Farm workers on Tuesday, Aug. 23, are beginning a 167-mile march up the Central Valley from Madera to Sacramento to press for enactment of the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act. It ends on Sunday, Sept. 4, Labor Day weekend, at the state Capitol. When he vetoed the UFW bill on June 28, Gov. Jerry Brown said he was “not yet convinced” he should sign a measure that would make it easier for farm workers to join unions. "Not yet” means most of California’s 400,000 farm workers do not have fair wages and protections from abuse. “Not yet” means hundreds of farm workers who last year voted for union representation have waited more than a year for the state to certify their elections so they can start negotiating. “Not yet” means more farm workers face death under the scorching sun as growers ignore the state’s heat, water and shade regulations. The state work safety agency says it is investigating two more farm worker deaths since April, possibly from the heat.
Farm workers are marching to Sacramento for the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act and the right to be paid overtime after eight hours like all other workers. These two bills will soon be introduced in the Legislature. The march starts at 9 a.m. on Tuesday at Courthouse Park, Gateway Dr. and Yosemite Ave. in Madera. We’re grateful for great support from volunteers supplying food, water and housing to nurses tending to the marchers and priests saying mass along the way. For more information, please contact us at 661-823-6105
Arturo S. Rodriguez, President
United Farm Workers of America