June 24, 1998

On National Right-to-Organize Day Major L.A. buyer for strawberry giant backs organizing rights for pickers, pledges to contact Driscoll

Los Angeles’ largest wholesale buyer of Driscoll strawberries agreed Wednesday that berry pickers have the right to choose a union without fear of retaliation and promised to contact the industry giant over farm worker concerns about the right to organize.

Art Lalonde, vice president of distribution for Valley Fruit and Produce, made the commitment during a meeting at his Los Angeles Wholesale Produce market office with a delegation of United Farm Workers supporters. They included Service Employees International Union Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina, One Stop Immigration Executive Director Juan Jose Gutierrez and Rio Hondo Community College student Alicia Alvarado.

After listening to the delegation, Lalonde promised to pass their concerns on to Driscoll and to keep lines of communication open with L.A.-area farm worker supporters. It was the first such public commitment from Lalonde. Driscoll is the largest shipper of fresh strawberries in the U.S.

Earlier Medina, a former farm worker and Cesar Chavez associate who struck Delano grape growers in 1965, used the backdrop of L.A.’ sprawling downtown produce terminal for an outdoor teach-in. He instructed several dozen area college students and community activists on tactics Driscoll is using to fiercely oppose pickers seeking a better life through the Chavez-founded UFW.

It was one of many observances held across the nation Wednesday as part of the AFL-CIO’s National Right-to-Organize Day.

Berry workers laboring for Driscoll growers face low pay, pesticide-treated fields and threats of firing if they band together with the UFW. Last year, strawberry workers filed federal class action lawsuits charging growers contracting with Driscoll with forcing pickers to work without pay, failing to provide proper overtime and engaging in alleged widespread sex bias against women workers. The overtime and sex bias suits have been settled.

The UFW has also filed legal actions charging 10 Driscoll growers with violating state toxics law by not notify workers of exposure to cancer-causing pesticides.

The last five times strawberry pickers voted for the UFW in state-supervised union elections, growers retaliated against them by shutting down operations and laying off the workers. One company also plowed under part of its berry crop. Two of these growers were affiliated with Driscoll.

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