Monday Feb. 25, 2008 at 10 a.m. in Palm Springs, Fla.
Two retired farm workers to get more than $30,000 in pension checks; UFW appeals to workers who may not know they qualify
Two retired Florida farm workers who didn’t realize they qualified for United Farm Workers pensions will receive checks totaling nearly $30,000 during a ceremony Monday in Palm Springs.
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 President Arturo Rodriguez will present the checks to retired union members Dominga Abad and Luis G. Raya at the event.
Abad, now 75, and Raya, 68, didn’t know they were eligible for pension benefits from the union’s Juan de la Cruz Farm Workers Pension Fund. In addition to lump sum retroactive payments of $20,907 for Abad and $8,948 for Raya before taxes, Abad will also receive $100.87 each month for the rest of his life from the joint union-management pension plan. Raya will be getting $220.84 per month.
The UFW and the pension fund also hope to spread the word to other retired farm workers who, like Abad and Raya, aren’t aware they—or their spouses—qualified for pensions when they worked under union contracts. Both Abad and Raya labored with a UFW agreement under which the Coca Cola orange company contributed to the pension plan.
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 President Arturo Rodriguez, retired farm workers Dominga Abad and Luis Raya, Juan de la Cruz Farm Workers Pension Plan Administrator Richard Vera and Assistant Administrator Mercedes Farmer.
What: Presenting retired unionized farm workers checks totaling nearly $30,000 from the union pension plan begun by Cesar Chavez.
When: 10 a.m., Monday, Feb. 25, 2008.
Where: SEIU Local 1227, 2112 So. Congress Ave., Suite 207, Palm Springs, Fla. 33406 (561-965-0077).
Retired farm workers who believe they may qualify for the Juan De La Cruz Pension Plan can inquire online at: http://www.ufw.org/jdlc.htm or call: (800) 321-6607 or (888) 735-5352 / (888) RFK-JDLC.
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