both infor­mation and money and is planning

a visit to the Center in the near ..future, in order to help this strike,Efforts are being made to makeCenter the Local No.3 of Cesar'sUnited Farm Workers Union.·

EL MALCRIADOjl3Lettuce workers went out

on strike on June 2, and have beenon strike ever since, to try to

get their wages raised. The wagesfor field hands are $1.40 an hourand $1.50 for supervisors. Thestrikers are now asking for raisesof $2.00 and $2.50 respectively. Inorder to formalize their efforts,they have formed a farm. workersorganization called Dicho - Hecho,(Said - Done). Their presidentis Reynaldo Campos, a local farmworker.

One of the major problems withinthe strike is the great number ofwetbacks or illegal immigrants whohave been continually brought in to

do the farm work that the strikershave left behind. There are veryfew local farm workers still work­ing and most of the people whoare scabs are either wetbacks orpeople from outside of the Centerarea.

cops seenas threat

Another major problem for thestrikcrs has been the police and thesheriff. The Center police in

S' Li"e, d1,Q haVE; ",up,,". Leu andh .ve shown pre~en..nce 0 . Ie! grow­e' as opposed to the Chicano

f~i •

FARN WORKERS OF COLORADO ARE ON STRIKE AGAINST T.'REE' '{PICT FOODS. SHCRE ME,lBERS OF DICHO - HECHO~ OlrLINDA DE VARGA[ ~ BiLLY CT{AVEZ~ LEN.

REVOLT IN COLORADOOn June 2~ 1970~ let­tuce workers in Cen­ter~ Colorado walkedoff two large cor­poration farms forunion recognition anda better way of life.

They formed an orga­nization called Dichoy Hecho. Like theDelano strikers~ theyhave been endlesslyharassed by the localpower structure~ hea­ded by.the law enfor­cement agencies andtown officials. Theiremployers scoffed atthem and claim t~ey

don't represent work­ers. Strikebreakerswere brought in fromother parts of thesouthwest~ but thestrike goes on.

Magdaleno Avila work­ed for the ColoradoRural Legal Assis­tance before joiningthe lettuce strikersthis year as a fulltime organizer. Thefollowing are excerpsfrom two articles onthe lettuce strike hewrote for the BoulderExpress magazine.

12jEL MALCRIADO

'i

Page 14: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

ammonia, and Brilla steel wool.Only through an effective boycottcan we hurt these lettuce compa­nies. The strikers are also in needof much food and money in order

to stay on strike.While many speak of freedom

for all men, very few do anythingabout it. While many say they hatethe system, too few do anythingto change it. If a person sayssomething then he should live upto it. Such is the name of thestrike organization, Dicho - Hecho(Said - Done).

Each day we wait for our vic­tory. Each day we get stronger.Each day we question more thesystem and its unequal methods.And yet we love each "'her more

~~oeLG4;",r

that they don't get out of povertybecause they don't pull themselves

up by the bootstraps; if a manhas no boots, he thus cannot pullany boot straps. Today in Center,people are pressured by the es­tablishment because they have goneon strike, they are pushed out ofhomes, they have their electricityshut off, their credit suddenly goesbad, and the system still preaches

equality and justice for all. E­qualitY and justice you can have -­only if your skin is the propercolo!; and if you have a wallet fullof credit cards and check books.

a plea forsupport

The lettuce strikers are onlyseeking a wage increase but weask that our supporters boycott forus and help us win this strike.First of all we must eliminatethe forbidden fruit - lettuce. Then:we must stop buying some of theproducts made by the mother com­panies, Purex. Purex is the mothercompany of the FreshPick FruitFoods, Inc. They make Beads­0-Bleach, Dutch Cleanser, Bo-Peep

\

\\

LEROY TORRES~ DENNIS

bootstraps,and all that

~

ON THE PICKET LINE:GARCIA~ BERT ,GARCIA

strikers areunite1d'

Chicanos.

The sheriff of Saguache Countyhas_ been labeled a •. sell-out ven­dido' by his own people. He putthe noose around his own neckby opposing the Lettuce Strike. By'November he wili find himself just

like the strikers - jobless - andthen he will understand what Chi­cano Power means. .Other electedofficials are carefully studying theChicano unity that has come aboutbecause of the strike. Businesseshave suffered a serious reductionof volume business.

The entire community is worriedabout alleged communist~,who aresaid to be spear-heading the Huelga(Strike). None of tho;e in the Es­

tablishment understand that theyare at fault for the conditions whichled to the protests, demonstration".

at last revolutions. They keep'classes of people in poverty and say

i

r

Page 15: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

.'\ ..

When Ben Aparicio walked· qff the job at.'. Fillmore and"piru ·Citrus Association, h~ was. doing some unfipished business,' The:M-year. old .farm worket' was leading 210 striking citru~

". workers "who had grievances against citrus

: ..growers that reached back for decades. Aparicio.·~nd his workers were reviving .one of the bit-"t;erest agricultural strikes in California historywhich occured in Fillmore and San~ Paulain 1941.

.):., Fillmore -sits in the, heart of Ventura

~~~~, ~~~";finm:es::m~,:~~nv:.;r:; :;:.

. .. ~.

confused with the Santa ara Valley in the

north of California): The 1941 strike was ,crushed by "the Al:>"o~iated Farmers, the FarmBureau, and the State Chamber of Commerce.Farm workers were ejected from companyhousingand labor camps and had to live :like animalsin tents and under bridges.. Pickets were

'arrested and tightly organized' grower groupsvowed to "fight to the finish" and to recruitlabor from all possible sources to replace

striker's. - The Federal Farm ~eclfI'ityAdminis­tration and the State Relief Administration wereheavily criticized by growers for offering re-

Page 16: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

EL. MALCRIADOjl7

of lemons in the county, 3500 acres were con,.trolled by the family of Charles Collins. Teague.Teague and a handful of other large growerscontrolled then, as they do now, most of theacreage and the political power in the area;."The Ventura County lemon pickers," c.on~nue~

Meany, "although their employers do not le­gally own their bodies, lead lives tha.t havebeen likened to slaves. Their wages are mi-

serable. . They live in squalid shacks, and areexploited at the company store. After deduc­tions were rriade from one worker's paycheck,

all he had was 18 cents!"Meany described how 1500 workers walked

out on stri~e in January of 1041 and formed. the Citrus Workers Union, Local 22342, to wage

their battle for a better life. The responseof the lemon magnates was typical, accordingto Meany. "We won't stand for any unions 1

.'

GROWERS DUMPTRUCKLOADSOF LEMONSRATHERTHAN DEALWITH THEUNIONIN :rHE1941STRIKE

ISSTRIKEA-," .,

entitled: Peonage in California (American Fe­derationist, May, 194~). Meany wrote: "ManyAmericans think that, peonage in· America is athing of the pa.st•. · Don't you believe it. Youwinced at the scenes in the novel,'Grapes ()fWrath'. The same oppression, the same abuses,the same harrowing conditions exist in a partof sunny Sou.thern· California called Ventura

County:'Meany explained. that of the 22,000 acres

1941 :GROWERS:LISHED

THISCAMP

FORTHE

SCABS;STRIKERS

WERE, EVICTED

lief to strikers ~l)c{ tbeir families. The strikewas finally put. doWn by the ruthless powerof the grower block, but the spirit of the workers

was never broken.One of the .reporters on the scene during

the 1941 strike was: George Meany, now. thePresident of the AFL:"CIO. At that time hewas the secretary-treasurer of the A.F. of L.and wrote an article on' the Ventura citrus strike,

Page 17: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

..around here. Unionism in Ventura County is win because they are so clearly in the right."

out," the employers shouted. Teague told Ben Aparicio, now president of the United

growers: "We cannot and must not accede to Farm Workers Local of Fillmore, finds the same

the union's demands. It would be better for stubborness with the field bosses and super-

us to let the fruit on the trees drop to the visors of the F & P Association twenty-nine

ground than to grant their demands." years later. Fred Pryce, an F & P spokesman,

The authorities at Ventura Junior College broke a promise to issue the strikers a writtenendorsed scabbing on the part of the students., response to their demands. The workers' de-

Other strikebreakers were brought in from the mands centered around a fixed price for piece .

midwest, but only damaged the crop, since they rate work. The workers reported that they'were

were inexperienced pickers. Meany concluded: being short-changed on the boxes of oranges

"I saw conditions that were barbarous and they picked. "They tell you that they will pay

shocking. But what impressed me most was you 26¢ a box at the beginning of the week,"

the indomitable courage of these workers in Aparicio stated. "Then when you. get paid,

,'- race n "--err:e, ldve:-sity•••..Vlen \TId women you find ypu're -:;nly getting 2S¢ a box. They

hes( pirited~-_...w,;;,.:,or:;.;k;,;.e::r;.;s=-::je:::'J::e:.:r:v;~·e:...:to=- __a_r_e_r_o:.;b:.;b:..i_n,:;g_u:..s.,.;!_"__'_':,:It:,,-:t..ak:..:.:.e.:..s:..:.:.fo:.:r:.:e:..;v:.:e~r.....:t:.::.o-.::.g:.:e..:.t_

. :,-i~, j. ,I

"";,'

"'1.,'. ,

c.'

A STRIKE IS REVIVED

BENAPARICIO~·

LEFT~

LEADER OFTHE19?0FILLMORE&PIRUCITRUSSTRIKE~

HOLDS UPA LISTOFFARMWORKERS'DEMANDS

Page 18: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

•• •IllOg 10 (cuador

Five years ago orgamzmg ef­

forts to better the campesinos'

wage and living conditions began.These workers were not onlythumbed under by ranchers, but also

by a government which discrimi­

nated against the poor, and a so­

ciety which completely ignored

them.No, this isn't the Delano farm

workers huelga in 1965.

This is Ecuador's social re­

volution led by the Fundacion Bre}

thren Unida, an interdenominational

Organnon-profit organization which has,so far, survived where other 1

social movement

Ecuador.

Franklin

utive secretar

is an intense

rimmed glasse

ing black eyes.

United States 0

ganizing and th

Canelos visite

Canelos discovere

farm workers' union is a

the Ecuadorian movement becaus

theirs is still in the beginning

stage.

'j'We need to learn from you.

We need more information about

your work -- your problems -­because it's possible -to practice

it in Ecuador,' he said.He asked us several questions,

one oi'which was how we felt about

Ernesto "Che" Guevarra.

One of the staff members ans­

wered that Che's philosophy was

humanistic, but that the man had

been built into ~omethiiJ.g he wasn't,a legend.

Cahelos replied, "The old

people thought he was a thief. The

young thought him a symbol' of

liberation against North American

imperialism. I personally believe

with the young.'

The young labor organizer was

born in a poor Quito fe-mily and

went to school with poor Indians,

"serfs of the city." During his

school career, Canelos felt a needto help and serve the Indian and

his almost hopeless situation.

"When I went to the univer­

sity, I studied economic-science to

learn the situatio~ of my people,and now I want to better the si­

tuation," he stated.

Ecuadbrian campesinos earn 50

work day

ago th

ted, chan

the people'

the people"

people, of w

felt the need

own participatio

would directly af

"I don't like

people, who aren't

munity, come to hel

out using their ideas,

this program to solve

sinos' problems,' Cane

He continued,' 'I feel

cessary to talk with the

and listen to their problems.is when the program is necessa

- because it deals with what the

EL MALCRIADOjll

campesino himself needs, and how

it's possible to work progra.rnswith campesino participation."

Can there be non-violence i

Ecuador's social labor movement?

In a dictatorship where the

army is called to stop strikes

or any other disturbance agains ,

the government, non-violence is im- .possible, Canelos explained. But

he continued, the government ,i.

aware of the movement's organi'

zing activities but have refused ,}

recognize the organization. Thj,

non-recognltlOfl is advantageoll.s to

movement because no military

een made to stop it.

,ent doesn't recog­

ent, then there is

quash.

agrarian economy

lyon bananas, which

by an elite segment

y, rich Ecuadorian!'

North Americans.

ans, Canelos said,

r's imports.

tice of heavy money

on on top trikling downdia'sses is from U.S;

ent Herbert' Hoover'se down policy" of the 1930' s, ­

would be subsidized to bu- .es from the government and

as hoped this money would e

tually "trikle down' to the wor' ­

s through their wage.If three million carnpesinos.

ith the life expectancy of 50 years,

an only earn 50 cents a ~daYl fOI8 or 9 hours work, then s1:lve' la­

bor can't be denied. Has any­

one tried to help the carnpesin,'Ibefore? What about the Peace

Corps?"I think they're resting," Ca

nelos charged. "Only work;.ng with

. rich farmers or not working at aLi

They're JUSt on vacation.•.. 'Ylan'.eople don't like the Peac(- Corp

in Ecuador,"

Page 19: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

l2/EL MALCRlADO

".'1

"/, ;1

THE FARM,:WORKER MUST

.~ j

ORGANIZEBy William Kircher

third ~n a series

NATION TO,

BARGAINING

OUR SYSTEM, BUTBETWEE,I\I FARMOTHER WORKERS?

IS IT RIGHT FOR THIS

CONSIDER COLLECTIVE

AS A P'ART OFTO DRAW A LINE

WORKERS AND ALL

.t:'

---~-------~~-_------III-.J

HUFWOC IS A RELENTLESS FORCE BIIT IS RIGHT, BECAUSE 11-

I

-J

, ....

,:;j.(

\

.1~

~ 1,\1-

,:j,

,'j

''-1.:;.'

;1~~}I"~.'

.;","I.

:J. ·.-··.··. ·

- , ·~': ·i:J ··~.~ ···

There are two ways in whichthe question of the propriety ofunionism among farm workers canbe put. It can be placed on astrictly,moral basis. In otherwords, is it right for this nationto consider collective bargaining asa part of our system, as it does,and to encourage its 'usage in such

a manner as to strengthen thefiber of our economy and con­

tribute to our system, but to drawa line between farm workers andall other workers?

Obviously, the case can besettled at this point. There can beno justification for the doublestandard of benefits where Ameri­can workers are concerned.

But beyond that, there are thosewho would like to talk of whetheror not there is a NEED for union-

ism among farm workers.Farm workers still rank low­

est in annual income of all ournation's occupational groups. Inall sectors of the non-farm eco­nomy, and in every state, the ave­rage hourly earnings of productionworkers are above farm wagerates. It is of great significanceto note that the gap between ag­r~cultural and non-agricultul:'alearnings has ,continually widened'since World War II, a period oftime when the impact of free col­

lective bargaining on wage ratesin those unionized segments of the,work force has been the greatest.

Figures from the U. S. Depart­ment of Agriculture as late asJanuary, 1969, show rates in late1968 from a low of $1.00 per houraverage in South Carolina to a little

over $1.70 hourly average in Con­neticut, California, and Washington.The national average in late 1968was $1.43 per hour as against anational average for non agricul­

tural employment of $2.93. Thecrucial economic factor for farm

workers however is the matter ofyearly earnings•

A study by the Economic Re­search Service of the U.S. Depart­ment of Agriculture, IIA Socio­

Economic Pro"file of the 1965 FarmWage Force," deals with the ques­tion of "Annual Earnings":

"Because of the low wagerates and short work yearcharacteristic _ of agricultural

employment, the average hiredfarmworker in 1965 earned farmwages of only $650 for 85days of farmwork. This fi-

Page 20: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

I

gure does not represent totalearnings, nor does it includeany income from self-employ­

ment."Even when wages from all

sources 'are totaled for theyear, the average farm workerwas still a low wage earner.Persons employed in boththe farm and nonfarm economyaveraged $1,486 at all jobs in1965, or nearly twice the earn­ings of those doing farmwork

only ($805). Not only, weredaily nonfarm wages higher thandaily farm wages, but the ave­rage worker with some nonfarmexperience was employed for alonger period at all jobs thanthe person who did farmworkonly. In addition, the nonfarmwork during the year was oflonger duration than the farm­work and consequently producedthe larger share of the year'stotal wages."

The study comments on the"Family Income" of farm workers.

"Farmworkers are poor, notonly because their wages arelow compared with wages ofother Americans, but becausethe total amount of money a­vailable 'to them and to mem­

bers of their families also fallsbelow the national average. In1965, the 3.1 million personswho did hired farmwork livedin families whose total incomefor the year, from all sources,averaged $2900. In the sameyear, the family income of allAmericans averaged $6,000.

"Some farmworkers do farebetter financially than the ave­rage, however. About one-tenthof all farm workers in 1965had family incomes of $7500and above. This was in sharpcontrast to the one-tenth whose

family incomes fell below $1,000for the year."The manner in which farm wages

have lagged cannot be unrelated tothe fact that it has been the onlysegment of predominately unskilledand semi-skilled labor in the na­tional work force which has not hadthe benefit of collective bargaining.

Beyond the wage question is thefact that agricultural workers havebeen excluded from the whole rangeof social reforms achieved in thiscountry over two generations. For

example:Farm workers suffer more than

any other group from recurringperiods of unemployment and un­

deremployment, yet they are noteligible for jobless benefits any-

"The boycott isthe onlyeffectiveorganizationaldeviceremaining."

where, except in Hawaii, PuertoRico and the District of Columbia.Every major job classification inindustry is covered by unemploy­ment insurance except farm work.

Farm labor is one of the morehazardous occupations, yet farmworkers are fully covered by work­mans' compensation in only 14states. In about half the statesthey are not protected at all.

Farm wages are the lowest ofany group in the labor force, butit was not until 1966 that farmworkers were included under 'the

EL MALCRIADO/13

Fair Labor Standards Law. Evennow, farm workers are not ac­corded equality with other workerscovered. Their wage floor is 30cents an hour lower and, until thelaw is changed, it can go nohigher. Besides that, only 2 percent of the nation's farms are af­fected by the existing legislation.

Finally, farm workers are large­ly outside the scope of the SocialSecurity system, yet they have noother means to provide against oldage, or for their families if theydie or become disabled.

There are other shocking in­justices. Child labor, outlawedeverywhere in the land, is stillcommon in agriculture, and in factapologists for the big farm ex­ploiters are callous enough to haqthis injustice as an asset to so­ciety. Free public schools are

often unavailable to the children

of migrant farm workers.There are ,47 states with wage

payment laws to aid workers incomplaints and collections for wages

due and unpaid. Only 10 of thosestates, however, make any provi­

sion to extent this protection tofarm wor-kers.

It wasn't until 1964 that a FarmLabor Contractors Registration Actwas passed and even then so poor­

l~ funded that as late as 1968its national field staff was limited

to five professional employees. Atleast 40 states have no state lawsin this area of critical need.

No intelligent person could lookat that list of inequalities and holdout much hope for the farm workers'plight being improved by "external"forces. If there is one thing thefarm worker has come to know,it is the old lesson that "Godhelps those who help themselves" ....and American trade unionism is thegreatest self-help program for eco­nomic - social - cultural improve­

ment ever invented.

E BECAUSE OF THE NEED, BECAUSEE IT IS WELL LED."

______~ ~~~J, ~~ ~~ ~~

Page 21: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

.'~

(', 14/EL MALCRIADO

the boycott ro all fresh grapes.There is no question of the

fact that the boycott is hurtingthe growers. Some have admittedit. Others attempt to mmlmizeits effect. Shipping records andother statistics, when compared toprevious nonboycott seasons, show

that the impact is severe.The union does not resort to

the boycott by choice. It is notan endeavor that is pleasant forthe workers. The unfortunate facts

of life are that the boycott, un­der present circumstances, is the

only effective organi­zational device remaining.

The lack of any or­derly procedure, backed upby law, for the questionof representation to be de­cided, leaves workers withonly two alternatives. They

can for:get. about organi­Zing and having a unionor they can go on striketo force the employer torecognize their union•

In any area of theUnited States that is within350 miles of the Mexicanborder, this means thatwithin 24 - 48 hours,the struck fields will berepopulated with workersshipped in by bus and

truck from the Mexican bor­der. In manr cases these work­ers will be actual illegal en­trants. In other cases, they willbe. holders of visas called "greencards", obtained under the pretext

of their wanting to establIsh resi­dence in the United States but withno intention of ever follOWingthrough on that promise. The im­migration policies of this govern­ment have deteriorated to the pointwhere this flagrant abuse is carriedout without any meaningful inter­ference.

Added to thIS' is the situationwhere, in an agrkulwrally domin­ated community, Ipcal courtS and

problems and the minor ones aren't

bothering us' •The DiGiorgio Company, one

of the companies where UFWOChad won a contract in 1966, hadcommenced selling its properties

following the union victory. In the'Times article, the DiGiorgio pre­sident said, "the union contractwas not a factor in the company'ssale of the land." The unorgani­zed growers, trying to discreditthe union, had charged that it was.

It is clear that the uniongrowth has been beneficial to the

workers without .. destrOying' thecompanies.

For over two years the union'sorganizational effort has been in theform of a national boycott against

table grapes. It started after theAugust 5, 1967 strike, against theGiumarra Corporation, had beenbroken through the use of illegaland "green card" labor. At firstthe boycott was directed againstGiumarra. However, when the uniondiscovered that numerous "com­petitors" of the Giumarra Corpora­tion were making their labels a­vailable to Giumarra to frustratethe boycott, the union was leftwith no alternative but to apply

~~Viewed

from the standardof pastaccomplishmentsthe unionhas done much..I•

i that while the union had raisedI wages considerably, "so far, we! have resolved all of our major

'. '

Not only are farm workersri, going to continue to build their~lr< union, but they are going to do it

using whatever effective legal or­ganizational devices available to

, . them. In that respect they will

be no different than other union­~, ists in other union beginnings.

Since September 1965, when thegrape strike in Delano, Californiastarted, the union has moved a­head. Viewed from the standard

_ of past accomplishments it has

:' Clone mUCh. Viewed from the stand­~. point of what remains to be done,':. it has hardly scratched the

surface.It has forced re-

cognlOon with the big­~., gest California grape com­;;', panies throl<gh elections,-{. card checks, and boy-

- c' cott pressure. Contracts.l[ prOVide health and safety

;rL prOVisions, vacations and:-.: holidays, health-welfare

programs, seniority pro­.: '. visions for job protection

.''<' and upgrading, overtime-'., provisions, checkoff pro-

viSIOns for credit unions,,', and other standard pro-_~..' visions. 111ere are griev­

." ance procedures, pro-visions for arbitration,

,.; methods for determining

'r piece and incentive rates, and a'.: no-strike clause in every contract.

Growers still resisting theunion in mid-68 charged that com­panies were suffering "chaos" on

their farms because of the union.The Los Angeles Times investi-

r gated this, talked to the unionized~ growers, aI'.d in a story by Times; Labor Editor, Harry Bernstein, on: December 16, 1968, printed denials: of the charges. One company de­: clared openly that "it is unfairi to say that this is not a respon':i sible union" while another admitted

~,

I"J

.-/,".

~'1~i". I

.~'.

:,'

....j

.:;.'

}~',~:;"

" ~l ---------------------------------------1l'UFWOC LEADERSHIP LOOKS FOR TRECOGNIZED AS A HELPFUL PART a

Page 22: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

...Viewedfrom the standpoint

of what remainsto be done,

it has hardlyscratched

the surface."

MR. KIRCHER IS THENATIONAL DIRECTOR()F ORGANIZING FORTHE AFL-CIO. WETHANK HIM FOR THEUSE OF THIS AR­TICLE. WHICH FIRSTAPPEARED IN "THEFARM QUARTERLY'!.

union.

It is a relentless force be­

cause of the need, because it isright and because it iswell led. It is suc~

ceeding and it will suc-ceed more and moreeach year.

The leadership looksfor the day when it willbe recognized as a help­ful part of the total com-munity, so that tflt,

strength that it nas canalso he lent to goodcauSe's beyond the imme­diate purposes of the unionin the field of wages,hours, and conditionsfor its members.

The sooner the restof the community re­alizes that a farmworker union can reallybe a good thing foreveryone, the sooner

EL MAL<;;RIADO/IS

are sometimes found helping thefarm worker programs. Some callit a religious movement because thebanner of the Virgin of Guadalupeis in nearly every procession.

The leadership, Chavez andItliong particularly, smile at allof this. They know what UFWOCis. It is a union, and the thingsthat they do are things that mustbe done at this time to build that

reason will prevail and progressfor all will occur.

which the farm workers' union is

blessed.Headed by Cesar Chavez, the

union has the benefit' of leader­

ship from a man who is extremely

bright, unswervfngly dedicated andextremely tough and courageous.He is a selfless man who can findalmost superhuman energy to bringto this effort only because of thedepth of his belief and dedication.Teamed with him is a Filipinofarm worker, Larry Itliong, cut ofthe same bright, tough organi-

zational cloth. Both of them un­derstand unionism. 'Both of themknow that the future of their move­

ment, and tlIerefore the brighmessof the farm workers' future, existsin the field Qf union attainmeqt.

Some adversaries call it a"social movement" because partof the program includes consumercooperatives, credit unions and me­dical clinics. Some adversarieslabel it a \"civil rights" movementbecause it concerns itself 'with the

.problems of discrimination which

its members face. Some call ita "hippie" movement because stu­dents with long hair and beards

police do not tend to' be sympa­thetic to farm workers' organiza­tional endeavors. Given the"alien" labor problem, the courtsaI!d power structure, successfulstrikes become remote possibili­

ties.It is for this reason that the

workers turn to the boycott, inorder to take advantage of thestrength of the millions of brother

and sister' trade unionists all overthis land and in other nations, calling

upon the general public to supporttheir cause by with­holding their purchasesof fresh grapes.

In this respectthey have the total com­mitment from the Am­erican Labor Move­ment. George Meany,the President of theAFL-CIO, has for many,many years been knownas one of the nation's

staunchest advocates of

farm labor unionism. Hehas been personally in­volved in many of theorganizational strug­gles in the West. Inthe current effort he hastestified before everymajor, legislative com­mittee which has heldhearings on this sub­ject.

Since UFWOC was formed,there have been two national con-ventions of AFL-CIO. In each ofthese, standing, unanimous approvalwas given t6 resolutions calling fortotal support for the farm workerorganizing effort, and in each in­stance Meany pledged to the leader­ship of the farm workers unendingaid and support. '

With all there is to examinein this matter, nothing is a morecritical factor in what has beenaccomplished and what remains tobe accomplished than the tremen­dous indiginous leadership with

OR THE DA'y WHEN IT WILL BE,RT OF THE TOTAL COMMUNITY."

Page 23: EI· Malc:riado - UC San Diego Library Home Page · PDF fileI'II 1-SEPTEMBER 1, 1970 VOLUME IV NUMBER 6 : DELANO, CALIFORNIA The Voice of the Farm Worker,EI· Malc:riado 10,000 California

Emiliano Zapata(black on red)

NAMEADDRESSCI TY__':-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-S-=-=T=-A:-::T::":E=- - _-_-_-~-Z-IP-_-_-_-_-=

r~---------~-------------------~

I EL MALCRIADO II II P. O. BOX 130' J~ DELANO, CA rr 93215 fJ. ,

: Please send me the foUowing: !I copies HUELGA @$1.50 each II posters of CESAR CHAVEZ @$1. 50 each 1I posters of EMILIANO ZAPATA @$1.50 eachI p~qters of PANCHO VILLA @ $1.50 each: ~ ~riptions to EL MALCRIADO @$3.50.,IJ

III~-------~--------~-------------~

OLD FROM EL MALCRIADO

ALL POSTERS $1.50 each~ plus259 postage and handling. 5copies for $5.25.

FIRST 100

THE GREAT DELANO GRAPE STRIKE

Cesar Chavez(full color)

:.-.:..~·~~.7:.~:::~:~:;~~~.:~:~~.::~:·::::~:.. '''~._ ......"' o~··... -_ - ..••• ' ...... ' •••• ' ~I••••"',,.,,'•••••"0' _ •

.~\~..::::i?;;:.:::o~:::_,:.~:.~. ':~;,.:::. ~=..:..:~:-~ :0;

, Posters of Emiliano Zapataand Pancho Villa with thebanner ('~headUne "VIVA LAREVOLUCION." 17" x 23".

l"--------,----~

POSTERS OFVILLA, "l-APATA, CHAVEZ

NEW FROM EL MALCRIADO

r---------~~ Full-color~ glossy posterof farm worker leader CesarChavez~ with the campesinosof Schenley Ranch. 17"x23".

-HUELGAI - by Eugene Nelson remains the finest account yet pUblishedon the early days of the Delano grape strike. Nelson was a picket line Captain(and later led ,the Union drive to organize ¢e melop fields of South Texas)and writes with intimate knowledge of the origins and beginnings of the strike.Nelson also includes a' brief biography and interviews with Cesar Chavez, andother Union leaders, and a history of the National F.arm Workers Association,the predecessor of the United Farm Workers OrganiZing Committ~e. (160pages, with 11lustrations b¥ George Ballis and others. In English only. $1.50).

l6/EL MALCRIADO

HUELGAIITHE"

..;..

',I

,1I•

-I ~ VJ;1 H "'"

:rJ

":1c- Vl .e-

15:- -< 0:P z

'1e- t-3 c....

" t=l '-::::i, ."

~ 0'::~ .. :l:l"j I:'

!~!:i<") c."J» :P :::0

t~.~ -< ~1

::.~.I -0 t=-l c=l

"'". z

".......0 en

,/" "'"

'Xj

.- t"'J.. e-, I:'

;"JJ r-1::d

"

\.>I0N

.. ) tZJ, "

.......,!~" VI':1•.~