1:30 p.m. Friday, September 28, 2001: in Watsonville
Retired Filipino-American farm worker to receive $73,357 pension check; UFW appeals to others who may not know about benefits
Among United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez’s many achievements was creation in the 1970s of the nation’s first–and only–functioning pension plan for farm laborers. More than eight years after Chavez’s death, UFW Vice President Efrén Barajas will hand a pension check for $73,357 (minus federal income tax withholding) to retired farm worker Modesto Montero during a ceremony Friday afternoon at his home in Freedom.
Montero, 87, was not aware he was eligible for pension benefits from the Juan de la Cruz Farm Workers Pension Fund. In addition to the lump sum payment, he will receive $391.70 per month from the joint union-management pension plan for the rest of his life.
A native of the Philippines who immigrated to the U.S. in 1930, Montero now lives with his son in Freedom. He has five daughters, 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
The UFW also hopes to use the event to spread the word to other retired farm workers who, like Montero, don’t know they qualified for pensions when they worked under union contract. Montero labored under a UFW contract over at least six years, between 1976 and 1982, for a unionized Central Coast vegetable grower.
Since 1989, the pension plan–which is funded by contributions from growers for every hour worked under UFW contract–has provided cost-of-living increases and other adjustments and bonuses. The plan was named for Juan de la Cruz, a 60-year old farm worker striker shot to death on a Kern County vineyard picketline in 1973. Chavez died on April 23, 1993.
Who: UFW Vice President Efrén Barajas, pension plan Administrator Douglas L. Blaylock, retired union member Modesto Montero and members of his family.
What: Presenting Montero with a $73,357 check from the union pension plan begun by Cesar Chavez.
When: 1:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 28, 2001.
Where: Montero’s home, 412 Second St. in Watsonville.
Retired Filipino-American farm worker to receive $73,357 pension check; UFW appeals to others who may not know about benefits
Among United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez’s many achievements was creation in the 1970s of the nation’s first–and only–functioning pension plan for farm laborers. More than eight years after Chavez’s death, UFW Vice President Efrén Barajas will hand a pension check for $73,357 (minus federal income tax withholding) to retired farm worker Modesto Montero during a ceremony Friday afternoon at his home in Freedom.
Montero, 87, was not aware he was eligible for pension benefits from the Juan de la Cruz Farm Workers Pension Fund. In addition to the lump sum payment, he will receive $391.70 per month from the joint union-management pension plan for the rest of his life.
A native of the Philippines who immigrated to the U.S. in 1930, Montero now lives with his son in Freedom. He has five daughters, 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
The UFW also hopes to use the event to spread the word to other retired farm workers who, like Montero, don’t know they qualified for pensions when they worked under union contract. Montero labored under a UFW contract over at least six years, between 1976 and 1982, for a unionized Central Coast vegetable grower.
Since 1989, the pension plan–which is funded by contributions from growers for every hour worked under UFW contract–has provided cost-of-living increases and other adjustments and bonuses. The plan was named for Juan de la Cruz, a 60-year old farm worker striker shot to death on a Kern County vineyard picketline in 1973. Chavez died on April 23, 1993.
Who: UFW Vice President Efrén Barajas, pension plan Administrator Douglas L. Blaylock, retired union member Modesto Montero and members of his family.
What: Presenting Montero with a $73,357 check from the union pension plan begun by Cesar Chavez.
When: 1:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 28, 2001.
Where: Montero’s home, 412 Second St. in Watsonville.
Retired farm workers who believe they may qualify for the Juan De La Cruz pension plan please call: (800) 321-6607 or (888) 735-5352.
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