by Maitri Pamo
Gracias a la Vida, que me ha dado tanto. My parents made their own Dream Act when they emigrated here from Guatemala. Through their determination and hard work, they ensured fulfilling lives for their children. Different lives from what my ancestors had. My paternal grandparents were farmers. I know nothing about their lives. But on boiling days like today, I think of them.
I also think of all those who work on the land and how difficult their toil must be with the sun as their constant, abusive partner. In the US, farm workers have a life that typifies the agrarian experience, especially when one does not cultivate one’s own land. A bill affecting American farm workers may soon be law in California.
A long list of problems exists for farmers. From my own experience as a veterinary medical student, having been on both large industrial farms as well as small family farms, I know that accidents are a constant threat. Working with machines and sharp edges can produce acute, traumatic injuries, as well as chronic problems such as joint, musculo-skeletal and respiratory damage and disease.
I recall being diligent about wearing masks around chemicals and fertilizers, but many workers do not have this protection. Pesticides, known carcinogens, are particularly hazardous. Workers have little recourse to resist exposing themselves to the poisons, and they have, for decades, been subject to dangerous chemicals.
Often without access to health insurance, workers suffer the ills associated with their work in addition to untreated dental disease. It can be assumed that for many, mental health and stress related challenges are enormous. Considering that many migrant workers are US undocumented workers, they may find themselves powerless against abusive or negligent working and living conditions.
Those farming parents also face the obstacles and worries about the effects of an itinerant life on their children, not to mention their educations. Without skills other than farm labor and with no substantial formal education, the options that these children have for changing their lives are very narrow if at all existent. A difficult life. A type of caste system within the US.
In California, SB 104 is awaiting Governor Jerry Brown’s signature. The United Farm Workers are in favor of the bill. Caution should be exercised to ensure that intimidation and corruption do not trade authors and make the switch from abusive farm owners to abusive union leaders. One of the provisions of the bill would allow for a majority of signed representation cards within a bargaining unit essentially to elect labor leadership. Open, public elections could be sacrificed. The overall positive effects of the bill could be tempered if the intended goals, designed to advance the cause of humane treatment of farm workers is hijacked by self serving factions within the unions. The workers deserve honor from and scrutiny of any legislation that affects their ability to make a better life for themselves.
Contributor, Maitri Pamo.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those
of the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.
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About Maitri Pamo
An interesting essay but I am troubled by what I think is an anti-union bias. If the author has some examples of abusive union leaders mistreating workers then I would like to know about this. I think also that the only way to be fair in this instance would be to compare the lives of farmworkers protected by unions with those that have had no protection.
“The trial court found “by clear, unequivocal and convincing proof” that the union “authorized, participated in and ratified regular, consistent and [227 Cal.App.3d 858] repeated acts of unlawful picketing…” The court concluded… (1) the union “created a climate of violence… and (2) the union’s “violent conduct … rendered [the] harvesting activity [Maggio was able to mount] inefficient in certain cases and impossible in others ….”
“There was evidence showing Maggio strike coordinator Richard King, Maggio picket captains and other UFW leadership were present at times when rock throwing, rushing fields and blocking access occurred and were aware that there was violence occurring on the picket lines. There was evidence that the picket captains urged strikers to throw rocks and to vandalize grower equipment. There was evidence that King and the picket captains made threats to kill the replacement workers.
“There was testimony picket captains encouraged strikers to throw rocks and vandalize grower equipment. In particular, there was evidence of a “Fantasma” or “Phantom Crew” organized by the strikers to intimidate growers and replacement workers. This phantom crew was composed of five or six “real strong young men” who would use a black van at night to attack replacement workers and to vandalize irrigation equipment, vehicles and homes belonging to growers and replacement workers. There was testimony that not only was King aware of this phantom crew and what they were doing but that he actively recruited UFW members for the phantom crew. King attempted to recruit Rene Vasquez for the phantom crew, telling Vasquez ‘[i]t was about breaking some cars, do[ing] bad things to the homes.’”
During an 11-month trial, Maggio’s lawyers presented videotapes showing large numbers of strikers rushing into the fields carrying clubs and throwing rocks at strikebreakers and farm vehicles. In May, 1986, Imperial County Superior Court Judge William E. Lehnhardt ruled that the UFW was responsible for the violence. On appeal, in a 55-page opinion, Judge Daniel J. Kremer said the long trial showed that union leadership, including the strike coordinator and picket captains, were “actively involved in instigating violence.”
Strike coordinator Richard King and picket captains were there when rocks were thrown and fields were rushed, Kremer said. King and the captains made threats to kill replacement workers, Kremer said. The captains urged strikers to throw rocks and to vandalize equipment, Kremer said.
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I realize this was 30+ years ago, but you asked for examples and this one was confirmed, with ample evidence, by a court and several appeals courts.
As far as the author’s assertion that caution should be exercised, I could not agree more. Secret ballot elections are the core foundation of free choice for representation of any sort. They allow voters to make a choice without fear of reprisal from ANY party, as no other party knows how the worker voted. When you vote by secret ballot, as is the case under current law, attempts at bribes, kick-backs, threats and coercion from ANY party (whether that is the employer, fellow workers, or union representatives) are left, as they should be, with no teeth.
SB104 strips workers of these protections. If a union files for a petition process, the employer must give the union the full names and home addresses of all their employees. The representation cards must also be signed by a witness, which means there is no way for a worker to retain privacy over which way he or she chooses to vote.
How any person could support a bill that takes away privacy and INVITES corruption, bribes, kick-backs and threats from any interested party is utterly incomprehensible to me.
It is a good example but as you mention it is only one example. Here is what the UFW are really saying about SB104: Farm Workers Witness Historic Vote on
Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act
By Edgar Sanchez
Special to the UFW
SACRAMENTO – California’s farm workers would be able to vote without fear for union representation under a historic bill approved Monday by the State Assembly after lengthy debate.
SB 104 – the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act – passed by a 51-to-25 party-line vote, prompting applause from 160 farm laborers packing the Assembly Gallery. Another 100-plus farm workers and their supporters watched the debate on television, in a legislative hearing room.
The bill, previously passed by the Senate, now awaits the signature of Governor Jerry Brown to become law.
The measure, granting farm workers the same organizing rights enjoyed by all state employees, is strongly opposed by the state’s $36 billion agricultural industry.
Introduced by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), SB 104 would give the state’s more than 400,000 farm workers an alternative to on-the-job polling place elections to decide whether to join a union. The new option would allow them to fill out state-issued representation ballots in their homes, away from bosses’ threats and other interference. If a simple majority – more than 50 percent — of workers sign the ballots, their jobs would be unionized.
All elections would be supervised by the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, with the workers choosing the process.
In a bid to derail SB 104, opponents in the Assembly described it as a job killer, “an anti-democracy bill” and a tool to “blatantly stack the deck against employers.”
Supporters called it a long-overdue proposal to end years of abuse by some unscrupulous labor contractors and growers fighting the United Farm Workers Union.
“This is a great victory for us,” Felipe, a 30-year-old farm worker from Kern County, said after the vote. “There won’t be any more intimidation on the part of contractors or farm bosses when union elections take place.
“There won’t be because if 104 becomes law, the vote could be in your house, without anybody pressuring you,” he said.
Felipe – not his real name — requested anonymity because he fears reprisals from his employer, who he said intimidated workers into voting against unionization in 2006.
“Before the election, we were told we would lose our jobs if we voted for the union,” the $8-an-hour laborer said. “I came to Sacramento today without my bosses’ knowledge. They don’t know that I came here.”
The Assembly passed SB 104 on the third anniversary of the heat-related death of Maria Isavel Vasquez Jimenez, 17, who had collapsed on a vineyard east of Stockton. The pregnant laborer fainted after being denied proper access to water and shade in nearly 100-degree heat.
In all, 16 farm workers have died in the California heat since 2005, Luis A. Alejo (D-Watsonville), SB 104’s principal co-author, stated on the Assembly floor.
He cited two main reasons for the ongoing deaths: Employers, including Maria Isavel’s, intentionally disregard heat regulations and the state seldom enforces the laws.
Even the justice system failed Maria Isavel, Alejo said, expressing disbelief that no one went to prison after she was “killed.”
“Those responsible for her death were ‘sentenced’ to community service,” despite prior worker-safety law violations, he said. “Community service? For manslaughter? I don’t need to be an attorney to know that that is a disservice to our justice system.”
Greetings. Thank you for expressing your thoughts. Rick, when I wrote the article, I was self conscious about the tone that might be construed as anti union. I am decidedly NOT anti union. I am, however, a critical thinker. Reading the legislation, I was struck by the provision I mentioned, that could theoretically lead to corruption. As I understand it, Cesar Chavez believed in open elections. I understand the difficulty here: open elections and possible intimidation by farm bosses or ballot counting that could lead to corruption. I support fair and open methods and legislation to help the workers. No human enterprise is immune from possible corruption.
Hola Maitri, Thanks for responding. I am very glad that you are not hostile to unions, and I do understand your points about the potential for corruption in this new arrangement. However, I can tell you that as a reporter with 25 years of experience I have spoken to many, many farmworkers who were abused and threatened under the “open” system. I covered part of the long and arduous struggle of mushroom workers in Pa who fought for their rights and I saw how the millionaire owners of that industry found ways to hurt people under that system.