10:30 a.m. Monday, April 23, 2001, in Cesar Chavez Plaza; 1 p.m. at Capitol
City unveils Cesar Chavez monument on eighth anniversary of his death as Legislature’s two top leaders push UFW bills to curb farm labor abuses
Eight years to the day after he died, Cesar Chavez will be honored at two important events Monday in Sacramento.
First, Mayor Heather Fargo will preside over a morning ceremony unveiling an "heroic" 7′ high bronze sculpture in Cesar Chavez Plaza depicting the legendary farm labor leader’s historic 343-mile march from Delano to Sacramento in 1966. Commissioning the work was one of Mayor Joe Serna Jr.’s last official acts before his death in 1999.
Then, the Legislature’s two top leaders will join hundreds of farm workers and supporters, and Chavez’s successor as United Farm Workers president by marching three blocks to the state Capitol for a hearing on a UFW-backed bill to curtail some of the worst farm worker exploitation the union founder fought to end.
Among those at the 10:30 a.m. event in Cesar Chavez Plaza will be Senate President Pro Temp John L. Burton, Assembly Speaker Robert M. Hertzburg, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez and farm workers from the Central Valley, Central Coast and Sonoma County. Afterwards, they will walk to the Capitol where a 1 p.m. hearing on Hertzburg’s AB 423 is set before the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee.
Hertzburg’s bill would impose tougher penalties for contractors who cheat farm workers out of their wages. Last year, an identical measure was the first UFW-sponsored bill ever approved by the Legislature. Most major grower groups either supported the measure or remained neutral. It was vetoed by Gov. Davis.
Another UFW-sponsored labor contractor bill authored by Burton will be heard Wednesday in a Senate committee. It would expand farm workers’ rights to recover their financial losses when defrauded by contractors. A third UFW bill, by Assemblymember Darrell Steinberg, would require written contracts between growers and the labor contractors they hire.
"We’re grateful Sacramento is honoring Cesar Chavez with this heroic sculpture," says the UFW’s Rodriguez. "But we also honor Cesar by continuing his life’s work. So we’re going to the Capitol to help pass Speaker Hertzburg’s AB 423." Hertzburg arranged for his legislation to be numbered to reflect the date of Chavez’s death on April 23, 1993.
Who: Mayor Heather Fargo, Senate leader John Burton, Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzburg, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, farm workers from across California. What: Honoring Cesar Chavez on the eighth anniversary of his death by unveiling an "heroic" sculpture and pushing legislation to curb abuses of farm workers. When: 10:30 a.m. monument unveiling, 1 p.m. hearing on Monday, April 23, 2001. Where:Unveiling at Cesar Chavez Plaza, hearing in state Capitol Room 127.
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City unveils Cesar Chavez monument on eighth anniversary of his death as Legislature’s two top leaders push UFW bills to curb farm labor abuses
Eight years to the day after he died, Cesar Chavez will be honored at two important events Monday in Sacramento.
First, Mayor Heather Fargo will preside over a morning ceremony unveiling an "heroic" 7′ high bronze sculpture in Cesar Chavez Plaza depicting the legendary farm labor leader’s historic 343-mile march from Delano to Sacramento in 1966. Commissioning the work was one of Mayor Joe Serna Jr.’s last official acts before his death in 1999.
Then, the Legislature’s two top leaders will join hundreds of farm workers and supporters, and Chavez’s successor as United Farm Workers president by marching three blocks to the state Capitol for a hearing on a UFW-backed bill to curtail some of the worst farm worker exploitation the union founder fought to end.
Among those at the 10:30 a.m. event in Cesar Chavez Plaza will be Senate President Pro Temp John L. Burton, Assembly Speaker Robert M. Hertzburg, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez and farm workers from the Central Valley, Central Coast and Sonoma County. Afterwards, they will walk to the Capitol where a 1 p.m. hearing on Hertzburg’s AB 423 is set before the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee.
Hertzburg’s bill would impose tougher penalties for contractors who cheat farm workers out of their wages. Last year, an identical measure was the first UFW-sponsored bill ever approved by the Legislature. Most major grower groups either supported the measure or remained neutral. It was vetoed by Gov. Davis.
Another UFW-sponsored labor contractor bill authored by Burton will be heard Wednesday in a Senate committee. It would expand farm workers’ rights to recover their financial losses when defrauded by contractors. A third UFW bill, by Assemblymember Darrell Steinberg, would require written contracts between growers and the labor contractors they hire.
"We’re grateful Sacramento is honoring Cesar Chavez with this heroic sculpture," says the UFW’s Rodriguez. "But we also honor Cesar by continuing his life’s work. So we’re going to the Capitol to help pass Speaker Hertzburg’s AB 423." Hertzburg arranged for his legislation to be numbered to reflect the date of Chavez’s death on April 23, 1993.
Who: Mayor Heather Fargo, Senate leader John Burton, Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzburg, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, farm workers from across California. What: Honoring Cesar Chavez on the eighth anniversary of his death by unveiling an "heroic" sculpture and pushing legislation to curb abuses of farm workers. When: 10:30 a.m. monument unveiling, 1 p.m. hearing on Monday, April 23, 2001. Where:Unveiling at Cesar Chavez Plaza, hearing in state Capitol Room 127.
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