11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday, September 1, in Ventura
"Providence" star Mike Farrell leads Labor Day weekend march by mushroom workers against labor law-breaking Pictsweet Farms
On the Saturday before Labor Day, "Providence" and "M*A*S*H" star Mike Farrell will lead hundreds of mushroom workers and supporters in a march through Ventura, Calif. against Pictsweet Mushroom Farms. The corporate grower has been indicted for systematically breaking state labor laws in California and fined for safety violations in Oregon that caused a farm worker to have his hand amputated.
For more than 14 years, Pictsweet’s 350 California employees and the Cesar Chavez-founded United Farm Workers of America have called on the Tennessee-based corporation to bargain in good faith for a union contract with the UFW for its Ventura plant. Workers and an independent farm workers union in Oregon have issued similar appeals on behalf of laborers at the company’s Salem facility.
Some 10 major supermarket chains–covering about 1,200 stores–in California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington state have agreed to stop carrying Pictsweet mushrooms.
In a detailed nine-count complaint issued June 26, prosecutors with the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board affirmed worker charges that Pictsweet in Ventura has violated a host of state labor laws in its bid to avoid negotiating a contract with the UFW. Bargaining has gone nowhere since January 2000, with Pictsweet refusing to offer any pay or benefit increases.
Pictsweet was recently fined $7,475 by the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division for various safety violations at its Salem plant. One of them caused Enrique Diaz Lupian, 46, to lose his right hand in an accident this year. Other workers in both Oregon and California have been disciplined or fired for supporting the unions.
Who: Actor Mike Farrell, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, Pictsweet mushroom workers and supporters, local elected officials.
What: March to protest Pictsweet’s refusal to bargain in good faith for a union contract.
When: 11:45 a.m. press availability; 12 noon march; 1 p.m. rally, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2001.
Where: March starts at Pacific High School parking lot and soccer field at 501 College Drive (& Dean Drive–field is on Dean Drive), Ventura 93003; ends at Olivas Adobe, 4200 Olivas Park Dr. (Harbor & Telephone), Ventura 93001. – end –
"Providence" star Mike Farrell leads Labor Day weekend march by mushroom workers against labor law-breaking Pictsweet Farms
On the Saturday before Labor Day, "Providence" and "M*A*S*H" star Mike Farrell will lead hundreds of mushroom workers and supporters in a march through Ventura, Calif. against Pictsweet Mushroom Farms. The corporate grower has been indicted for systematically breaking state labor laws in California and fined for safety violations in Oregon that caused a farm worker to have his hand amputated.
For more than 14 years, Pictsweet’s 350 California employees and the Cesar Chavez-founded United Farm Workers of America have called on the Tennessee-based corporation to bargain in good faith for a union contract with the UFW for its Ventura plant. Workers and an independent farm workers union in Oregon have issued similar appeals on behalf of laborers at the company’s Salem facility.
Some 10 major supermarket chains–covering about 1,200 stores–in California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington state have agreed to stop carrying Pictsweet mushrooms.
In a detailed nine-count complaint issued June 26, prosecutors with the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board affirmed worker charges that Pictsweet in Ventura has violated a host of state labor laws in its bid to avoid negotiating a contract with the UFW. Bargaining has gone nowhere since January 2000, with Pictsweet refusing to offer any pay or benefit increases.
Pictsweet was recently fined $7,475 by the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division for various safety violations at its Salem plant. One of them caused Enrique Diaz Lupian, 46, to lose his right hand in an accident this year. Other workers in both Oregon and California have been disciplined or fired for supporting the unions.
Who: Actor Mike Farrell, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, Pictsweet mushroom workers and supporters, local elected officials.
What: March to protest Pictsweet’s refusal to bargain in good faith for a union contract.
When: 11:45 a.m. press availability; 12 noon march; 1 p.m. rally, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2001.
Where: March starts at Pacific High School parking lot and soccer field at 501 College Drive (& Dean Drive–field is on Dean Drive), Ventura 93003; ends at Olivas Adobe, 4200 Olivas Park Dr. (Harbor & Telephone), Ventura 93001. – end –