Friday at 12 noon in Marina
Two retired farm workers get more than
$36,000 in pension checks; UFW appeals
to workers who may not know they qualify
Two farm workers who didn’t realize they qualified for a United Farm Workers pension will receive a check totaling more than $36,000 during a 12 noon ceremony Friday in Marina.
One of UFW founder Cesar Chavez’s achievements was creation in the 1970s of America’s first—and only–functioning pension plan for field laborers. UFW Vice-President- Efren Barajas will present a check to one retired farm worker, Johnny Jung, at the event. A second farm worker who is receiving more than $26,000 asked to remain anonymous.
Jung, 70, didn’t know he was eligible for pension benefits from the union’s Juan de la Cruz Farm Workers Pension Fund. In addition to the lump sum retroactive payment of $10,380.23 before taxes, Jung will also receive $146.81 each month for the rest of his life from the joint union-management pension plan. His wife, Sung-Ja, will also receive a monthly benefit from the plan if she were to outlive her husband.
The UFW and the pension fund also hope to spread the word to other retired farm workers who, like Jung, aren’t aware they–or their spouse–qualified for pensions when they worked under union contracts. Jung labored with a UFW agreement under which Monterey Mushrooms contributed to the pension plan. Monterey Mushrooms is the largest distributor of mushrooms in the U.S. and is headquartered in Watsonville.
Since 1989, the pension plan–financed by contributions from growers for every hour worked by a union member under UFW contract–has provided cost-of-living increases and other adjustments and bonuses. The pension plan was named for Juan de la Cruz, a 60-year old grape striker shot to death on a Kern County California picketline in 1973.
Who: UFW Vice-President, Efren Barajas and retired union member Johnny Jung.
What: Presenting a check totaling more than $10,000 from the union pension plan begun by Cesar Chavez.
When: 12 noon, Friday, Sept. 1, 2006
Where: 347 Carmel Ave. #9, Marina, Calif.
Retired farm workers who believe they may qualify for the Juan De La Cruz Pension Plan can inquire online at: http://www.ufw.org/_page.php?menu=about&inc=jdlc.html or call: (800) 321-6607 or (888) 735-5352 / (888) RFK-JDLC.
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