Happy birthday, Cesar Chavez

UFW President Arturo Rodriguez

On March 31, the official Cesar Chavez holiday in California, farm workers there were given something to truly celebrate: The state Senate passed legislation making it easier for them to unionize.

And the next day, United Farm Workers (UFW) President Arturo Rodriguez and about 100 farm workers personally delivered the bill to the State Assembly.

“We had to work hard because we wanted to get this legislation to the governor’s desk as quickly as possible,” Rodriguez said. “We felt that it would be important and symbolic for everyone to demonstrate and celebrate Cesar Chavez’s legacy by having this legislation in front of the Senate on his birthday and the state holiday because it shows how we are trying to honor and to continue on his life’s work.

“We want to ensure that we continue the legacy in a way that is genuine for the workers and their families,” Rodriguez added.

The Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act would give California farm workers the option of filling out union authorization cards in the privacy of their homes and turning them over to UFW union organizers, who would then deliver the cards to state labor officials. Then the state’s Agricultural Labor Relations Board would certify the bargaining unit with a majority of union cards signed. Under this provision, the divisive election process would no longer impede workers from joining the union out of fear and intimidation.

After cards are signed within 48 hours, the state would verify them with the company’s employee records. Once that’s established, workers would automatically be considered union members with full representation rights.

The bill’s passage would give farm workers basic protections on the job: drinking water, shade from intense heat and the opportunity to make a living wage.

Since 1975, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) law has been on the books to protect agricultural workers, but support for farm workers has been underfunded. ALRA gives collective-bargaining rights to irrigators, harvesters and many other farm workers.

Fifteen workers – including pregnant 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez – in San Joaquin County have died from heat-related illnesses since 2005, when state regulations went into effect.

Jimenez’ story is well known: It was only the third day of work for Jimenez, an immigrant from Oaxaca, Mexico. She’d worked for nine hours with one water break in 95-degree weather on a sun drenched stretch of a Stockton vineyard. The coroner said her body temperature rose above 108.4 degrees. When she collapsed from heat exhaustion, Merced Farm Labor Contractors – fined previously for similar violations of state heat regulations – didn’t call 911. Merced officials went to trial, but they did not receive jail time, just probation, community service and monetary fines.

“It’s high time that change is not preceded by someone’s fateful death. It shouldn’t take a senseless tragedy, when simple basic respect for humanity is the foundation for true respect among people in a civilized society. This is a cornerstone for any business model,” said UAW President Bob King.

King, along with other union presidents, including the Teamsters’ Jimmy Hoffa, SEIU’s Mary Kay Henry and the CWA’s Larry Cohen, signed a letter supporting the bill, urging California Gov. Jerry Brown to sign it.

In addition, Rodriguez hand-delivered more than 25,000 postcards signed by farm workers in support of the bill to the Democratic governor’s office.

“Employers really take advantage of the undocumented workers. They often threaten them with loss of jobs, closing the camp or not hiring them in the future,” Rodriguez said. “For many of these workers, this is all they have. Once they are blacklisted, they are pretty much out of a source of income.”

“This law would give the opportunity to farm workers throughout the state that want to do something about changing their working conditions,” added Rodriguez. “We’re hopeful that this will have an impact on tens of thousands farm workers.”

Gwynne Marie Cobb